Colombia does not bar foreigners from buying homes, and in Crespo a good share of demand comes from abroad. What does exist is a sequence of formalities that, done in the wrong order, leave the investment unregistered with the central bank.
The purchase itself is the easy part. What determines whether you can take the money out later, and at what rate, is registering the foreign investment with the central bank, which must go through the formal exchange channel and not an ordinary transfer. On top of that come the tax ID with DIAN for the property's taxes, and the source-of-funds due diligence the real estate sector is required to perform.
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
The neighborhood you cross to enter or leave the city: residential, fully built out and pressed against the air terminal, with its own seafront. Family houses and residential buildings sit alongside apartments used for short stays because of how close the terminal is. It is the hinge between downtown and the Zona Norte: the exit to the Anillo Vial and the way into Rafael Núñez airport both run through it.
- what building height the lot allows under the airport approach path, because the aviation restriction stacks on top of District zoning and is the first fact left out when a lot is offered
- whether what stands matches the permit and the registry folio, a common gap in family houses split into apartments without registering the split
- how shoreline protection in front of the property was resolved and which body answers for that work, because it is not the seller
What to verify, step by step
- Decide before wiring any money whether you are buying personally or through a company, because the exchange registration and the tax treatment both depend on the answer.
- Ask the Banco de la República how foreign investment in real estate is registered and through which channel the funds must arrive.
- Obtain the Colombian tax ID from DIAN. You need it for property tax and for the eventual sale.
- If you will not attend the signing, grant a power of attorney before a Colombian consul or with an apostille, depending on where you are.
- Have your source-of-funds documentation ready before the promise of sale: the broker and the notary are required to request it.
- Check with Migración Colombia whether your situation fits the investor visa, which is a separate matter from the purchase.
Mistakes that cost money
- Wiring funds outside the formal exchange channel. The purchase registers anyway, but the investment does not, and you discover that when you sell.
- Assuming that buying grants residency automatically. They are two separate procedures with their own requirements.
- Signing the promise of sale without the power of attorney in hand when buying remotely, the commonest reason the closing date slips.
Frequently asked questions
- Do I need a Colombian foreigner ID to buy?
- Not to buy. Yes for some later formalities, and Migración Colombia defines which ones.
- Can I buy without travelling to Cartagena?
- Yes, with a power of attorney granted before a consul or apostilled. What you should not delegate is verifying the title.
- Are there restrictions on foreigners near the coast?
- The relevant restriction is not nationality but the nature of the land: the tidal zone is public domain and is not sold to anyone, Colombian or foreign.
Where to check it
- Banco de la República — registration of foreign investment and the official exchange rate
- DIAN — the tax ID, withholding on sale and the capital gains tax
- Migración Colombia — visas and the foreigner ID card, including the real-estate investor visa
- Cancillería de Colombia — current visa requirements and the apostille of foreign documents
- UIAF — the anti-money-laundering obligations that apply to the real estate sector
- 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 2026-11-05
More about Crespo
- Short-term renting in Crespo: what the law requires and what the building forbids
- Buying off-plan in Crespo: what is permitted and what is merely announced
- The building permit in Crespo: what it authorises and how to check it
- The mistakes buyers actually make in Crespo
- What you can build on a lot in Crespo: the rules before the design
The same, in other neighbourhoods
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