• About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms
  • Unsubscribe
No Result
View All Result
Live and Invest Overseas
FREE REPORT
BEST PLACES TO RETIRE
*No spam: We will NEVER give your email address to anyone else.
  • HOME
  • COUNTRIES
    • Top Destinations
      • Panama
      • Portugal
      • Colombia
      • Northern Cyprus
      • Belize
      • Spain
      • Mexico
      • France
      • Indonesia
      • Vietnam
    • Browse All Countries
    • Best For
      • Retire Overseas Index
      • Health Care
      • Cost of Living
      • Investing in Real Estate
      • Editor’s Picks For Retirement
      • Establishing Residency
      • Starting an Online Business
      • Single Women
      • Playing Golf
  • BUDGETS
    • Super Cheap ($)
      • Cuenca, Ecuador
      • Chiang Mai, Thailand
      • The Philippines
      • Las Tablas, Panama
      • Granada, Nicaragua
    • Cheap ($$)
      • Algarve, Portugal
      • Medellin, Colombia
      • Boquete, Panama
      • Carcassone, France
      • Buenos Aires, Argentina
    • Affordable ($$$)
      • Abruzzo, Italy
      • Barcelona, Spain
      • Las Terrenas, Dominican Republic
      • Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
      • Costa de Oro, Uruguay
    • Luxury On A Budget ($$$$)
      • Ambergris Caye, Belize
      • Paris, France
      • Panama City Beach Area
  • Real Estate
  • ARCHIVES
    • Living & Retiring Overseas
    • Raising A Family Abroad
    • Foreign Residency & Citizenship
    • Offshore Diversification
    • Our Latest On Coronavirus ⚠️
  • Making Money
    • International Real Estate
    • Banking
    • Employment
    • Investing
  • CONFERENCES
  • BOOKSTORE
Live and Invest Overseas
  • HOME
  • COUNTRIES
    • Top Destinations
      • Panama
      • Portugal
      • Colombia
      • Northern Cyprus
      • Belize
      • Spain
      • Mexico
      • France
      • Indonesia
      • Vietnam
    • Browse All Countries
    • Best For
      • Retire Overseas Index
      • Health Care
      • Cost of Living
      • Investing in Real Estate
      • Editor’s Picks For Retirement
      • Establishing Residency
      • Starting an Online Business
      • Single Women
      • Playing Golf
  • BUDGETS
    • Super Cheap ($)
      • Cuenca, Ecuador
      • Chiang Mai, Thailand
      • The Philippines
      • Las Tablas, Panama
      • Granada, Nicaragua
    • Cheap ($$)
      • Algarve, Portugal
      • Medellin, Colombia
      • Boquete, Panama
      • Carcassone, France
      • Buenos Aires, Argentina
    • Affordable ($$$)
      • Abruzzo, Italy
      • Barcelona, Spain
      • Las Terrenas, Dominican Republic
      • Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
      • Costa de Oro, Uruguay
    • Luxury On A Budget ($$$$)
      • Ambergris Caye, Belize
      • Paris, France
      • Panama City Beach Area
  • Real Estate
  • ARCHIVES
    • Living & Retiring Overseas
    • Raising A Family Abroad
    • Foreign Residency & Citizenship
    • Offshore Diversification
    • Our Latest On Coronavirus ⚠️
  • Making Money
    • International Real Estate
    • Banking
    • Employment
    • Investing
  • CONFERENCES
  • BOOKSTORE
No Result
View All Result
Live and Invest Overseas
No Result
View All Result
Home Countries Colombia

Real Estate In Medellín: Luxury Living At Bargain Prices

The Luxe Life We Enjoy Here Is An Absurd Bargain

Lief Simon by Lief Simon
Feb 09, 2022
in Colombia, Investing, Lifestyle
0 0
0
Buildings and mountains in Medellin, Colombia

Adobe Stock/danflcreativo

243
SHARES
3.1k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

I’m looking forward to returning to Medellín next month for the first time in more than two years.

Kathleen and I will be making the trip for our Live And Invest In Colombia Conference, but, rather than booking a room at the hotel where we’ll be hosting the event, we’ll be settled in the apartment we bought and renovated in this town a dozen years ago.

When we reported on that investment back in 2010, one reader wrote in to tell us we were crazy.

Why were we buying in that market at that time, he asked, speaking to us as though we lacked at least some of our faculties.

He was waiting, he told us in a tone reserved for those impressed with their own judgment, for the Colombian peso to drop to 3,000 to US$1.

At the time, the peso was trading at 1,800 to the dollar.

Eventually, years after we’d bought our apartment, the peso did fall to 3,000 against the Greenback.

I’ve wondered if the reader finally took a position in the Medellín property market. He never wrote to let me know, but I’m thinking probably not… because, by the time the peso-dollar exchange rate hit his target, real estate prices in Medellín had spiked.

Whatever savings the guy would have enjoyed from the currency depreciation were more than outsized by the appreciation of property values.

In other words, he would have paid more in U.S. dollar terms, on a per-square-meter basis, than we paid… years after we’d bought our apartment.

That’s not to say that the exchange rate depreciation of the peso wasn’t welcomed by those who hadn’t already by that time recognized Medellín’s potential.

Refocusing on this market now, I see that real estate prices are still extremely affordable. Frankly, the U.S. dollar value of our apartment today, as the exchange rate sits around 4,000 pesos to US$1, isn’t a home run for annualized appreciation in dollar terms.

However, we’ve had use of the apartment for a dozen years… and have enjoyed a dozen years of rental income potential, as well.

I say “income potential” because the rental plan changed when the apartment renovation was completed…

Thanks to what I’ve come to refer to as the “Spousal Effect.”

Get Your Free ​Colombia Report Today! ​​​

Learn more about ​​​Colombia ​​​and other countries in our FREE, daily Overseas Opportunity Letter​​​​​​​​​. Simply enter your email address below and we’ll send you our FREE REPORT – ​​Colombia: The World’s Next Top Retirement & Investment Haven

Why A Rental Property In Apartment Didn’t Work For Us

Kathleen renovated the place to make it comfortable for us, investing far more in things like custom bookcases and parquet floors than makes sense for any rental property. We put the property up for rental… and the first two tenants caused minor damage. That was it. No more renters.

When we decided we couldn’t bear to rent it anymore, we considered selling the property. By that time, it was worth more than three times what we’d invested in it. Not a bad return… but we couldn’t bring ourselves to cash in.

After a series of visits with our children, we were connected. The apartment had officially become a home base for us.

I’ve filed the experience away as a cautionary tale that’s best told over a couple of rum and Cokes.

In truth, I’m happy to have the apartment in my portfolio even though it’s not throwing off cash flow and even though the currency is currently against me.

It gives me a reason to return to what has become one of my favorite cities. Time spent in Medellín is time well spent… and the cost of the luxury standard of living we enjoy when we’re in residence is an absurd bargain at the current exchange rate.

No, in Medellín, I’m not a seller. I’m a buyer.

That’s why I’m counting down the days until our return next month. I’ll be shopping.

Lief Simon

Tags: Buy property in Colombiacolombian pesolife in colombiaMedellinReal Estate In Colombiareal estate prices in medellin
Share114Tweet54
Lief Simon

Lief Simon

Lief Simon has lived and worked on five continents and traveled to more than 60 countries. In his long career as a global property investor, Lief has also managed multimillion-dollar portfolios of rental properties, for others and for himself. He offers advice on international diversification in his twice-weekly Offshore Living Letter and monthly Simon Letter dispatches.

Related Posts

Beach of Protaras, Ayia Napa, Cyprus
Investing

Why An Investment In Cyprus Is My New Favorite Plan B

by Lief Simon
January 27, 2023
0

Cyprus—north and south—is dead center of my radar. Property markets across this island nation are not only among the world's...

Read more
Cyprus: Better Than Your Neighbor’s Retirement To Florida

Life On Cyprus: The Secret Brits Don’t Want Americans To Know

January 26, 2023
A beach in Los Islotes, Panama

Los Islotes In Panama’s Pacific Coast—A Unique Community In One Of The Safest Havens

January 23, 2023
Ferragudo, Portugal

How One Couple Discovered A Great New Life In Algarve

January 20, 2023
A ship in The Algarve, Portugal

Starting A New Life In Portugal With A Family

January 19, 2023
Building in Paris, France.

The Importance Of International Estate Planning

January 13, 2023
Picturesque lane with flowers in an Italian hill town

5 More Things To Check Before You Move Overseas

January 11, 2023

Start Your New Life Today, Overseas

A world full of fun, adventure, and profit awaits! Sign up for our free daily e-letter, Overseas Opportunity Letter, and we’ll send you a FREE report on the 10 Best Places To Retire In Style Overseas Today.







LIOS Resources


  • New To LIOS
  • Ask An Expert
  • Media Center
  • Contact Us
  • FAQs

Quick Links


  • Best Places To Live
  • Best Places To Retire
  • Finding A Job Overseas
  • Real Estate

Sign up for our free daily e-letter, Overseas Opportunity Letter, and get your FREE report: The 10 Best Places To Retire Overseas In 2023

  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms
  • Unsubscribe

© 2008-2023 - Live and Invest Overseas - All Rights Reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Countries
  • Budgets
  • Archives
  • News
  • Events
  • Bookstore
  • Newsletters
  • About Us
  • Members Area
  • Contact Us

© 2008-2023 - Live and Invest Overseas - All Rights Reserved.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In

The World’s Best Places To Be In 2023?

Discover Them Here…

Sign up for FREE and learn how to live the good life on a modest budget, find bargain property, and more. Plus, check out our free report on the 10 BEST PLACES TO RETIRE.

RETIRE OVERSEAS AND LIVE LIKE ROYALTY