Total transaction costs are low in Colombia

How high are realtors´ and lawyers´ fees in Colombia? What about other property purchase costs?

Transaction Costs

Who Pays?
Registration Tax 1% buyer
Registration Fee 0.50% buyer
Notary Fees 0.15%
0.15%
buyer
seller
Real estate Agents´ Fees 3% - 4% (+ 16% VAT) seller
Costs paid by buyer 1.65%
Costs paid by seller 3.63% - 4.79%
ROUNDTRIP TRANSACTION COSTS 5.28% - 6.44%
See Footnotes
Source: Global Property Guide

How difficult is the property purchase process in Colombia?

Foreigners can freely buy property in Colombia.

Colombia apartments for rent

All transfers of title on real estate as well as all encumbrances must be done by public document. All taxes must be paid in order for a transfer to be legally effective. Any document of transfer or judicial decision pertaining to property must be recorded with the Real Property Registry.

The following registration procedures are followed:

  • Obtain a certificate or Certificado de Tradición about the history of the property for COP7,000 (US$2) from the Registry Office.
  • Your lawyer will study the property titles, which takes around 5 days to complete and costs around COP1,113,000 (US$377). A certificate from the municipality should be obtained certifying that all municipal taxes on the property have been paid (Paz y Salvo Predial and Paz y Salvo de Valorizacion.)
  • Obtain the following tax certificates: certificado de paz y salvo predial that states municipal property taxes have been paid from Secretaría de Hacienda del Distrito, and the certificado de paz y salvo de valorización which contains taxes related to increases in the value of the property due to constructions, roads, etc.
  • The Notary prepares the public deed. The participation of the notary in the preparation of this public deed is mandatory and his fees are 0.30% of property value. Moreover, the notary will also keep 1% of the value of the transaction from the seller as an advance payment to be applied to the Income Tax (Retencion en la fuente).
  • The Public Deed must be registered at the Registry Office. The Registry Tax (Impuesto de Registro) is paid. After registration, the new public deed is automatically sent to the Office of the Cadastre to register the change of ownership.

These procedures can be completed in around 14 days.



Footnotes to Transaction Costs Table


The round trip transaction costs include all costs of buying and then re-selling a property - lawyers´ fees, notaries´ fees, registration fees, taxes, agents´ fees, etc.

Registration Tax (Impuesto a Registrar)
Registration tax is generally around 1% of the property value. The buyer is liable to pay for the registration tax.

Registration Fee
Registration fees are generally around 0.50% of the property value.

Local Government Taxes (Impuesto a Renta)
Local government taxes are generally around 1.05% and split equally between the buyer and the seller.

Notary Fee (Gastos de Notaria)
Notary fees are generally around 0.30% of the property value. These costs are split equally between the buyer and the seller.

Real Estate Agent´s Fee
Real estate agent´s fee is generally around 3% to 4% of the property value.