"International Living" magazine has Colombia listed on its cover this month.

[Alabamaboy!]

International Living magazine (www.internationalliving.com) has Colombia listed on its cover as being an awesome place to retire. There are several articles in this month's edition and they have highlighted Bogota, Medellin, Santa Marta, and even Barranquilla.

I cannot agree with all of the rosy projections, but it was interesting to read another's perspective.

I was ready to pull the trigger on a beachfront condo in Santa Marta in Feb, but opted instead for a condo in San Diego, CA about 2 miles from Sea World and the beaches.

[mudd]

Colombia still has security issues, not so stable govt and not to mention Farc. A few bombs go off in tourists places and you will see the plug pulled on Colombia, no to mention the real estate prices will plummet big time.

[Alabamaboy!]

Mudd do you really think the real estate prices could collapse like that? The only real place I have seen any great number of Gringos or Europeans is in Cartagena. Otherwise it seems like the real estate prices are driven by Colombians and they are probably used to all the violence and would not be easily shaken. I have not been to Medellin yet though. I hear there is quite a large number of gringos there at this time.

[mudd]

oh yessssssssss, lots of gringos buying $ 100,000 to $ 500,000 USD condos and penthouses in Medellin,  one building in Medellin, parque lleras area  , is known as " the gringo bldg"  because 15 or so  gringos live in the top floors of the bldg, have loud parties and lots of prepagos coming and going. it got so bad and so many complaints from the other tentants, the admin of the bldg started kicking out girls and not letting up any girls and started giving fines.

so, the flow of gringos with lots of $$$ to blow, pushed up the price in this area, but not so  much  other areas of Medellin.


as far as a collapse in Colombia, when the Farc was going strong, no foreigners were buying any property in Colombia because it wasn't worth the risk,  no foreigners want to live in a country where guerrillas are killing, kidnapping people and blowing stuff up.

so, if that starts to happen again, you will see a big exodus of foreigners and their $$$$.


not to be so freaky, but if i was the Farc and really wanted to hurt  the Colombian economy, i would target where foreigners go, because once the word gets out, that foreigners are being targeted, they wont be around long, and the govt would lose a lot of $$$$

[Alabamaboy!]

Mudd through your travels have you seen any other cities where gringos have pushed up the prices yet? Other than CTG that is.

I think picking a city with minimal gringo influence would insulate you from any type of "crash" because it is not like the Colombians are all of the sudden going to pull out of BAQ or Santa Marta for instance.

Maybe Bogota would be at risk.

A nice city like Manizales, Armenia,  or Popayan might be a good bet.

[mudd]

in colombia, so far, only cartagena and medellin, somewhat in santa marta, bogota is just too big,
in other countries, costa rica, panama

[Gato4Astrid]

Typical these gringos - no respect for other tenants!  Party, loud noises for their own pleasure!!

[CROW]

Mudd do you really think the real estate prices could collapse like that? The only real place I have seen any great number of Gringos or Europeans is in Cartagena. Otherwise it seems like the real estate prices are driven by Colombians and they are probably used to all the violence and would not be easily shaken. I have not been to Medellin yet though. I hear there is quite a large number of gringos there at this time.

I see more gringos walking around Medellin than Cali but I seriously doubt if there are more than a couple hundred gringos that own real property in Medellin....certainly not enough to move the real estate market in a city the size of Medellin IMHO.

I wouldn't worry about the market falling out of the real estate market in Colombia like it has in the U.S. The real estate market is just not leveraged enough for that to happen....people are just not going to walk away from their properties like in the US because the owe more than the property is worth.

The worst drop in real estate prices I have see in Colombia is about 10%  (14 years ago) and that was because the cartels moved vast amounts of money out of the Colombian banking system and drove up the interest rates on the few variable rate mortgages that people actually had and some lost their houses because of it.

Alot of colombians rent but most colombians who  own homes own them outright and the ones that have mortages put down large down payments so the market is just much more stable than the US market.

[Alabamaboy!]

Thanks Crow. Your report verified everything I was thinking.

[utopiacowboy]

My wife owns her apartment in Medellin free and clear. It is in a nice area but it used to be worth about $30,000 and now is worth about $100,000 due to the drop in the US dollar and rising prices. To me the prices are ridiculous. Colombian wages are low and yet the price of a comparable condominium in a nice area of San Antonio is only slightly higher than my wife's place. A lot of money pours into Colombia from remittances and the drug trade and that money finds its way into the real estate market. Local wages cannot support these price levels.

[Pivery]

 Thanks for posting the link Alabamaboy. Very nice to see Colombia being a country that is being considered for more than just going to get laid
for the weekend. Although I do not totally agree with his portrayal of Bogotá, it is a city that shows promise and with the right leadership and
nothing getting too far out of hand (Farc, bombings, kidnappings, etc.) could be a great city. 

Pivery

[JimD]

Average temperature in Bogotá ranges from 58 degrees in the months of Aug. Sept. Oct. to 64 in the months of April and May. Unless enamored of cold spring weather in say the mid-west many would not consider this an appealing climate to move to. In fact I think if you opened an international living article with that temperature range you´d have a lot of readers who wouldn´t bother to read further. Bogotá is in some ways like a New York City (where I grew up) that never experiences summer.

[robert angel]

While the summer might not be long, the NYC where I was born (born Manhattan, moved to Bronx) got hotter, temperature wise, than a five dollar pistol. All that steel and concrete, especially in July and August, just absorbed and retained heat. I remember brown outs, mainly because so many people were cranking up the AC and it seemed I was as hot there as in any of the many places I've been to.

Oddly the same hold true to the cold in the winter. While there, it wasn't as cold temperature wise as say Detroit, it was a nasty, wetter, 'sink into your bones' type of cold' combined with winds whistling between the tall buildings. Detroit? Lower temps, more snow, but dryer air--I'd take that weather over NYC in January any time.

I have seen off the charts low temperatures in Montana and snow up in the mountains in July and because it was so dry, it just didn't seem so terrible. I guess high humidity and wind are the really boogy men weather wise...

[Alabamaboy!]

Average temperature in Bogotá ranges from 58 degrees in the months of Aug. Sept. Oct. to 64 in the months of April and May. Unless enamored of cold spring weather in say the mid-west many would not consider this an appealing climate to move to. In fact I think if you opened an international living article with that temperature range you´d have a lot of readers who wouldn´t bother to read further. Bogotá is in some ways like a New York City (where I grew up) that never experiences summer.

Yeah Bogota does nothing for me. I feel depressed within 5 minutes of being there. As hot, sweaty, and dirty as BAQ is, I always am in a good mood there. I like Cali weather, but no beach. I have heard a lot of good things about Armenia and Pereira.

[JimD]

Both have great weather. A little cooler than Cali.

[utopiacowboy]

I have seen off the charts low temperatures in Montana and snow up in the mountains in July and because it was so dry, it just didn't seem so terrible. I guess high humidity and wind are the really boogy men weather wise...

I lived in Missoula and the winters were ok - cold but not a lot of snow and nice clear, crisp weather. Lots better than your typical New England winter.