Power of Attorney for Buying Property in Colombia Remotely
You do not need to be in Colombia to buy property here. A properly drafted power of attorney lets your lawyer sign on your behalf while you handle everything else from home.
Why Buyers Use a Power of Attorney
Many of our clients are buying from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, or elsewhere, and cannot always fly to Colombia for every stage of a purchase, particularly the closing at the notary. A power of attorney, called a poder in Spanish, lets a trusted representative, typically your lawyer, sign documents and complete steps in the process on your behalf, without you needing to be physically present.
What the Document Needs to Say
For a real estate purchase, the poder needs to state explicitly that the agent has authority to buy, sell, or otherwise deal with property, not just handle general legal matters. It should identify you and your representative clearly, describe the specific property or transaction involved, and define the scope of what the agent can and cannot do. A narrow, transaction specific power of attorney is generally safer than a broad general one, since it limits what your representative is legally able to do on your behalf.
Signing From Abroad
If you are outside Colombia, the poder is typically signed before a local notary in your home country and then needs to be apostilled under the Hague Convention to be recognized as valid in Colombia. If the document is not already in Spanish, it also needs translation by a translator recognized in Colombia. Altogether, drafting, signing, apostille, and translation usually take somewhere between one and three weeks, so this is not something to leave until the week of closing.
Using the Poder at Closing
Once the power of attorney is finalized and accepted, your representative can sign the promesa de compraventa, the escritura pública, or both, on your behalf, and handle registration afterward. You stay informed and in control of every decision, you simply are not required to be in the room, or in the country, when the paperwork is signed.
How Our Lawyers Help
We draft the power of attorney to match exactly what your purchase requires, guide you through signing and apostille from wherever you are located, and act as your representative through closing so the transaction moves forward on schedule even if you cannot travel.
Meet John Marshal
Senior Partner, LCG-Colombia
John drafts and executes the poder that lets clients complete a Colombian property purchase or sale without being in the country for closing, making sure the document's language covers every step a representative will actually need to take. With more than two decades of cross-border legal experience across both the New York and Colombian bars, he has closed transactions for clients who never set foot in Colombia during the process.