The property rules of Columbia give liberty to all the foreigners to buy property within the country.

All the transfers involving a title on the real estate and encumbrances must be done by the way of a public document. All the taxes must be paid as they make the transfer legally effective. Any document or transfer or judicial decision which is pertaining to the property shall be recorded with the Real Property Registry regarding the concerned investment.

The procedure of registration of any property in Columbia involves following steps:

1. Obtaining a certificate about the history of the property from the Registry Office.
2. The titles to be discussed with the lawyer wherein he studies all the property titles. This costs around COP1,113,000. A certificate from the municipality shall be obtained to certify that all the municipal taxes on the property have been met.
3. The tax certificates such as the certificado de paz y salvo perdial proves that the municipal property taxes have been paid. Another certificate, certificado de paz y salvo de valorizacion containing taxes relating to increase in terms of the value of the property due to the roads, constructions, etc. are also provided.
4. Preparation of the public deed by the Notary. The participation of the notary in such preparation is considered to be mandatory.
5. Registration of the public deed is carried out at the Registry Office where the tax of registry is also paid. Post the process of registration, the new public deed is transferred to the Office of the Cadastre in order to register the concerned ownership.

It takes a period of 14 days to complete the entire procedure.

• Registration tax is charged at the rate of 1 percent of the total value of property.
• Registration fee is charged at the rate of 0.50 percent of the total value of property.
• Local government taxes are charged at the rate of 1.05 percent and are split in between the buyer and seller in an equal ratio.
• Notary fee is charged at the rate of 0.30 percent of the total value of property.
• Real estate agent’s fee is charged at the rate of 3-4 percent of the total value of property.