BreakThru Realty

Buying a Home in South Florida From Colombia

From Bogotá, Medellín, Cali or Barranquilla: a second home, an investment or a base for the family, handled in Spanish

Colombia has been among the largest sources of international buyers in the Miami area for years, and the reasons are practical: direct flights from Bogotá, Medellín and Cali, a region where Spanish is spoken in every office, and a real estate market that holds value in dollars. Buyers come for a vacation condo, a home for children studying here, an investment that earns rent in dollars, or a place to live. This page covers what a buyer in Colombia asks that other buyers do not, and the plan is delivered in Spanish from the first call by agents on staff.

BreakThru Realty · Founder and Broker of Record: Tyson E. Sam, Florida License 3565210

Published October 24, 2026 · Reviewed by Tyson E. Sam, Founder and Broker of Record

Plan My Florida Purchase From Abroad

Find My Florida Home

Your first step: BreakThru International Buyer Plan

Buying in Florida From Another Country? Settle the Rules, the Money and the Paperwork Before You Choose a Home

Foreign citizens buy South Florida homes every day, and the ones who do it well settle three things first: which rules reach them, how the money will arrive and what they can sign from home. The plan starts with a consultation in your language about how you will use the home and how you will pay, and ends with a shortlist, a carrying cost review in United States dollars, and a closing you can complete without a second flight.

What you receive

  • A consultation in English or Spanish, with an interpreter arranged for Portuguese or French, about how you will use the home and how you will pay
  • A plain summary of the rules that reach a buyer from your country: the Florida ownership law, the tax identification you will need, and FIRPTA when you sell
  • A shortlist of homes and buildings whose rules allow your plans, including seasonal use and renting it out
  • A carrying cost review in United States dollars: property tax without homestead, insurance, flood, association dues and the services that run while you are away
  • Introductions to the professionals a foreign buyer needs: a lender who writes foreign national loans, a cross border tax adviser, an attorney and a title company that closes with buyers abroad
  • A tour and closing plan: live video tours now, one visit scheduled around the finalists, and the signing arranged for where you live

What happens next

  1. Tell us where you live, where you are looking, your budget in United States dollars, how you expect to pay and the language you prefer.
  2. A BreakThru agent replies within one business day to schedule your consultation.
  3. After the consultation, your agent prepares the rules summary, the shortlist and the carrying cost review, and introduces the professionals you need.
  4. You tour by video or in person when you are ready, and the closing is arranged around where you are.

Free and without obligation. Nothing you tell us is shared with a seller, and you sign a buyer agreement only when you are ready to tour.

Plan My Florida Purchase From Abroad · Find My Florida Home

How does a buyer in Colombia purchase a home in Miami or South Florida? The purchase itself is the same as for anyone. The Colombian questions come first: channeling the funds through an authorized intermediary with the exchange declaration, choosing cash or a foreign national loan, and planning taxes in two countries that have no comprehensive treaty. Spanish speaking agents on staff carry the plan from the first call.

Getting the Money Out and Into Dollars

Colombian exchange rules require foreign currency transactions to be channeled through authorized intermediaries and declared, and an investment abroad such as a Florida home is registered with the central bank through the exchange declaration your bank files. The practical consequence is lead time: a transfer of the size a home requires has to be planned with your bank weeks ahead, with the documents that explain its origin ready, and the conversion from pesos to dollars timed as well as the market allows. Your bank and your Colombian accountant handle the declarations; the title company tells you the exact dollar amount and the escrow account to which it is sent.

Cash, or a Loan Without United States Credit

Most buyers from Colombia pay cash, because it closes faster, avoids the appraisal and is welcomed by sellers. Those who prefer to finance use foreign national loan programs that judge you on income and assets documented in Colombia, with a larger down payment and reserves on deposit before closing, and with the documents translated. Consult a mortgage lender who writes these loans before you set a budget; the rate and the terms are theirs to state. Some buyers close in cash and arrange financing afterward, which certain lenders allow, so that the money is not tied up longer than needed.

Taxes in Colombia and in the United States

Colombia taxes its residents on worldwide income and counts foreign assets in the wealth and equity declarations, so a Florida home appears on your Colombian return from the year you buy. The United States taxes the rent a nonresident earns here, where you choose between having a flat share of the gross rent withheld and paying tax on what is left after expenses, and FIRPTA withholding applies at sale as a deposit against tax on the gain. Colombia and the United States have no comprehensive income tax treaty, so credits depend on each country's own rules and the two returns have to be read together. An accountant who files for Colombians with United States property should be chosen before the contract.

How to Hold the Home

Whether to buy in your own name, through a Florida company or through a Colombian one is the question a tax adviser and a Florida attorney should settle with you before the offer, because United States estate tax can reach a home held personally by a nonresident, with a far smaller exemption than residents receive, and Colombia has no estate tax treaty with the United States that softens it. A company adds filings in both countries and may complicate a loan; it may also protect your family. The answer depends on the value of the home, who should inherit it and whether it will earn rent, and it should be decided once, early.

The Visa Question, Answered Honestly

Owning a home in Florida does not give you or your family any right to live in the United States. A visitor visa allows visits within its terms; a student visa covers a child's studies; and the investor visas that exist are tied to an operating business, not to a residence. Some buyers purchase a home for a child who is studying here or for the family's visits, which works well within those rules. If immigration is part of your plan, an immigration attorney should be the first call, before the home, and we can introduce one. A real estate agent is not the right person to answer the question, and we do not.

Where Buyers From Colombia Tend to Look

Miami and its districts are the natural starting point: Brickell and downtown towers near the business core, Doral's newer condos and townhomes beside the airport, and Coral Gables for a house on a tree lined street. Many buyers then look north to Fort Lauderdale for canal front houses and a second airport, to Weston for gated single family subdivisions, and to Boca Raton for club and beachside communities. The choice usually follows use: a vacation condo near the beach, a house near the schools a child will attend, or a unit in a building whose rules allow seasonal rental when the family is in Colombia.

Service in Spanish

Spanish speaking agents are on staff, so the consultation, the video tours, the negotiation and the questions in between happen in Spanish from the first call, and the written plan is prepared in Spanish. The contract and the closing papers remain in English because Florida practice requires it; your attorney goes line by line through them in Spanish before anything is signed. Closing happens without a second flight: the documents can be signed before a notary in Colombia with an apostille, at the United States embassy in Bogotá, or by video notarization when the title company allows it, with the money wired to the escrow account you verified by phone.

Questions you may be asking

Can a foreigner even buy property in Florida?
Yes. Citizenship and residency are not required to own real estate in the United States, and a foreign owner has the same property rights as anyone else. One Florida law restricts purchases by people domiciled in a short list of countries, and the plan tells you plainly whether it reaches you.
We do not have United States credit or a bank account.
Most international buyers start that way. Lenders who write foreign national loans work from documents in your home country rather than a United States credit file, and a bank account and a taxpayer identification number can be opened as part of the process. Consult a mortgage lender early; many buyers simply pay cash instead.
We cannot travel for every step.
You should not have to. Your agent tours homes on live video, attends the inspection with you on the line, and the closing documents can be signed abroad before a notary, at a United States consulate, by remote online notarization where the title company allows it, or by a power of attorney.
What about taxes when we sell one day?
FIRPTA requires the buyer of a home from a foreign seller to withhold a share of the price for the IRS, as a deposit against the tax on the gain. There are exceptions and a certificate that can reduce it. The plan explains it in outline; a tax adviser who handles nonresident owners plans it with you before you buy.
We would rather do this in our own language.
Then we will. Spanish speaking agents are on staff, and for Portuguese or French an interpreter joins the consultation and the tours. The contracts are in English, as Florida law and the title company require, and your attorney explains them in your language.

Plan My Florida Purchase From Abroad

Tell us where you live, where in South Florida you are looking, how you expect to pay and the language you prefer. A BreakThru agent replies within one business day to schedule your consultation, in English or Spanish, with an interpreter arranged for Portuguese or French.

Call or email the brokerage directly: (786) 914-1017 · sales@breakthrurealty.com

Questions International Buyers Ask

Can a Colombian buy a house in Miami?
Yes. The United States lets anyone own real estate, whatever their passport or visa, and Colombia is not on the list of countries Florida's ownership law restricts. The purchase works as it does for anyone; what differs is moving the funds, financing without United States credit, and taxes in two countries, all of which the plan addresses in Spanish.
How do I send money from Colombia to buy a home in Florida?
Through an authorized intermediary, with the exchange declaration your bank files and the documents that explain the origin of the funds, planned weeks ahead because of the size of the transfer. The funds are wired in dollars to the title company's escrow account, confirmed by telephone before every wire. Your bank and your Colombian accountant handle the declarations.
Can I get a mortgage in Florida from Colombia?
Yes, through foreign national loan programs judged on income and assets documented in Colombia, with a larger down payment, reserves on deposit and translated documents. Consult a mortgage lender who writes these loans; the rate and the terms are theirs to state. Most buyers from Colombia pay cash, and some finance after closing.
Will I pay tax in Colombia on a home in Florida?
A Florida home appears on your Colombian declarations as a foreign asset, and rent earned here is reported in both countries. There is no comprehensive tax treaty between the two, so credits follow each country's own rules. An accountant who files for Colombians with United States property should plan it with you before you buy.
Does buying a home help my family get a visa?
No. A deed confers no immigration status. Visitor and student visas cover visits and studies within their terms, and the investor visas that exist are tied to a business, not a residence. An immigration attorney is the right first call if immigration is part of your plan, and we can introduce one.
Do you work in Spanish?
Yes, from the first call. Spanish speaking agents are on staff, the consultation and the tours happen in Spanish, and the written plan is prepared in Spanish. The contract itself stays in English, as every Florida closing is written, and your attorney reviews it with you in Spanish first.

The Service

Rules, Taxes and Money

Buying From Your Country

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