No not another Medellin data sheet. A buying an apartment in Medellin data sheet
02-15-2015, 07:02 PM
Hey guys second time posting on the forum. I have been encouraged to give a little back to the forum so a Data Sheet on buying a home in Medellin Colombia was suggested to me.
A little background on my decision to move to Medellin. I had been traveling to South America and Central America the past 6 years looking for areas to buy a home and live 6 months a year. My long term plan had been to live in Latin America 6 months a year and Europe 6 months during the summer.
I had been to the beaches in Costa Rica around 10 times and thought that that was my best option. In hindsight I realize that would have been a bad decision. Costa Rican beaches while beautiful to vacation in is not a great place for meeting and dating high quality Women. Basically the Women who live on the beach tend to be lower quality than San Jose and frankly there are not that many of them.
My next idea was Rio De Janeiro. I personally think Rio is an amazing city and somewhat regret that decision not to buy in Rio in 2012. In the end I already spoke conversational Spanish and didn't want to began learning another language at the time. Prices of real estate are and were extremely high and I couldn't see myself shelling out 500k for a shoebox in a developing economy.
I had a couple other places to buy in mind. I spent 4 months in the Dominican Republic. I traveled the whole country and considered homes on the Northern Beaches, the Samara Peninsula and Santo Domingo. I consider the DR a great country with amazing food and nice people and there are some stunners but in the end its a small island and I couldn't see myself settling down there.
I checked out Panama, Peru, Guatemala and San Salvador but none caught my attention. I had been seeing a lot of hot Women on Latin Cupid from Medellin and thought it was time to check it out. That was the middle of 2011 I believe. I went for 3 days and met a nice Girl and got a brief taste of the City. I liked it and noticed how many good looking Women there were but didn't really consider it for a place to live at the time. In November 2012 I went back and loved it. I staid 2 months. Met a lot of beautiful women and met some good people and basically decided in a week after 6 years of looking thats where I wanted my southern home.
I contacted a few different realtors in the end settled on First American Realty one of the biggest Realtor that focuses on foreign clients. Please In Box me for the name of the realtor however I think he works for himself now. I would be happy to pass his name along to whoever needs it. I consider my realtor to have been a honest person, he had all basic info that you would expect from Western realtors. Price comparisons and square meter prices of recently sold property. Couple of things that you will want to take particular care of. In Colombia everything needs to be inventoried in the apartment. For instance I had to renegotiate after the deal closed because the owners tried to remove all the light fixtures, mirrors, and kitchen vents. Basically all these items were considered included in the properties that I have bought in the United States but not in Colombia so make sure your realtor and attorney do a good inventory of what will stay before closing the deal.
When trying to decide on the right area of the city I would consider if you plan on buying a car or Motorcycle or using public transportation and taxis. My opinion is that in Poblado you should consider how far up the hills you want to live. I like the option to be able to walk whenever I want and not rely on Taxis so I like Castropol as an area. Quiet but within walking distance and not to high up the hill to be difficult to walk. Laureles is flat and while I think its a great area to hang out I would not want to live there because I think you get more guys on motos robbing in that area. Dont fool yourself, people from Medellin love there city but they are afraid of her too.
Prices have rose the past few years but so has the US Dollar so I think for 250k you can find an incredible penthouse 3 bed 3 bath. 150k gets you a decent area of Poblado 3 beds normal apartment in a nice buiding with pool and steam room. I think you can still find nice places in Poblado from 75k to 150k but generally speaking they wont be the nicest areas of Poblado and it will be an older building.
Keep in mind when you consider vacation rental income that pretty much anything can be rented in Poblado, less so in Laureles, Envigado and Belen. Basically is you want secure vacation rental income you should stay in the area of the Zone Rosa, Mile De Oro, Patio Bonito, Castropol. Im sure rentals in Las Plamas are rented easily but the top areas for rentals I believe are the areas mentioned.
Normally whatever company you use to manage you apartment will pay all the bills including taxes for you. My taxes run around 1500 US a year for a 3 bed 3 bath 1600 square foot penthouse in strata 6. My Monthly association dues are 200 US a month and that includes 24 hour security and heated pool.
Ok Im fading fast. Hope this can help anyone considering buying a place in Medellin. Please feel free to email me or post with any questions. I appreciate all the great info on this site. Hope I can give back more in the future.
A little background on my decision to move to Medellin. I had been traveling to South America and Central America the past 6 years looking for areas to buy a home and live 6 months a year. My long term plan had been to live in Latin America 6 months a year and Europe 6 months during the summer.
I had been to the beaches in Costa Rica around 10 times and thought that that was my best option. In hindsight I realize that would have been a bad decision. Costa Rican beaches while beautiful to vacation in is not a great place for meeting and dating high quality Women. Basically the Women who live on the beach tend to be lower quality than San Jose and frankly there are not that many of them.
My next idea was Rio De Janeiro. I personally think Rio is an amazing city and somewhat regret that decision not to buy in Rio in 2012. In the end I already spoke conversational Spanish and didn't want to began learning another language at the time. Prices of real estate are and were extremely high and I couldn't see myself shelling out 500k for a shoebox in a developing economy.
I had a couple other places to buy in mind. I spent 4 months in the Dominican Republic. I traveled the whole country and considered homes on the Northern Beaches, the Samara Peninsula and Santo Domingo. I consider the DR a great country with amazing food and nice people and there are some stunners but in the end its a small island and I couldn't see myself settling down there.
I checked out Panama, Peru, Guatemala and San Salvador but none caught my attention. I had been seeing a lot of hot Women on Latin Cupid from Medellin and thought it was time to check it out. That was the middle of 2011 I believe. I went for 3 days and met a nice Girl and got a brief taste of the City. I liked it and noticed how many good looking Women there were but didn't really consider it for a place to live at the time. In November 2012 I went back and loved it. I staid 2 months. Met a lot of beautiful women and met some good people and basically decided in a week after 6 years of looking thats where I wanted my southern home.
I contacted a few different realtors in the end settled on First American Realty one of the biggest Realtor that focuses on foreign clients. Please In Box me for the name of the realtor however I think he works for himself now. I would be happy to pass his name along to whoever needs it. I consider my realtor to have been a honest person, he had all basic info that you would expect from Western realtors. Price comparisons and square meter prices of recently sold property. Couple of things that you will want to take particular care of. In Colombia everything needs to be inventoried in the apartment. For instance I had to renegotiate after the deal closed because the owners tried to remove all the light fixtures, mirrors, and kitchen vents. Basically all these items were considered included in the properties that I have bought in the United States but not in Colombia so make sure your realtor and attorney do a good inventory of what will stay before closing the deal.
When trying to decide on the right area of the city I would consider if you plan on buying a car or Motorcycle or using public transportation and taxis. My opinion is that in Poblado you should consider how far up the hills you want to live. I like the option to be able to walk whenever I want and not rely on Taxis so I like Castropol as an area. Quiet but within walking distance and not to high up the hill to be difficult to walk. Laureles is flat and while I think its a great area to hang out I would not want to live there because I think you get more guys on motos robbing in that area. Dont fool yourself, people from Medellin love there city but they are afraid of her too.
Prices have rose the past few years but so has the US Dollar so I think for 250k you can find an incredible penthouse 3 bed 3 bath. 150k gets you a decent area of Poblado 3 beds normal apartment in a nice buiding with pool and steam room. I think you can still find nice places in Poblado from 75k to 150k but generally speaking they wont be the nicest areas of Poblado and it will be an older building.
Keep in mind when you consider vacation rental income that pretty much anything can be rented in Poblado, less so in Laureles, Envigado and Belen. Basically is you want secure vacation rental income you should stay in the area of the Zone Rosa, Mile De Oro, Patio Bonito, Castropol. Im sure rentals in Las Plamas are rented easily but the top areas for rentals I believe are the areas mentioned.
Normally whatever company you use to manage you apartment will pay all the bills including taxes for you. My taxes run around 1500 US a year for a 3 bed 3 bath 1600 square foot penthouse in strata 6. My Monthly association dues are 200 US a month and that includes 24 hour security and heated pool.
Ok Im fading fast. Hope this can help anyone considering buying a place in Medellin. Please feel free to email me or post with any questions. I appreciate all the great info on this site. Hope I can give back more in the future.
