Notary and registry costs: what is paid at closing and who pays it

Between the agreed price and the money that actually leaves your account sits a band of closing costs that rarely appears in the brochure. They are two separate things, the notaría and the registry, paid at different moments to different bodies.

Signing before a notary produces a public instrument; recording it at the Oficina de Registro de Instrumentos Públicos (the public instruments registry) is what transfers ownership. That distinction is not a formality: a signed but unrecorded deed leaves the buyer without title against third parties, and the property keeps answering for whatever the folio says. Notarial fees are set by the Superintendencia de Notariado y Registro and are updated; the registration tax and the withholding that falls on the seller are separate matters, and how the costs split between buyer and seller is largely custom rather than law. What is not law can be agreed in the promesa, and what is not agreed gets argued on signing day.

Cartagena is administered as a district rather than an ordinary municipality, and that determines whom you ask for what: the certificado de tradición y libertad, the registry history and encumbrance certificate, comes from the Oficina de Registro de Instrumentos Públicos, the public deeds registry; parcel identification from the cadastre; land-use certificates and building permits from the District and the curadurías urbanas, the private licensing offices; environmental matters from Cardique; anything touching the sea from DIMAR, the maritime authority; while the deed is executed before a notary and the registration tax is paid to the Gobernación de Bolívar, the department government. These are separate bodies with separate procedures, and a seller who folds them all into one office is simplifying. For a buyer abroad the practical consequence is that the file is assembled remotely and in pieces, with powers of attorney worth preparing before any purchase promise is signed, and that the city holds land realities that share no single procedure: the walled historic center under its protection regime, the built-out peninsula, and the northern shoreline still taking shape. So settle early on which authority answers which question, and request each document from its own source.

What is specific to Cartagena

What to verify, step by step

1. Ask your chosen notaría for a written quotation of the notarial fees for your specific transaction before signing.
2. Ask the registry office which items are charged when the deed is filed and which belong to the impuesto de registro (the registration tax).
3. Have the promesa state expressly who bears each item, including the cost of cancelling the seller's existing mortgage if there is one.
4. Ask DIAN what withholding applies on a disposal and against whom, since it shapes what the seller insists on netting.
5. Check with the Alcaldía that property tax and betterment levies are current, and agree who answers for balances predating the closing.
6. Order an updated folio after registration and confirm your purchase was in fact recorded.

Mistakes that cost money

• Budgeting only the price. Closing costs fall due the same day and in pesos, and a transfer from abroad has to land in time.
• Leaving the cost split to custom. Custom binds nobody, and the seller may have a different one in mind.
• Keeping the deed and never checking the registry. Until the entry appears on the folio, the buyer is not the owner against third parties.

Frequently asked questions

How much does closing cost?

We publish no fee figures, because they are updated. Notarial fees are calculated by the notaría itself under the schedule set by the Superintendencia de Notariado y Registro, and it is worth asking for that calculation in writing.

Who pays the notary and who pays the registry?

By custom the notarial fees are shared and the buyer carries the registration, but that is custom, not a rule. Put it in the promesa.

Why does registration matter more than the signing?

Because the deed evidences the act while registration produces the transfer. A signed, unrecorded act does not give the buyer the position they believe they bought.

Where to check it

• Superintendencia de Notariado y Registro — the certificate of title and encumbrances, which is the property's full history
• Ventanilla Única de Registro (VUR) — checking the registry folio online and ordering the certificate without visiting the office
• DIAN — the tax ID, withholding on sale and the capital gains tax
• Alcaldía Mayor de Cartagena de Indias — property tax, betterment levies and District procedures
• Instituto Geográfico Agustín Codazzi — the cadastral record, area, boundaries and assessed value of the property
• Cartagena de Indias — the rules of the municipality Cartagena belongs to

Official bodies. Specific figures are requested there, not copied from a listing.

Updated 2026-11-05