When buying land in Colombia one of the first things you’ll need to do is Obtain a Certificate of Tradition and Liberty (Certificado de Tradición y Libertad). which certifies the existence of a property, its legal status, characteristics and owners. You can watch the video below or continue reading and check out the links below the video.

Download the Certificado de Tradición y Libertad

This document is a public document that can be obtained by using the property’s registration number and searching through the appropriate registration offices records. Everything can be done online for a very small fee. It costs about $20,000 pesos which equals about $5 dollars, £4 pounds or about €4.7 euros. To make payment you will need a local bank account. However, at Tycoon we handle all of these administrative and due diligence tasks for you. We translate this document and then forward you the translated certificate. If you’re interested in learning more about how Tycoon can help you buy land in Colombia, simply contact us today. We have land for sale in some of the most popular and beautiful destinations within Colombia including Guatapé, Salento and Jardin.

Obtaining the “Certificado de Tradición y Libertad” is really a two step process. 

First: You’re going to need to obtain this document: 

In the video above, I’ll show you a sample document. The document you’ll see in that video is issued by the Superintendency of Notaries and Registry of Colombia (Superintendencia de Notariado y Registro de Colombia). This document provides full transparency of the property. Think of it sort of like the property’s resume and its legal status at the time it is issued. 

The document provides important details about the property including:

1. Sequential ownership history, 

2. Construction details

3. Age of the property

4. Location

5. Description of the property. It also  lists the property type (house, apartment, farm, raw land or horizontal property).

6. Business the property has been immersed in if there is any.

7. Method of acquisition

8. Legal status of the property

9. Current liens, mortgages or ownership limitations

So this is a sample of the information you’ll learn more about once you obtain the document. 

But there should be a second step to this process as well.

Second: You’re going to want to double check the information on the document

As a foreign land investor, you should verify the information on this document and perform extra due diligence on it. 

For example, one common issue in Colombia is that the land is often not surveyed or defined by local municipalities. So verifying plot size information is critical. Another common issue is that sometimes property titles don’t exist. And lastly, family inheritances can be a factor that need to be considered when looking at these documents. Obviously, you want to catch these issues early on. Again, over at Tycoon we help you do all of this due diligence. 

Conclusion

So that’s the importance of the Certificate of Tradition and Liberty in a nutshell. Obtaining this document will be one of the first things you do during the land buying process in Colombia. 

But before you buy land in Colombia as a foreigner, you first need to find land. So head over to Tycoon today and search through our listings of land for sale in Colombia. 

Thanks for stopping by today