- For foreign buyers
- Built with local realtors
- Updated this quarter
Here's 99% of what you need to know before buying in Santa Marta.
The 12 documents we wish we had before buying in Santa Marta. What each zone costs, what it earns in a season that runs on Colombian holidays, how long it sits before it sells. Plus the things nobody writes down: which fees to refuse, and what a seller hopes you will not check.
The 12 documents to make a good real estate investment in Santa Marta in 2026
Half the towers on the corridor were built for a rental season that lasts a few weeks a year, and the water does not reach all of them every day. These documents show you what is actually earned and paid here. They are put together with realtors, notaría staff and owners we work with in the city.
Questions
Do you list your sources?
Yes, on every table. Each one says where the figures came from and the month they were collected: the property registry, published notaría rates, listing and nightly rate histories we track ourselves, building accounts shared with us by owners, and what the agents we work with in each zone are seeing week to week. Anything that is an estimate rather than a recorded number is labelled as one.
Is the water situation as bad as people say?
In parts of the city, yes, and it is the single thing foreign buyers know least about. Supply is rationed by sector, some buildings run largely on stored water and tanker deliveries, and the difference between two towers a few streets apart can be significant. Which zones, and what to ask about the tank and the pump, is in document 03.
Can I buy a house on the beach?
Not the beach itself. The strip nearest the water is public land by law and cannot be owned by anyone, which does not stop it being sold to people who do not know that. What can be owned, where the line falls and what a concession actually gives you is covered in documents 02 and 09.
Can a foreigner actually own property here?
Yes, in your own name, with the same rights as a Colombian and no trust or special permit involved. The part that catches people out is on the way in: money brought into the country has to be registered with the central bank, and if it is not, taking it back out when you sell becomes a problem. Document 07 covers how that is done.
Are the prices in pesos or dollars?
Pesos, because that is how the market quotes and negotiates. Every table also carries a dollar column, with the rate and the date we used, so you can see what a peso price meant at that moment rather than at today's.
What is an estrato and does it matter to me?
It is a number from one to six attached to the address, and it decides what you pay for water, power and gas, and it feeds into your property tax. Two similar flats in different estratos have very different running costs, which is why it appears in most of these documents.
How long are the documents?
One to four pages each. They are tables and checklists rather than reports, so any one of them takes about ten minutes to read.
Which areas do you cover?
Sixteen zones: Centro Histórico, Bavaria, Mamatoco, Taganga, El Rodadero, Gaira, Playa Salguero, Zazué, Bello Horizonte, Pozos Colorados, Irotama, Don Jaca, Bonda, Minca, Guachaca and Los Naranjos. If you need somewhere or a specific project that is not in there, write to us and we will put it together for you at no extra cost.
I have a question about my own situation.
Ask us. If the answer is in the research we already have, we will send it. If it needs a call to someone in that zone or a look at a specific building, we will do that too and come back to you, at no extra cost.
Is $49 a lot for a set of documents?
You are about to spend a few hundred thousand dollars on a property, in a country whose paperwork you did not grow up with. Land that was never private, a season that pays for a few weeks a year, money you cannot repatriate: there are plenty of ways this gets expensive. We have done the homework so that you do not have to.
What format are they in, and when do I get them?
PDF, so you can read them on your phone, tablet or computer. The download link appears on screen straight after payment and a copy arrives by email.
How often are they updated?
Every quarter. Our contacts in Santa Marta re-check the numbers before each release, so the version you download today is the one updated this quarter.
I have another question.
Ask us on the contact page and we will get back to you.
Three packs
The first pack has 4 documents, the second has 6, and the third has all 12 of our Santa Marta research.
All the data and information in these documents was checked this year with agents, notaría staff and owners working in Santa Marta.