Buying Property in Bay Harbor Islands from Colombia: Documents and Steps

You can buy an unit in Bay Harbor Islands without setting foot in Miami, but the file is assembled in Colombia and that takes time. The power of attorney, the apostille and the route the money takes are the three pieces that decide whether closing happens on the agreed date.

A remote purchase does not fail over price: it fails over a document that arrived without an apostille, a transfer held at the correspondent bank, or a power of attorney drafted in Bogotá that the Florida title company will not accept. Each of those three is fixed in advance, and none of them is fixed in closing week. On top of that, because Colombia and the United States have no double-taxation treaty, coordinating what you declare in Colombia with what the property generates there is resolved with an accountant in each country, and is best raised when the file opens rather than after signing.

Bay Harbor Islands forces a check that exists nowhere else: the address decides which rulebook applies, because the town administers two islands with separate zoning, and what is permitted on one is not authorized on the other. Buyers abroad sometimes sign off a floor plan without knowing which side they are on, then learn that the use, the height or the rental they assumed belongs to the other shore. The second distinguishing feature is the counterparty: canal-front houses and buildings with very few units dominate here, so across the table there is rarely a professional manager with an orderly archive, but an individual owner, a family estate, or a tiny association governed among neighbors whose minutes may be a notebook. That stretches out document delivery. Ask the town exactly what that island and that parcel allow; ask your closing attorney who issues the estoppel when the association has no manager; and, if there is a dock, ask what marine construction approval the town requires and what the county and state authorities require on top of it.

What is specific to Bay Harbor Islands

What to verify, step by step

1. Engage a Florida-licensed real estate attorney and a licensed broker first, and check both licences in the state register before handing over documents.
2. Ask the title company and the attorney for the wording of the power of attorney they accept, and have it executed before a notary in Colombia using that wording, not a generic template.
3. Have the power of attorney and any identity documents apostilled by the Colombian foreign ministry, and order the translation the title company requires.
4. Ask your bank in Colombia and the closing agent for the exact transfer route, what source-of-funds support they require and in whose name the closing funds are drawn.
5. Confirm in writing who signs what on closing day: you remotely, your attorney-in-fact in Miami or both, and whether any signature requires physical presence.
6. Ask an accountant in Colombia and one in the United States what obligations ownership creates in each country, given that there is no double-taxation treaty between them.

Mistakes that cost money

• Executing the power of attorney in Colombia with your own template and discovering at closing that the title company requires different wording. Redoing it with an apostille from Bogotá delays the deal.
• Wiring the money without first asking what source-of-funds support the closing agent requires, and watching the transfer sit on hold.
• Leaving tax questions until after signing, when the title structure is already set and changing it is costly.

Frequently asked questions

Do you have to travel to Miami to sign?

Many closings are done remotely under a power of attorney, but which remote signatures are accepted is set by the title company and by the lender, if there is a mortgage. Ask before booking a flight or ruling one out.

Where is a Colombian power of attorney apostilled?

The apostille is issued by the competent Colombian authority; the U.S. consulate is not a substitute. Confirm with your notary and the title company exactly which documents need one.

What about the mortgage?

Financing has its own file and its own calendar: it is covered in the article on mortgages for Colombian buyers. It is best resolved before making an offer.

Where to check it

• Miami-Dade Clerk of the Courts — deeds, liens, encumbrances and litigation on the property
• Florida DBPR — whether a broker, appraiser or contractor holds a current licence
• FinCEN — reporting applicable to all-cash real estate purchases
• Internal Revenue Service — the non-resident owner's federal tax obligations
• Town of Bay Harbor Islands — the rules of the municipality Bay Harbor Islands belongs to

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

Updated 2026-11-06