Withholdings and taxes at closing: what is settled when buying a beachfront house in Crespo

Closing is not a single payment: different taxes are settled with different authorities, and some are withheld by someone who is not a party to the deal. The nature of the property changes what gets settled, which is why the closing list for a lot is not the closing list for an unit under propiedad horizontal.

The question that really decides money is not how much, but who settles it and what happens if it was settled wrongly. The notaría withholds and declares in the deed whatever the law tells it to; the registry office charges its own fees to record the transfer; the District answers for the impuesto predial (annual property tax) and for any contribución de valorización (betterment levy) attached to the land; and the DIAN is the authority that states, according to the nature and the intended use of the property, which withholding applies to the transaction and who is obliged to apply it. When what you are buying is a beachfront house, that answer shifts: undeveloped land, an unit under propiedad horizontal and a property destined for a commercial activity are not settled the same way. And what was left unpaid in the past does not stay with the seller: the land arrives with its own history, which is why the paz y salvo (clearance certificate) is requested before signing and not after.

A beachfront house is bought differently because one of its boundaries was not drawn by a surveyor: the water draws it and the State defines it. In front of the lot lies a strip that is bien de uso público of the Nation —public domain— which cannot be sold, fenced or acquired by the passage of time. So part of what you enjoy from the terrace will never belong to anyone, and the public keeps its right of access. That condition reshapes the whole review. A clean deed and a clean folio are not enough: you need to know where that line sits today, whether any structure on the lot crossed it, and whether a proceeding is open before the maritime or environmental authority, because building on public land is not cured with money or at a notaría. The second point is that the property lives inside a medium that attacks it. Salt air and surf work on the structure year round, so what you buy includes maintenance that never pauses and, very often, a coastal protection work whose owner and whose duty to repair are worth identifying before signing, especially when it sits outside the boundary or is shared with neighbors.

Here the file is complicated by a neighbor nobody negotiates with: the air terminal. The neighborhood sits under the approach path, so a building project is not reviewed only by the curaduría urbana, the private office that grants permits, but also by the civil aviation authority, which sets the obstacle limitation surfaces, and by the operator running the airport under concession. That reorders the procedure: before buying with any plan to add height, request the land-use opinion from the District and ask about the aviation ruling, because that is where a seller's assumptions collapse. On top of height there is noise exposure, which never appears on the certificado de tradición y libertad, the registry history and encumbrance certificate, and does appear in the airfield regime, so the exposure sits in the rules over the land rather than in the title itself. The counterparty differs too: a formal neighborhood of long-standing owners, with unsettled sucesiones, estate proceedings, and houses carved into several apartments without registering the split, so compare the original permit against what stands before accepting a per-unit valuation.

What is specific to Crespo

What to verify, step by step

1. Ask the DIAN which withholdings and which taxes are settled on a sale like yours, who is obliged to apply them and at what point in the closing. The answer depends on the nature of the property and on the seller's status, not on what the parties agree.
2. What the nature of a beachfront house forces you to check before accepting the closing statement: where the zona de bajamar (the tidal strip, public domain of the Nation) ends in front of the lot, because nothing built on it conveys with the house; whether the fence, pool or terrace encroach on that strip, and whether any proceeding is open before the maritime or environmental authority and how wave protection was solved and who owns the protection works, which often sit outside the boundary line.
3. Ask the District for the paz y salvo on the impuesto predial and for the status of any betterment levy on the property in Crespo, recently dated and issued against the registry folio rather than against the seller's name.
4. Order the certificado de tradición y libertad from the Superintendencia de Notariado y Registro and read whether any attachment, mortgage or encumbrance is still to be released, because that is cleared before the transfer can be recorded.
5. Ask the building manager for the paz y salvo on ordinary dues and on approved special assessments, and ask whether any has been approved but not yet billed.
6. Ask the notaría for the closing statement in writing before signing, with each item listed separately and with the authority each one goes to, and have your accountant review it before you transfer.

Mistakes that cost money

• Negotiating who pays what without knowing who is legally obliged to withhold. Splitting costs between the parties does not displace the statutory duty, and the shortfall shows up in the deed or at recording.
• Requesting the clearance certificate in the seller's name. It is the land that is charged: ask for it against the matrícula inmobiliaria (registry folio).
• Treating signature as the end of the closing. Until the deed is recorded, anything still unsettled keeps holding up registration.

Frequently asked questions

Why do you not publish what closing costs?

Because rates and taxable bases change, and because they depend on the nature of the property and on the seller's status. The actual statement comes from the notaría in writing and is confirmed by the DIAN.

Does anything change if I buy a beachfront house rather than something else?

What gets settled, and with whom. That is why the first step is to ask the DIAN about your specific transaction, with the property's intended use on the table.

Who do I ask for the clearance certificate?

Property tax and betterment levy, the District; dues, the condominium manager; and the state of encumbrances, the certificado de tradición y libertad.

Where to check it

• 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
• Superintendencia de Notariado y Registro — the certificate of title and encumbrances, which is the property's full history
• Cartagena de Indias — the rules of the municipality Crespo belongs to

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

Updated 2026-11-06