Key takeaways
- Buyer closing costs run about 2 percent: notary at 0.27 percent, registry at 0.67 percent and beneficencia at 1 percent, plus your lawyer's fee.
- For an individual, capital gains are taxed at 15 percent when held two years or more: clean and predictable, and the strongest argument for buying in your own name as a long-term holder with no operating business.
- If none apply, your own name is simpler and cheaper to maintain.
- The investment visa by property is built around foreign currency investment registered in the buyer's name.
- Annual property tax runs 0.3 to 1.2 percent of the cadastral value, and unpaid tax follows the property.
If you buy a commercial unit in Medellín through a company instead of in your own name, the two things that actually change are tax treatment on exit and the paperwork load at closing. Buyer closing costs stay the same, about 2 percent of the price. What moves is who signs, what the notary needs to see, and how the eventual sale is taxed.
Checklist · Before you sign a promesa
The 12 documents I check on every deal
Tick them off as you collect them. Saved on this device.
Superintendencia de Notariado y Registro, online; valid 30 days
The notaría where it was signed; ask for a certified copy
The municipality's tesorería or hacienda office
The building's or gated community's administración
From the seller; the RUT downloads from the DIAN site
Granted at a notaría, or at a consulate if the seller is abroad
Printed on the predial bill, or from the municipal catastro
In the deed and on the cadastral record
Latest paid bills from EPM or the local operator
Declared before the notary in the deed itself
Drafted by your lawyer or agent; never sign the seller's version unread
Curaduría urbana or the municipal planning office
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Where each document comes from
- Certificado de tradición y libertad: Superintendencia de Notariado y Registro, online; valid 30 days
- Prior deed: The notaría where it was signed; ask for a certified copy
- Property-tax good standing: The municipality's tesorería or hacienda office
- HOA good standing, if applicable: The building's or gated community's administración
- Seller's ID / RUT: From the seller; the RUT downloads from the DIAN site
- Power of attorney, if the seller is represented: Granted at a notaría, or at a consulate if the seller is abroad
- Cadastral appraisal: Printed on the predial bill, or from the municipal catastro
- Survey and boundaries: In the deed and on the cadastral record
- Utilities up to date: Latest paid bills from EPM or the local operator
- Family-home protection certificate: Declared before the notary in the deed itself
- Promesa de compraventa draft: Drafted by your lawyer or agent; never sign the seller's version unread
- Building permit, if applicable: Curaduría urbana or the municipal planning office
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Does buying through a company change what I pay at closing?
No. Buyer closing costs run about 2 percent: notary at 0.27 percent, registry at 0.67 percent and beneficencia at 1 percent, plus your lawyer's fee. What changes is the file. An individual presents a passport and a tax ID; a Colombian company presents its certificate of existence and legal representation, proof the representative may acquire real estate, and often a corporate resolution. Closing normally takes 30 to 45 days, and a first-time company purchase sits at the longer end because the entity must be incorporated and registered first.
What is the actual tax difference on the way out?
For an individual, capital gains are taxed at 15 percent when held two years or more: clean and predictable, and the strongest argument for buying in your own name as a long-term holder with no operating business. A company holding the property as a fixed asset may fall under similar logic, but a property it trades, develops or treats as inventory does not. Take this to a Colombian tax advisor before you incorporate; you cannot retrofit it cheaply.
When does a company actually make sense?
- You will operate a business in the unit. You need a Colombian entity for payroll, invoicing and VAT anyway.
- There are multiple owners. Shares in an SAS are far easier to sell than an undivided fraction of a titled property.
- You plan several assets. The incorporation cost is amortised across the portfolio.
If none apply, your own name is simpler and cheaper to maintain.
What does the company structure change about the visa?
The investment visa by property is built around foreign currency investment registered in the buyer's name. If a company buys, the property belongs to the company and the registration must be structured as an investment in the company: a different route with different evidence. If the visa is part of why you are buying, decide the structure before any funds move, because the foreign exchange declaration at transfer is what the migration authority later reads.
What due diligence does not change?
All of it. Pull the certificate of tradition and freedom with the registry number (registered owner, mortgages, liens and encumbrances). Check land use: the municipal territorial plan determines whether your intended activity is permitted at that address, and a bodega zoned for storage will not legally become a restaurant because you signed a deed. Then check the horizontal property reglamento, the administration fee, and tax. Annual property tax runs 0.3 to 1.2 percent of the cadastral value, and unpaid tax follows the property. Work through the full guide before committing to either structure.
What about holding the unit personally and leasing it to your own company?
A common middle path. You keep the 15 percent gains treatment on a sale after two years, and your company pays rent under a written lease at a genuinely market rate, with a start date, term and indexation clause. Long-term rentals have yielded 5 to 9 percent gross a year, a reasonable reference point for a defensible number.
The order to decide things in
Confirm the property is clean. Decide whether you will operate in the unit, co-own it, or hold it. Settle the structure before any funds move if a visa is involved. Take the question to a Colombian tax advisor with the holding period written down. Then sign the promesa and start the 30 to 45 day clock.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a Colombian company to buy commercial property in Medellín as a foreigner?
No. A foreign individual can buy in their own name with a passport and a Colombian tax ID. A company is needed only to operate a business from the unit, for co-owners, or if a tax advisor recommends it.
Are closing costs higher when a company buys the property?
No. About 2 percent regardless of buyer type; the company route adds preparation time, not notarial cost.
How is the sale of a commercial property taxed in Colombia?
For an individual, 15 percent when held two years or more. A company holding it as inventory does not automatically get the same treatment.
How long does it take to close on a commercial unit in Medellín?
30 to 45 days once the deal is agreed, longer if a new company must be incorporated first.
What is the first document to check on a commercial unit?
The certificate of tradition and freedom, then permitted land use under the municipality's territorial plan.
