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GMistral wrote:

What documents a person need to invest in real estate?...

If you are going to say that I should talk to a lawyer, can you recommend one that speaks English and won't lie?

Reminds me of the old joke:  How can you tell if a lawyer is lying?  His lips are moving.

But seriously, folks,   even if you live in Ecuador, don’t jump into a real estate investment here in Colombia until you’ve lived in Colombia for a year.  And that’s if you’re investing in a property to live in yourself.

If, on the other hand, you’re thinking about speculating on Colombian rental property at the outset, you’ve probably been reading too many newsletters / come-ons / “special reports" from Live and Invest Overseas .. and International Living.

cccmedia, from Eje Cafetero, Colombia

Top 10 Things That Could Go Wrong For an Expat Who Speculates on Rental Property in Medellín

10.  The weather could keep getting hotter, depressing the market value of your property.  Eternal spring, my tuchus.

9.  Your attorney could miss the fact that the property on which you’ve put a down payment belongs to the heirs of a recently deceased former owner .. and they live in Costa Rica, Uruguay, Chicago and Singapore, entangling the transaction for years or forever.

8.  Your tenants leave .. and your property manager can’t find replacement tenants.  Finally, a new tenant moves in .. but after two months, can’t pay the rent.

7.  The place floods .. and the property manager quits.

6.  The FARC truce collapses and Colombia becomes an international pariah again, damaging your property’s value.

5.  A tenant brings in bedbugs and they spread.  Don’t get me started on this one (personal experience in USA).

4.  There’s an earthquake or another “Act of God" and your insurance is insufficient or doesn’t pay your claim.

3.  Pollution gets worse in the Aburrá Valley, depressing the value of your property.

2.  To salvage the investment, you end up as the on-property landlord and have to deal with tenant problems personally, and with vendors / repairmen / maintenance issues, in Spanish, no less -- turning you into a mad insomniac.

And the #1 way things could go wrong with your property investment....

1.  You decide you don’t like your investment and you can’t find a buyer for the property !

  -- cccmedia, from Colombia

Thanks ccmedia,
All those are valid points that can happen (and had happened) anywhere in the word (with exception of FARC but it can be any other group).
I don't see how any of the points mentioned above could not happen in Medellin.
Thanks!

Right on.  For Expats, property investment -- especially in foreign countries -- is only for a certain type of person .. and probably not for anyone who has limited or no experience in dealing with the types of problems listed above.

Of course, the overseas-investment gurus don’t typically mention any of this stuff, leaving the Expat with monstrous headaches when the roof literally or figuratively collapses.

For the typical Expat, thinking that they can successfully turn all the property management stuff over to a manager or agency -- and still make a profit -- is, IMO, pie in the sky.  One reason for this is that maintenance, refurbishing and repairs typically cost far more than what is usually projected for non-handyman investors.  Vacancies and deadbeat non-paying renters are also often more prevalent than is predictable, with the latter scenario often entailing eviction proceedings.  Ugh !

Yes, most of the problems can occur anywhere in the world.  Your problems are compounded if you’re a long-distance landlord or have to come back to the property from another country to deal with situations.

cccmedia