Medellin Reports

[Osteoknot]

Moving a bit fast there Speedy Gonzalez.

Some of you guys get a taste of foreign chocha and lose your damns minds!

Not trying to tell you how to live your life amigo, just try not to end up like this guy (who was also moving a bit fast):

Horrifying end for man seeking love in Brazil

https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-...ove-in-brazil/

Thanks for the shout-out and concern, really.

I've known my novia for 2 years. This is my second trip to MDE, I spent 6 months here first time pre-Covid starting in 2019, for a total of nine months here.

As far as first taste of Paisa Poontang, I have mongered on six continents, been laid on seven. I am not liquidating my assets back here in the states so there will be 3-4 trips per year back and forth, hopefully with the various chicas I put on "work" visas, but I openly admit to that part being unchartered territory at this stage. I had more pussy in the United States than I needed but was fed up with the culture, personal and professional.

I had my sites on settling in Cambodia (Lao was better except it is landlocked) and thought Medellin was the last place I wanted to be until I got here for the first time in 2019. I lived in Miami during the height of the Cocaine Wars and my impression of Medellin was all that Pablo Escobar shit, so I was trying to avoid coming here. I had met my novia briefly elsewhere, and we Wassapped for a year before I showed up. Her not wanting to leave Medellin (Unlike the 90 Day Fiance reality TV show) and wanting me to come here instead intrigued me, but of course that did not rule-out potential foul-play.

I took all kinds of precautions before my first visit. I hired a Private Detective agency and did a back ground check on her and had her shadowed before I arrived. I had every bit of identifying data I could confirm on her, her family, and her friends on file with my attorney before I left. I did not tell her my arrival date. I sent a double in my place for our first meeting here. Now it all seems overly cautious and paranoid. But not at that time.

This is not my first rodeo, but I have done and do a lot of things in ways that I would not suggest other guys try. If I die tomorrow I die a happy man, literally, preferably not being tortured to death, jaja. Other than that, I live life to the fullest.

One of my best friends in the world is an ex-hardcore Puerto Rican drug dealer and he was convinced that if I went to the mountaintop to see my casa build, that I was going to end up as pig-feed after they tortured my assets out of me, like the poor guy in your linked story. Made me stop and pause but obviomente I went anyway. I found warm, gentle and loving people. Catgirl's family welcomed me like part of their own and the love was real all the way from the 92 year old great grandmother down to her stud-muffin brother.

No regrets. I got this. There is no such thing as Heaven-On-Earth, Utopia, Garden of Eden, Shangrila, Nirvana, or Shambala, but for me Medellin is as close as I will get in this lifetime. There is no reason for me to look back. I am setting up a lifestyle for an apartment in the city and a place in the country to get away and chillax. Sort of the Manhattan-Connecticut lifestyle, except here a helluva lot cheaper, and I prefer Medellin to Manhattan, anyway.

The last foto is the view from our front door at our casa on the Mountaintop, overlooking the pueblo school. After a two hour bus ride from Terminal Norte in MDE, it takes another hour to get up the mountain by 4 WD, barely, if it hasn't rained. Easier access by horseback. If you met Catgirl you would think she was a city girl, but she was reared there and still spends a lot of time on the mountain. I can ride, but not like her with our dog Leah in one hand, plucking and eating mangos out of a tree with the other, on the steepest and most treacherous horse trail I had ever been on, jajaja.

Thanks again for the feedback! Ostee Out.

[Surfer500]

I'm sure this time it will be a happily ever after fairy tale ending.

One thing I learned is that if you still have other girlfriends you aren't going to stop seeing and she still has other boyfriends and or girlfriends she's not going to stop seeing, it's not time to settle down.

About the time he finishes paying for that house being built, he's going to discover that it wasn't being built for him and her and that he has no claim on it.

Most definitely water under the bridge.

[Surfer500]

Multiple times I have considered buying an apartment in Colombia but the numbers never make sense. The ROI is no better than in US, plus there is double taxation issue. The biggest issue is the currency depreciation risk you are taking. The prices for these apartments tend to go up as the peso depreciates but that gets you to net neutral at best instead of any gains. As most of the members suggested, best to rent unless you are planning to live there permanently. I have a real estate broker that is trying hard to sell me an apartment but when I ask him how the numbers make sense. He has no answer.

Learn from all the American's that have bought properties overseas and can't wait to get rid of them.

Yes there are taxation issues depending on whether your considered a "tax resident" meaning your in the Country more than six months a year. If you did own an apartment in Colombia, and were not in the Country more than six months a year, and did not rent or have any rental income form the apartment, there would be no "double taxation issues", however if you had rental income, and were in the Country less than six months you would have to pay approximately 20% of the net income in taxes to DIAN the Colombian IRS but these taxes would be deductible on your USA tax return. And if your in the Country more than six months a year whether you have Colombian rental income or not you would need to file taxes in Colombia, and may have to pay taxes to DIAN depending on your wealth and income. For this reason, most foreigners of wealth do not reside in the Country more than six months a year.

[World Travel 69]

Here is a map.

Have Fun.

I've never been clear on what are the boundaries of Raudal. I've walked down on DeGrief many times a few blocks further than Conejitas. Down by where Bar Hilton is. Is that DeGrief?

[Surfer500]

I heard a guy say he bought his apartment from a Colombian but they wanted the purchase to be done in US dollars and with a US bank, therefor the money never even entered Colombia, he said this prevented him from getting the residency visa that would have normally been possible but due to the transaction of the money happening outside of the country it could not be verified so now it sounds also as if he will have the same problem you guys are describing if he wants to sell and get the money out of the country.

There are strict guidelines and procedures required to obtain a residency visa in Colombia, let alone all the pitfalls of buying property as there are no "escrow companies" so hence you have to utilize attorneys to do your due diligence, and finding a competent and trustworthy Colombian attorney is difficult, and anyone can be an attorney in Colombia, all they need is a degree, and there is no bar exam which at least is a benchmark, but doesn't mean the attorney will be any good.

If this individual you mentioned did actually buy the property and paid for it in US dollars from a US Bank, he may have an issue even selling the property to begin with, let alone getting his money out of the Country. When properties are sold and bought in Colombia, they use notarys, almost like para-legals to facilitate the recording of ownership, and with no trackable / verifiable purchase information which is used as a basis for taxation, this may preclude someone from buying the property.

The selling and buying of real estate in Colombia is not regulated in the sense like in most States in the USA, like in Callifornia where there is a stack of disclosures required for transactions. It's basically like the "wild west" with so many pitfalls, hence gringos getting burned is the "norm". And there are no "exclusive listings" there will be multiple agents representing sellers and different prices as well.

[Luminous]

Multiple times I have considered buying an apartment in Colombia but the numbers never make sense. The ROI is no better than in US, plus there is double taxation issue. The biggest issue is the currency depreciation risk you are taking. The prices for these apartments tend to go up as the peso depreciates but that gets you to net neutral at best instead of any gains. As most of the members suggested, best to rent unless you are planning to live there permanently. I have a real estate broker that is trying hard to sell me an apartment but when I ask him how the numbers make sense. He has no answer.

Learn from all the American's that have bought properties overseas and can't wait to get rid of them.

True. That's why I would never spend what I could not afford to lose (or at least not be able to access). I am not looking for rental income. If I died, I'd just give it to my ex-wife and daughter, who are both Colombian and USA Citizens.

[Luminous]

Or just save it for the next trip.

Very true, most of these countries currency is not fully convertible. Which means that Major world currencies can be exchanged to their currency, but you cannot exchange their currency with Major world currency. When I was leaving Rio for USA, I had approx. 200 dollar worth of local Brazilian currency, but the exchange place at the airport could not exchange for USD. I have to spend all the money at the airport buying things unnecessary. Surprisingly Dominican Republic and Mexico currency is convertible but not India or Brazil whose economy is much better.

You can always bring your money back to USA and there are currency brokers who will charge you a handsome fees. Or maybe you will be lucky to find US, Canadian or European buyer for your apartment.

[Frank Lucas]

Thanks, now that makes sense, me like you. Likes to buy income property in USA and spend my money on Colombia, I almost fell for it once when Panama was booming thank god it got to difficult and I backed out!

Agreed. A good friend of mine advised me of the same thing. I also agree with Mr. E, just rent that way you can move around it you don't like and area. Or want to live in different area of the country. The best advice ever is to rent. At least for us older folk.

[Castolo]

Hey guys,

this is my first post. I really tried to look for the answer in previous reports but I got so many different answers. I have been silently following your discussions on ISG since December / January I believe. Now:

1. Let's pretend I go to El Centro and I speak to a girl on the street and she says 30 K Pesos. I know the word prepago so: Do I pay her before or after the sex?

2. I read many times from different people that you should never pay in advance. I am now confused.

Please go easy on me.

[JjBee62]

Moving a bit fast there Speedy Gonzalez.

Some of you guys get a taste of foreign chocha and lose your damns minds!

Not trying to tell you how to live your life amigo, just try not to end up like this guy (who was also moving a bit fast):

Horrifying end for man seeking love in Brazil

https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/horrifying-end-for-man-seeking-love-in-brazil/

I'm sure this time it will be a happily ever after fairy tale ending.

One thing I learned is that if you still have other girlfriends you aren't going to stop seeing and she still has other boyfriends and or girlfriends she's not going to stop seeing, it's not time to settle down.

About the time he finishes paying for that house being built, he's going to discover that it wasn't being built for him and her and that he has no claim on it.

[Mr Enternational]

True. That's why I would never spend what I could not afford to lose (or at least not be able to access). I am not looking for rental income. If I died, I'd just give it to my ex-wife and daughter, who are both Colombian and USA Citizens.

That is why it is smarter to rent, especially for older people. How do you look at 60 years old talking about buying some shit. There is too much uncertainty buying things overseas. With this pandemic, regular foreign visitors have not been able to enter the Philippines in 1 year. Imagine if you had bought something over there that you could not even get to. All the shit that I have in Thailand, if I never went back I have no problem losing it. My $1500 6 year old scooter is the most expensive thing I have. $300 TV. $50 microwave. Clothes from Goodwill. If I had a $60,000 crib over there that I could not get to for whatever reason, I would be stressed as fuck.

[ColombiaLover]

True. That's why I would never spend what I could not afford to lose (or at least not be able to access). I am not looking for rental income. If I died, I'd just give it to my ex-wife and daughter, who are both Colombian and USA Citizens.

Maybe not lose money in COP term but it is difficult to say when the money is converted back to USD. I looked it up and COP has depreciated more than 40% in the last 10 years.

Personally, I prefer to buy income property in US and spend the income in Colombia.

[MarquisdeSade1]

They didn't get me.

https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/loca...sting/2482850/

[Mojo Bandit]

Selling the apartment if priced properly will not be the issue, the issue will be if you want to get the money from the sale of the apartment out of the Country, and back into the USA.

If so, you will have had to properly brought the money into the Country to begin with, meaning the moneys used to purchase the property were properly identified and recorded, or you will never get your money out of the Country.

I heard a guy say he bought his apartment from a Colombian but they wanted the purchase to be done in US dollars and with a US bank, therefor the money never even entered Colombia, he said this prevented him from getting the residency visa that would have normally been possible but due to the transaction of the money happening outside of the country it could not be verified so now it sounds also as if he will have the same problem you guys are describing if he wants to sell and get the money out of the country.

[SavePros321]

I had a great three months but it was time to leave.

I accomplished most of my goals, went to the mountaintop and saw the casa being built for Catgirl and I by her family. That was a great cross cultural experience that I will never forget, staying with her family in a small pueblo barely accessible by 4 WD that sustained itself by growing coffee on the mountainside.

That is mi novia Catgirl and her novia, Haz.

Medellin is where my heart is and I am back in the states taking all the necessary steps to move there permanently

Moving a bit fast there Speedy Gonzalez.

Some of you guys get a taste of foreign chocha and lose your damns minds!

Not trying to tell you how to live your life amigo, just try not to end up like this guy (who was also moving a bit fast):

Horrifying end for man seeking love in Brazil

https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-...ove-in-brazil/