Patrick
The traditional model of selling apartment towers in Colombia, and many other places around the world, is based on pre-sales. The builder buys a lot, constructs a sales office that doubles as a demo unit, and begin to sell apartments until they reach a breakeven point and begin the construction. Anything sold after construction has begun usually equals profits for the builder.
For investment purposes, I would never buy a new or even semi-new apartment in Colombia and here is why:
Many Colombians like to buy in the pre-construction phase, wait 2-3 years and then sell upon completion, which is why you will often see a lot of “Se Vende” signs in brand-new buildings. Even if pre-construction “flippers” may earn 20% on their deal, they fail to recognize that there are a lot of expenses involved with flipping these properties, including double closing costs, property tax, capital gains tax, opportunity cost (investments that you are passing by because your capital is tied up in a project), and in some cases interest payments to the bank as well. In a country where you can safely earn 7% annual interest by leaving your money in a Fidecuenta with Bancolombia, it just makes no sense to get involved in this type of transaction, unless you’re looking to buy a personal residence for the long term.
That brings us to the benefits of buying an older apartment instead…
Price per m2
In Cali, which is the market I know the best, the new construction projects in the best stratus 5-6 neighborhoods, are selling for $3-5 million pesos per m2. By taking my time to carefully look around, I’ve been able to buy older apartments in the most attractive areas such as El Peñon and Granada, in some cases for as little as $1 million pesos per m2. Big difference, huh?
Sure, the building is older, maybe there is no elevator, nor swimming pool, but often you will find that the older units have something that the newer ones can not compete with, which brings me to rule #1 in real estate…
Location, location, location…
My business is tourism and most tourists want to be at the heart of the action within walking distance to most major attractions, restaurants, nightlife, etc. In premium locations like El Peñon and San Antonio, there are simply no available land for the big builders to buy and develop. This means that if you want to buy something you’ll have to go for something older, the benefit being the great location, something unattainable in most new projects. It’s the simple economics of supply and demand. Why do you think prices in Manhatten are so high?
Get it just like you want it and add value at the same time
If you are saving $2 million per m2 by buying something older, you’ll have a lot of money in excess to perform a stunning renovation, choose your own finish and get the place exactly like you want it.
I just did a total gut job on an older apartment. We tore out the floors, ceilings, old electrical grid, all the carpentry, all plumbing, moved several walls, opened the kitchen, installed natural gas, changed all the windows, installed A/C in all bedrooms and hot water in all bathrooms. Here’s the result. Total cost (without furniture) was about $600.000 pesos per m2. So I saved approximately $1.4 million pesos per m2 and got a killer location in the middle of the premium hotel district with most things worthwhile accessible by foot. For that kind of savings, I can live without the elevator. Not only is this property perfect for generating rental income, I’ve also added tremendous value to the unit. It looks like the places that sell for double or even triple the price without having the location – and I have no doubt that it will be worth at least 50% more within a few years.
Size
The layouts of most new units are just plain boring. I look at real estate every day, and most new projects feature something like 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms crammed into an 80 m2 apartment. You’ll need a rear sensor just to enter to bathrooms and it’s impossible for two people to pass each other in the bedrooms without knocking your knee into the footboard or stepping on the other person.
Older apartments, by comparison, tend to be a lot larger: bigger spaces, bigger balconies, bigger terraces, bigger bedrooms, bigger everything. They were built in a different era when fewer people were around, prices were different and the premium locations were something reserved for the high-society. Today many of these older buildings in premium locations are being overlooked because a big portion of buyers who can afford to live in stratus 5 and 6 are looking to buy something new.
If you want to buy new and spacious – which is almost impossible to find, expect to pay exorbitant prices. In Cali, there are a few such places by the zoo in Santa Teresita, like Solevante, where prices START at $1000 million pesos… and you still will not be able to find a Coca-Cola in a 5 block radius even if you tried.
Brick vs. Concrete walls
One of the things I love about the older buildings is the ability to configure your floorplans easily according to your liking. Most older (30-50 years old) buildings have been built on a traditional structural system based on large steel-reinforced columns of concrete that carry the building. Divisions are subsequently made in brick, but these walls are (normally) not load-bearing and for that reason, they can be torn down in order to open up the kitchen, make bathrooms bigger, demolish maid’s quarters, etc.
Many newer buildings in Colombia are built either as prefabrication or entirely out of concrete. Everything is poured: columns, slabs, and walls – this is known as the industrial system. They do this because it is a lot faster and allow builders to cast up 5 apartments per week. But, not only is it almost impossible to tear down a concrete wall, these walls usually make up part of the structural system of the building and therefore may not be (re)moved without risking the floor above you collapsing. It severely limits your future options for modifications.
Hint: Always make sure to consult with a structural engineer before (re)moving any walls in any building.
What is your personal experience? Have you flipped or fixed up anything in Colombia with success? Can you relate to any of the things I mention above? I’d love to hear from you in the comments below.
Good article Patrick. !
Nice article. I did the same in buying an older apartment in Bogotá’s calle 22. I still have to refurbish it however. Great to see another that has done it.
Great article man, you raise some good points.
Couple of things Id love your take on:
Notice you mentioned Fidecuenta from bancolombia. Have you done much research into the best savings plans/interest rates- with different banks here? Plan semilla etc….
Also have you thought about doing an article on buying shares here in Colombian companys?
keep up the good work!
Hi Bobby,
Thanks for the comment. To be honest, I have not done an extensive research into the different savings plans available, yet. I use Bancolombia and I know that several banks including Banco de Occidente also have similar savings accounts. The advantage with the fiducuenta compared to a CDT is that you can move money as you please without penalty. In a CDT you may earn a slightly higher interest rate but your funds are usually locked in for a certain period.
The only Colombian companies on the stock exchange I would invest in are the banks, which I wrote a post on here. The way they screw their clients over with insane fees and interest rates, you just know it’s a good business, haha!
Best, Patrick
Thanks Stuart and good luck! 🙂
Tak Bjørn!
Thanks for this article man, so timely I just came across is as I’ve been seriously looking at a project lately in Granada and getting close to buying and this has made me consider maybe waiting and searching more for something existing instead. 👍
Awesome, let me know how it goes!
I’m going to be in Cali August 5-12 to set up a bank account and possibly buy a home in Granada. I’d be so grateful to be able to meet up with you and get some references for construction, engineers, etc. I’m not sure I trust this current deal but will be investing as soon as I have a solid agreement. With this seller or another! I’ll buy dinner if you can share your knowledge!
Patrick,
Nice article.
I’ve looked at a couple of older apartments and found that they have had extensive additions and remodeling but the deed mentions none of it, which frankly is quite alarming.
1. Is that normal for Colombia?
2. Is it automatically a rotten egg?
Patrick, this is awesome. Love the details you go into, especially your unit that you’ve completed. I noticed that you don’t have email subscription on your site.. I don’t check fb often and would like to keep updated on your site cause you’ve got some great articles!
He does, but it’s a pop-up window that lets you subscribe… try making sure your pop-up blocker is not blocking these! cheers…
Hi Patrick,
Really interesting and educational article! I am looking to buy something in Cali at the moment, do you have a good trustworthy lawyer and architect you can recommend.
Many thanks.
George
What resources are people using to search for properties online if any? Or are most of you searching through agents in town? I’ve seen some things on encuentra24 but extremely difficult site to get any real info (location particularly).
fincaraiz.com.co is in my opinion the best option for searching classified real estate ads in Colombia.
Hi … I have an apto. located in El Peñon which I am thinking of selling. It is in a great location. Is there any info you can provide me in how to sell it?
CALI is a wonderful City have visited twice as I have family living there.
Great article. I agree with everything 100%. I have remodeled some apartments in Colombia and find it not only cheaper but the quality afterwards is much higher and you know what you’re getting. My thoughts are if the building is 20-30 years old the chance of having a major foundation issue is minimal. I pay about 3-5 million per m2 for the unit and 1-1.5 for the materials/labor/furnishing so it ends up being about half of what a new unit costs and the interior will be more high end.
Exactly!
About foundation issues, that is some truth to that… BUT, several times, when buying an old building, upon breaking up the tiles on the ground floor, we have found that there was no concrete foundation below the tiles, just a thin layer of cement straight on the ground. This causes humidity to rise up from the ground. If you have bubbly paint in the walls on the first floor of an older building, then that is usually what is happening.
In those cases, we have had to excavate the soil, waterproof the socket of the walls, then make a multiple-layer concrete base consisting of gravel, a fabric called “geotextil”, and plastic, followed by a metal grid and concrete layer.
It’s a LOT of work and an easy way to blow a budget. So make sure you check for this before buying, as humidity will damage the indoor climate and can cause problems for people with astma and the like.