Key takeaways
- The escritura, the public deed signed before a notary, states the price in Colombian pesos.
- Closing normally takes 30 to 45 days once the deal is agreed, and that gap is where the risk lives.
- It should not understate the price to reduce notary and registry costs: buyer closing costs run about 2 percent of the price (notary 0.27 percent, registry 0.67 percent, beneficencia 1 percent), so the saving is small, while the declared price becomes your acquisition cost when you sell and capital gains are taxed at 15 percent on a property held two years or more.
The contract price must be stated in Colombian pesos. A deed can reference a dollar amount, but pesos are the operative figure, and whoever agrees to a peso number fixed today carries the exchange-rate risk until payment. Write the clause so the currency, the conversion rate and the date of that rate are all named.
Can a Colombian purchase contract be written in dollars?
The escritura, the public deed signed before a notary, states the price in Colombian pesos. That is the number the notary records, the number the property registry sees, and the number that drives your closing costs and, later, your capital gains calculation. A dollar figure can appear in the private promise of sale (promesa de compraventa) and in the listing conversation, but it functions as a reference, not as the obligation.
This matters because luxury pricing in Oriente Antioqueño and Medellín is routinely discussed in dollars. Every US-dollar price you see, including the ones on this site, is an approximation of a peso figure at the day’s market rate. The official reference rate is the TRM, the tasa representativa del mercado, published daily by Colombia’s financial regulator; you can check the rate for any given date on the regulator’s own site and that published figure is what a lawyer will cite in a clause.
So when a seller says a finca is priced at a round dollar number, the honest translation is: a peso number exists, and the dollar number moves with the rate while the peso number sits still.
Who carries the exchange-rate risk between signing and closing?
Whoever’s home currency is not the contract currency. Closing normally takes 30 to 45 days once the deal is agreed, and that gap is where the risk lives.
If the price is fixed in pesos and you are funding from abroad, you carry it. The peso amount is locked; the dollars you must wire to produce that peso amount change daily. A move in your favour makes the house cheaper in dollars. A move against you makes it more expensive, and you are still obliged to deliver the full peso figure on deed day.
If the parties instead fix a dollar amount and agree to convert at the TRM on the payment date, the seller carries it. The seller has agreed to accept whatever pesos that dollar figure buys on the day, which may be fewer pesos than they expected when they signed.
Three ways parties actually handle it:
- Peso price, fixed. Cleanest, most common, and what most Colombian sellers will insist on. The buyer absorbs all currency movement.
- Dollar price converted at TRM on a named date. Shifts the risk to the seller. Workable when the seller also thinks in dollars.
- A collar or band. The peso price holds while the TRM stays inside an agreed range; outside it, the parties renegotiate or a stated adjustment applies. Harder to negotiate, but it splits the exposure instead of parking it on one side.
A practical fourth option is not a clause at all: convert early. Once the promesa is signed, moving funds into pesos removes the question entirely for the rest of the 30 to 45 day run to the deed.
How should the price clause actually be written?
A clause that survives scrutiny names five things:
- The peso amount, in figures and in words. Colombian notaries expect both, and the words govern if they disagree with the figures.
- The currency of payment. State that payment is made in Colombian pesos, even if the buyer funds from a foreign account.
- The reference rate, if a dollar figure appears. Name the TRM and name the date: the TRM of the payment date, of the promesa date, or of a specific calendar day. “At the prevailing rate” is not a date and invites a dispute.
- The payment schedule. Deposit on the promesa, balance at the deed, with each tranche expressed in pesos.
- The foreign-exchange registration. Funds entering Colombia to buy property are brought in through the regulated channel and registered with the central bank as foreign investment. That registration is what lets you take capital out later, and your lawyer handles the declaration alongside the deed. The clause should state that the buyer is responsible for it.
Two things the price clause should not do. It should not understate the price to reduce notary and registry costs: buyer closing costs run about 2 percent of the price (notary 0.27 percent, registry 0.67 percent, beneficencia 1 percent), so the saving is small, while the declared price becomes your acquisition cost when you sell and capital gains are taxed at 15 percent on a property held two years or more. And it should not leave the conversion date blank.
Before any of this, the certificate of tradition and freedom is pulled using the property’s registry number to confirm the registered owner and any liens. The price clause only matters if the seller can convey. See Colombia luxury real estate for how pricing varies by municipality, and luxury listings for current asking figures, which are dollar approximations of peso prices.
Frequently asked questions
Can the escritura be signed in US dollars?
No. The public deed records the price in Colombian pesos. A dollar amount can appear in the private promise of sale as a reference, but the peso figure is the binding obligation and the one the property registry and the tax authority see.
What is the TRM and where do I check it?
The TRM (tasa representativa del mercado) is Colombia's official daily peso-dollar reference rate, published by the financial regulator. You can look up the rate for any specific date on the regulator's own site, which is why a contract clause should name a date, not just say "market rate".
How long am I exposed to currency movement?
Closing normally takes 30 to 45 days once the deal is agreed. That is the window between the promesa de compraventa and the deed. Converting your funds to pesos early in that window ends the exposure regardless of what the clause says.
Does declaring a lower price in the deed save me money?
Barely, and it costs you later. Buyer closing costs run about 2 percent of the declared price. That declared price also becomes your acquisition cost, so understating it raises the gain taxed at 15 percent when you sell after two years or more.
Do I need to register the incoming funds?
Yes. Money brought in to buy property is moved through the regulated foreign-exchange channel and registered with the central bank as foreign investment. That registration is what permits repatriation of capital later. Your lawyer files the declaration around the time of the deed.
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