Common expenses are not negotiated with the seller: a registered document sets them and an ownership share already written down divides them. What the buyer decides is whether to read that before signing or to discover it with the first bill.
For a retail unit the base of the monthly charge can come from different places, and that is where the differences start. Where the property is under propiedad horizontal —the Colombian condominium regime— the reglamento, recorded in a public deed and registered, assigns each unit its coeficiente de copropiedad, the ownership share, and that share divides the expensas comunes and the weight of the vote at the asamblea. Where there is no propiedad horizontal there may be a neighbours' association or a subdivision covenant charging on another base, and it is worth knowing which document it charges under. On top of the ordinary charge come the levies the asamblea approves and, separately, the impuesto predial and betterment levies collected by the District, which are not common expenses at all. And one debt matters more than the charge itself: the seller's, because unpaid expensas are pursued against the property rather than against whoever left.
A retail unit is bought differently because you are not buying a space but the possibility that someone can trade in it, and that possibility is granted by third parties. Two permissions are needed and nobody bundles them: the one the land-use rules give for that specific lot, and the one the copropiedad's reglamento gives, which need not agree. On top of those sit the tenant's own business permits, applied for activity by activity. The second difference is the relationship with the tenant. A lease of premises for commercial purposes runs under rules distinct from residential tenancies, with an expectation of continuity for the tenant that is worth having a lawyer spell out before signing, because the buyer steps into a contract that already exists and inherits its history. The third is that the unit depends on what lies outside it: façade, signage, pavement, loading area and public access are normally bien común, common property, or public space. What makes the unit profitable, in other words, is not inside its walls and is not decided from within the unit.
The procedural difference here is not the land but the building: almost everything is older, dense propiedad horizontal, the condominium regime, and the decision-maker is not the District but the owners' assembly acting through its bylaws. Buying means reading those bylaws before any brochure, reviewing recent assembly minutes, and asking the building manager for the paz y salvo, a no-arrears certificate, the approved budget and any special assessments, because a repair levy already voted passes to the buyer who never voted on it. Since the area lives on lodging, the registro nacional de turismo, the national tourism registry, joins in: the provider must be registered, the bylaws must permit that use, and the two must agree, because one is demanded by a national body and the other depends on the neighbors. The counterparty is usually an owner already renting the unit, sometimes through an operator under a live management contract, so establish what transfers with the property and what stays tied to the previous operator.
What is specific to El Laguito
The tip of Bocagrande, surrounded by water on almost every side and given over to visitor lodging since it was built. Older, very dense apartment towers, with much of the inventory given to short stays and apartment-hotels. The only way in is across Bocagrande along a narrow road that ends at the point, with no alternative exit.
- what the reglamento de propiedad horizontal, the condominium bylaws, say about renting by the night, since the assembly may have restricted it and that decides the business
- whether the unit and the building hold registro nacional de turismo entries, the national tourism registry, and in whose name, because the duty falls on whoever provides the service
- the condominium's accounts and pending lawsuits, along with façade and pipework upkeep in a building exposed to salt air
What to verify, step by step
- Request the reglamento de propiedad horizontal exactly as registered and look for the table of coeficientes, not a summary forwarded by chat.
- Confirm on the certificado de tradición y libertad that the reglamento and its amendments are registered against the property's folio.
- Ask the administrador for the unit's account statement, the approved budget, recent asamblea minutes and a clearance certificate in the seller's name.
- Review what sets the charging base for retail units: whether the POT (the city's land-use plan) allows commercial use on that specific lot and whether the reglamento de propiedad horizontal admits it — two separate permissions, and you need both; whether the particular activity planned requires a concepto de uso de suelo (a land-use ruling) and who applies for it, owner or tenant and how façade, signage, pavement and loading area are allocated, since these are usually bien común even though the unit uses them daily.
- Add what is worth confirming in El Laguito: what the reglamento de propiedad horizontal, the condominium bylaws, say about renting by the night, since the assembly may have restricted it and that decides the business; whether the unit and the building hold registro nacional de turismo entries, the national tourism registry, and in whose name, because the duty falls on whoever provides the service and the condominium's accounts and pending lawsuits, along with façade and pipework upkeep in a building exposed to salt air.
- Ask the District about the standing of the impuesto predial and any betterment levy on the property, and search the Rama Judicial for collection proceedings against the seller or over the property.
Mistakes that cost money
- Asking how much the dues are and settling for the spoken answer. The share and the budget set them, and both are documents.
- Confusing the dues with the impuesto predial. They are paid to different bodies and claimed through different routes.
- Treating the debt as settled because the seller says he is current. The clearance certificate is issued by the administrador, not by the seller.
Frequently asked questions
- Can I get the account statement for a retail unit from abroad?
- Yes. The administrador issues it by email on a written request from you or your attorney-in-fact, and the seller usually has to authorise it.
- Can my unit's ownership share be changed?
- That is an amendment to the reglamento, decided by the asamblea under the majorities the reglamento itself requires. It is not something a buyer arranges with the administrador.
- What if the property is not under propiedad horizontal?
- Then ask whether a neighbours' association exists and under which document it charges, because the obligation comes from that document and not from custom.
Where to check it
- Superintendencia de Notariado y Registro — the certificate of title and encumbrances, which is the property's full history
- Alcaldía Mayor de Cartagena de Indias — property tax, betterment levies and District procedures
- Rama Judicial — whether there is pending litigation over the property or its owners
- Cartagena de Indias — the rules of the municipality El Laguito belongs to
Official bodies. Specific figures are requested there, not copied from a listing.
Updated 2026-11-06
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