To buy property in Colombia as an American, you check the title, sign a purchase agreement, wire the money and register the deed. At Colombia Desk, we run that sequence for foreign buyers in Medellín and Bogotá, and the order of the steps protects you more than any single document.
Ownership passes only when the deed is registered at the Oficina de Registro de Instrumentos Públicos (ORIP), the public property registry. Until then you hold a contract and a receipt for your deposit. The whole run usually takes weeks, and the promesa de compraventa (the purchase agreement) sets the closing date.
The Ten Steps from Offer to Registered Title
Buying property in Colombia takes ten steps, and the title study comes before any money changes hands. Two law firms that publish guides for 2026 buyers, Affirma Legal and Nexo Legal, describe the same sequence. We add the checks that protect a buyer who lives abroad.
- Get your tax number. Apply for a RUT (Registro Único Tributario) from the DIAN, Colombia’s tax agency. Most buyers need one, because it identifies you to the tax system for the purchase and any later sale.
- Hire your own lawyer. Choose a lawyer who answers only to you. Our guide to real estate lawyers in Colombia covers what to ask.
- Agree the price. Make a written offer through the agent or directly to the owner. Agree the price, what stays in the apartment and a target closing date.
- Pull the certificado de tradición y libertad. This registry certificate lists every owner, mortgage, lien and lawsuit recorded against the property. Pull a copy yourself from the Superintendencia de Notariado y Registro (SNR) portal, dated within the last 30 days. It costs 23,000 Colombian pesos (COP) online in 2026.
- Run the title study. Your lawyer reviews the chain of ownership, the seller’s identity and marital status, open debts and the building’s rules. Nothing gets signed until the study comes back clean.
- Sign the promesa de compraventa. The purchase agreement fixes the price, the payment schedule, the notary, the closing date, the type of deposit and who pays each closing cost. The deposit is commonly 10% to 30% of the price.
- Send the money from abroad. Wire the funds through a Colombian bank or another authorized exchange intermediary (IMC) so the purchase is registered as foreign investment with the Banco de la República.
- Collect the paz y salvos. These clearance certificates prove the seller owes nothing on property tax (predial), betterment levies (valorización) and building fees (administración).
- Sign the escritura pública at the notary. The deed is read, signed by both sides and authorized by the notary. An individual seller pays a 1% withholding tax through the notary before signing.
- Register the deed at the ORIP. Pay the 1% registration tax and the registry fees, then file the deed. You own the property once the registry records it.
After registration, pull a fresh certificado de tradición. It should show you as the owner, with no liens left over from the seller.
Who Handles Each Step and What It Costs
Each step has a different person in charge, and only the lawyer works for you. The agent is usually paid by the seller, and the notary records the deed for both sides.
| Step | Who handles it | What you pay (2026) |
|---|---|---|
| RUT tax number | You, at the DIAN | No fee |
| Title study | Your lawyer | Quoted per job. The Asobancaria benchmark reported by Metrocuadrado is about 0.12% of the property value |
| Certificado de tradición | You or your lawyer | COP 23,000 online, COP 24,300 at an office |
| Promesa and deposit | Your lawyer drafts or reviews it | Commonly 10% to 30% of the price, credited to the price |
| Money transfer | Your bank abroad and a Colombian bank | Your bank’s wire fee and exchange spread |
| Deed at the notary | Notaría | About 0.3% of the price plus 19% VAT (value-added tax), usually split in half |
| Registration tax | Paid at the department’s tax office or bank | 1% of the deed value, split equally by law unless agreed otherwise |
| Registry fees | ORIP | 9.11 to 13.33 per thousand by value band, plus a 2% surcharge on the fee |
The closing costs guide shows these lines worked through for a COP 400 million apartment. The closing cost calculator runs the same math on your price.
How Long the Purchase Takes
A Colombian purchase usually takes weeks from the signed promesa to the registered deed. No official source publishes a standard timeline, and the promesa fixes the actual closing date. Three things set the pace on most deals:
- The title study. A clean history moves fast. A seller with an old mortgage to cancel, or an inheritance still in probate, can add weeks.
- The international wire. Send a small test transfer early, so any compliance hold at your home bank happens weeks before the signing instead of on closing day.
- The paz y salvos. The seller requests these, and a disputed building fee or an unpaid betterment levy holds up the signing.
One deadline after the signing is fixed by law. In Antioquia, which includes Medellín, the registration tax must be paid within two months of the deed’s date, or three months if the deed was signed abroad. After that, interest accrues every month.
Where Foreign Buyers Go Wrong
We most often see foreign buyers sign the promesa before the title study comes back. Once the deposit is paid, a lien or a missing heir becomes your problem to negotiate. Put the title study first and make the promesa conditional on any open mortgage being cancelled at or before the deed.
Three other mistakes come up often:
- Using the seller’s lawyer. That lawyer’s job is to close the sale. Pay for your own review, even on a new-build apartment where the developer offers its paperwork.
- Sending money informally. Cash, a friend’s account or a crypto route can leave the investment unregistered. Then you cannot legally send the money back out when you sell, and the purchase will not support an investor visa. Our guide to sending money to buy property in Colombia covers the registered route.
- Assuming short-term rentals are allowed. A building must authorize stays under 30 days in its registered bylaws. Read the reglamento de propiedad horizontal before you sign.
Buying a New Build Versus a Resale Apartment
The steps differ in one place for a new build. When you buy off-plan (sobre planos), you usually sign the developer’s standard promesa. You pay in installments during construction and sign the deed when the unit is finished.
With a new build, the bigger risk is the developer failing to finish the building. Have your lawyer check the project’s building license and how buyer payments are held until the deed is signed. A resale apartment carries the opposite risk: the building exists, but its history needs the full title study.
Buying from Abroad Without Flying In
You can complete most of the process remotely. Your lawyer can pull certificates, run the title study and review the promesa while you stay home. For the signing, a power of attorney lets a trusted person or your lawyer sign the promesa and the deed for you.
Ask your lawyer to draft the power of attorney with the exact property and price written in. Your lawyer will also say whether to sign it at a Colombian consulate or before a local notary with an apostille. The receiving notary in Colombia has to accept the format.
Who Should Not Follow This Path Yet
The ten steps above suit a cash buyer who has spent time in the city. They do not suit two kinds of buyer:
- A buyer who needs a Colombian mortgage. Non-residents rarely get one, so the financing step will stall the purchase. Read can foreigners buy property in Colombia for the lending routes first.
- A buyer who has never lived in the neighborhood. Rent for a few months first. The Medellín vs Bogotá comparison helps you pick a city to test.
Our sequence would change if Colombia passed Proyecto de Ley 242 de 2025, the bill that would license real estate brokers. A regulated agent would carry more of the checking, though we would still order the title study first.
If you want the ten steps handled in the right order, our Medellín buyer’s concierge does that work. We line up your lawyer, the notary appointment and the money transfer so they happen in sequence, and we keep you posted at each step. The cheapest first step in how to buy property in Colombia as an American is a COP 23,000 certificado de tradición, so pull one on a real listing this week.