Colombians have been buying in Miami for two generations. The questions that matter today are about structure, currency, and the estate, not about whether you can.
Written for readers in Bogotá, Medellín, Cali, Barranquilla and Cartagena. The desk works in Spanish and English. All notes from the desk.
There is no restriction on a Colombian citizen owning residential property in Florida, and Miami is the foreign city Colombians know best. So the first question is not whether. It is how you hold it, how the money moves, and what happens to the asset over a generation.
A Colombian buyer can hold a Miami residence directly, in personal name, or through an entity: a Florida LLC, a foreign company, or a structure that combines them. Direct ownership is simplest. Entity ownership changes privacy, liability, and above all how the asset is treated for U.S. estate tax.
This decision is made once, at contract, and unwinding it later is expensive. It belongs with U.S. counsel who works with Colombian clients, and the desk makes that introduction before you sign anything.
A non-resident who dies owning U.S. real estate in personal name can face federal estate tax on that asset, and the exemption for non-residents is a small fraction of what applies to U.S. citizens. Colombia and the United States do not have an estate tax treaty.
This is the single most important planning point for a Colombian family buying in Miami, and it is the reason the ownership structure conversation comes first. It is solvable. It is not solvable after the fact.
Deposits are paid in dollars on the developer's schedule. Funds leaving Colombia go through the foreign exchange market with the corresponding declarations, and the U.S. bank receiving them will ask about source of funds. Both sides of that are routine when handled in order.
Open a U.S. account early. Some buyers move dollars at contract and hold them; others convert at each deposit. The peso has moved a great deal in the last five years, and the desk maps the deposit schedule against your currency plan so each payment is decided in advance.
Your situation is specific. Tell the desk in one message and we will say what applies to you, what does not, and who to speak with.
If the residence is rented, the income is U.S. source and is taxed in the United States. A non-resident owner files a U.S. return, and there is an election that lets rental income be taxed on a net basis rather than by flat withholding on the gross. Colombia taxes worldwide income for its residents, with a credit mechanism. Your Colombian accountant and a U.S. preparer need to talk to each other.
When a foreign owner sells U.S. real estate, the buyer is required to withhold a percentage of the sale price and remit it to the IRS under FIRPTA, as a prepayment against the seller's tax. The seller files a return, and any excess withholding is refunded. It is a cash flow event, not an extra tax, but it surprises sellers who did not plan for it. We cover it in detail in a separate note.
Brickell has been the Colombian address for twenty years and still is, particularly for a first purchase and for families with business ties to the city. Edgewater is the newer answer for buyers who want the bay and a quieter street; Anantara is the current reference there. Coral Gables and Key Biscayne draw families relocating with children.
On the beach, Bal Harbour and Surfside attract the second purchase, when the family already knows the city; Rivage sits in that category. The desk can say which lines in each building are being taken by whom, which is more useful than a neighborhood name.
Which structure, and which attorney. What the deposit schedule looks like against pesos. Which buildings match a family that will use the residence a few months a year versus one relocating. And, for any building you are considering, which floor plans earn their premium and which do not. That last one is the analysis nobody else publishes, and it is held at the desk.
Your situation is specific. Tell the desk in one message and we will say what applies to you, what does not, and who to speak with.
This note is general information for people considering Miami, written by a real estate desk, not by a law or accounting firm. Nothing here is legal, tax, immigration or investment advice, and it is not a substitute for advice on your own circumstances. Rules change, treaties differ by country, and the right answer for one family is the wrong answer for another.
Speak with your own attorney and CPA before you commit to anything. If you do not have one who works with international buyers in Florida, the desk is glad to recommend an attorney, a CPA or an adviser suited to your situation, and to sit in the first conversation so that nothing is lost in translation.
Structure, financing, currency, timing, the right building and the right line: the desk works through these questions with international buyers every week, and the answer is nearly always that it can be done, in order, without surprises. If Miami is on your mind, as a home or as an allocation, we would be glad to share what we are seeing, privately, and to start with the question this note did not answer.