Key takeaways
- A finca at the Guatapé and El Peñol typical asking price of about US$446,000 will blow past most caps written at formation.
- Get them before you pay a deposit, not at the notary:
- Costs do not change: buyer closing costs run about 2 percent (notary 0.27 percent, registry 0.67 percent, beneficencia 1 percent), plus your lawyer.
- A seller who under-declares the price hands you a low cost basis: capital gains are 15 percent when held two years or more, on the difference between your recorded purchase and sale price.
- How we knowFigures as of October 13, 2026.
If the seller is a Colombian company (SAS, Ltda or SA), the person signing must prove he is allowed to. That proof is the certificado de existencia y representación legal from the chamber of commerce, read with the bylaws and, usually, a board or shareholder minute authorizing the sale. Without it, the notary can refuse the escritura.
Why a company needs more than a cédula
An individual proves capacity with an ID and, if married, a spouse's signature. A company acts through a representante legal whose powers are limited by the bylaws registered at the chamber of commerce and by any corporate authorization the bylaws demand before disposing of real estate.
The commonest limit is a monetary cap: the representative may bind the company up to a stated amount, and anything above needs the assembly or board. A finca at the Guatapé and El Peñol typical asking price of about US$446,000 will blow past most caps written at formation. The signature is still a signature, just not a valid one.
Documents to request
Get them before you pay a deposit, not at the notary:
- Certificado de existencia y representación legal, dated within 30 days. It names the legal representative, alternates, limits on powers, and whether the company is in liquidation or dissolved.
- The registered bylaws (estatutos), full current text. The certificate summarizes; the bylaws are the rule.
- The corporate authorization: an acta approving this specific sale, ideally naming the property by registry number and a minimum price. A generic one from three years ago is weak.
- The certificate of tradition and freedom, requested with the registry number, showing the owner, mortgages, liens and encumbrances. Confirm the owner is the company by NIT, not a shareholder personally.
What goes wrong
- The property is in the shareholder's name. Someone buys a lot personally, builds with company money and assumes the business owns it.
- The signer is a suplente acting while the principal is available. Many bylaws allow the alternate only in the principal's absence.
- The company is in liquidation. A liquidador's authority and paperwork differ.
- A construction bank's mortgage or an embargo appears on the certificate and must be cancelled at closing, with the cancellation lodged alongside the escritura.
Cost and timeline
Costs do not change: buyer closing costs run about 2 percent (notary 0.27 percent, registry 0.67 percent, beneficencia 1 percent), plus your lawyer. The timeline does: closing normally takes 30 to 45 days, but if the authorizing minute does not exist, the company must convene the assembly, pass the resolution and often register the act at the chamber of commerce first. Build that into the promesa de compraventa.
Protecting yourself
Write the corporate documents into the promesa as conditions, with the deposit refundable if they are not delivered: name the acta, the date range for the certificate, and the requirement that any mortgage be cancelled at or before the escritura. Check VAT and withholding with your accountant. A seller who under-declares the price hands you a low cost basis: capital gains are 15 percent when held two years or more, on the difference between your recorded purchase and sale price.
A foreign company seller needs equivalent corporate evidence from its home jurisdiction, apostilled and officially translated, plus a power of attorney if the signer will not travel. Start the day the price is agreed. For the rest of the process, see the legal guide buying property colombia.
Land use
A perfectly authorized sale of a parcel you cannot build on is still a bad purchase. The territorial plan determines whether a parcel allows country housing, subdivision, or agricultural use only, and corporate sellers often hold raw land pitched as a project the plan does not permit.
How we knowFigures as of October 13, 2026. Prices: active listings we verified ourselves; USD rate: TRM 3,181.74 COP per US$1, valid October 14, 2026 (Banco de la República, via datos.gov.co).
Frequently asked questions
What is the certificado de existencia y representación legal?
A chamber of commerce document naming the company's legal representative and alternates, the limits on their powers, and whether it is active, dissolved or in liquidation. Ask for one dated within 30 days.
Can a legal representative sell on his own signature?
Only up to the bylaws' limit. Above it, you need a corporate minute authorizing this specific sale.
How do I confirm the company owns the property?
Request the certificate of tradition and freedom and check the owner is the company's NIT, not a shareholder.
Does a corporate seller slow closing?
It can, if the authorizing minute does not yet exist. Make the documents a condition in the promesa.
Why does the declared price matter to me?
It becomes your cost basis for the 15 percent capital gains tax. A seller who under-declares hands you the bill later.
Who wrote this
Real estate broker · writes for the network · Real estate broker, Guatapé and eastern Antioquia. Specializing in Guatapé and El Peñol, Antioquia, Colombia. Founder of Mike Zapata Real Estate and the guide behind the Guatapé Properties and Guatapé Finca Raíz portals.