The hard part was never the apartment
It is the third month, when the novelty has gone and you still have nobody to call on a Tuesday. That is the thing we actually built, and it runs whether or not you ever rent anything from us.
Four evenings a month, out of the building
Dates go to the mailing list and to members first. There is no public calendar yet, which is the honest answer rather than a page of invented dates.
- 0+
- years in this city
- 0+
- people we have helped land
- 0
- kinds of partner on call
- 0/7
- someone answers
For whoever landed this month. Half the room arrived within the last eight weeks, which is the entire point of it.
Tenants of the building, directory partners and the people relocating here. The fastest way to meet someone who already solved the problem you have.
The things people get wrong: visa routes, Colombian tax, buying as a foreigner, incorporating here. Small groups so you can actually ask.
A long table, a set menu, about twenty people. Less networking and more getting to know the city you moved to.
From a plane seat to an address, in the right order
The order matters more than the list does. Almost everyone arrives and starts looking at apartments in week one, which is the single most expensive mistake available here.
- 01Before you flyA plan and a bed
One call to work out what you are actually coming for. We book somewhere to sleep for the first month so you land with an address instead of a search.
- 02Day oneLanding
Airport pickup, keys in your hand, a Colombian SIM in your phone, and a coffee downstairs before you do anything else.
- 03Week oneThe paperwork
The cédula de extranjería, a Colombian bank account, health cover and the tax ID. The four things that block everything else, cleared first.
- 04Week twoPeople
Your first networking night upstairs, a desk on the coworking floor if you work, and a Spanish teacher who comes to the building.
- 05Month oneThe city itself
Neighbourhoods on foot with someone who lives in them, then Guatapé and the coffee region on a weekend. You cannot choose where to live from a map.
- 06When you are readyRoots
A long lease, or buying. Only once you know which part of the valley you want to wake up in. Most people take six months, and that is the right answer.
Seven kinds of partner, all vetted, all reachable
You will need most of these in your first six months. Being handed a name by someone who has used them is worth more than any amount of searching.
Visa applications, residency, incorporation and contracts.
Colombian tax setup, monthly bookkeeping, US and Colombian filing.
Health, property and liability cover written for foreign residents.
Opening a Colombian account, transfers, and loan products.
Spanish tuition, private and group, in El Poblado and Laureles.
Coffee region, Guatapé, Cartagena, and airport handling.
Including International Smiles, an alliance already listed on the live site.
Twelve things that make a city feel like yours
Short stay first, long lease later
Legal partner, matched to why you came
Colombian account and transfers
Written for foreign residents
Local SIM and plan on day one
Private or group, in the building
Hot desk to private suite
Weekly, upstairs, no fee to attend
NIT and monthly bookkeeping
Bilingual options and the enrolment run
Guatapé, the coffee region, Cartagena
When you are ready, not before
Get told when the next one is
One email, roughly monthly, with what is on and anything worth knowing that month. You do not have to have moved yet, and most people on the list have not.