Medellín’s Next Chapter: 3 Ways to Invest in the City’s Transformation

Medellín was once considered one of the most dangerous cities on earth. Today, it has become one of the most desirable lifestyle destinations in the Americas.

But Ronan McMahon believes the most interesting part of the Medellín story may still lie ahead.

In this episode, Ronan explains how deliberate urban renewal, year-round spring-like weather, improving infrastructure, and an influx of globally mobile professionals have transformed the Colombian city.

He also reveals the three real estate strategies he finds most compelling today:

• Furnished apartments in established neighborhoods such as El Poblado and Laureles
• High-end co-living penthouses targeting entrepreneurs and remote professionals
• Lower-priced homes in Belén, where major infrastructure projects could reshape the neighborhood

You’ll also learn what foreigners need to understand before buying in Colombia, including building-level short-term rental restrictions, the country’s estrato system, and why having a strong local team is essential.

From apartments starting around $120,000 to potential gross yields of 14% to 15% with a more hands-on co-living strategy, this episode offers an on-the-ground look at the opportunities—and risks—inside one of Latin America’s most remarkable cities.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

This city was once considered the most dangerous place on earth. Today, it's one of the most desirable lifestyle destinations in the Americas. A place with perfect spring-like weather year-round, luxury towers rising above green mountains, and rooftop restaurants that buzz late into the night. What's happening here is bigger than tourism. This city is attracting an ever-growing number of entrepreneurs, remote workers, retirees, and international lifestyle buyers. And that shift is driving a new wave of real estate growth. Because even now, prime real estate here still costs a fraction of what you'd pay in equivalent cities. This is Medellin, Colombia. And in this video, I'll show you why Medine is attracting growing international wealth. My three favorite ways to play the transformation of this city today, and how you can own in rising neighborhoods of Medellin from as little as $120,000. Hi, I'm Ronan McMahon. For more than 20 years, I've been a full-time international real estate investor and scout. My team and I spend more than a million dollars every year on travel and research looking for the best real estate opportunities in the world. And Medellin is one of the most remarkable city transformations I've ever seen. I first came here in 2011. At that time, most outsiders still viewed Medellin through the lens of cartel violence and danger. But when I got on the ground, I could see that perception was long outdated. I found modern infrastructure, stylish neighborhoods, great restaurants and cafes, and a quality of life that completely contradicted the city's international reputation. More importantly, I found prices that made no sense. Back then you could buy quality condos in Medellin's best neighborhood for under $100,000. Today, many of those same properties sell for $250,000 and more. And that transformation is still unfolding because Medellin is no longer a recovery story. It's becoming a global lifestyle city. And that shift is creating a whole new phase of opportunity. Medein sits in a narrow valley high in the Andes Mountains, at nearly 5,000 feet above sea level, close to the equator, the weather barely changes all year. Warm days, cool evenings, spring-like temperatures almost every day. That climate has become one of the city's greatest competitive advantages because increasingly, affluent and mobile people around the world are choosing where to live based on lifestyle. They want good weather, great food, strong infrastructure, and they want all of it without spending Miami or London money. Medine delivers all that in a very compelling way. But climate alone didn't transform this city. What happened here over the past two decades was deliberate. Beginning in the late 90s, Medellin launched one of the most ambitious urban renewals in Latin America. The metro system expanded, cable cars connected isolated hillside neighborhoods into the urban core. Parks, libraries, escalators, and civic projects reshaped entire districts. Medellin didn't just improve, it completely reinvented itself. And once that happened, the world slowly began arriving. First came adventurous expats and entrepreneurs, then digital nomads and international tourists. Now, increasingly, Medellin is attracting something much more powerful, globally mobile wealth. Today, neighborhoods like El Poblado and Lorelis are filled with luxury towers, rooftop restaurants, co-working spaces, and boutique hotels. In many ways, parts of Medellin now feel closer to Lisbon or Mexico City than the Colombia many people still imagine. And from an investment perspective, that matters enormously. Because even after years of appreciation, Medellin still looks inexpensive compared to global lifestyle cities competing for the same profile. The most interesting part of the Medellin story is what happens next. Because this city is now entering a different phase of its evolution. The early rediscovery phase is over. Now comes the globalization phase. And historically, that's often where some of the biggest real estate gains happen. Because once internationally mobile people begin choosing a city as a long-term base, not just a vacation destination, they start reshaping the entire economy. They push demand towards premium neighborhoods, they drive rental growth, they support higher-end restaurants, wellness concepts, cafes, and services. And they expand the boundaries of what's considered prime. That's already happening in Medellin. El Poblado has become firmly established as the city's premium international district. Lorelis has evolved into a sophisticated lifestyle neighborhood, increasingly popular with both locals and foreigners. Envigado has already seen appreciation as buyers spill outward looking for more space and value. And now neighborhoods like Belen are continuing to enter that same conversation. At the same time, infrastructure investment continues reshaping the city. A new metro expansion is planned through key western districts. A new 50 million megapark project is set to transform parts of Belen into a major lifestyle and recreation hub. And outside the city, improved tunnels and highways are pulling the cooler mountain towns around Medellin into the city's premium orbit. That combination is what makes Medellin so compelling today. In a moment, I'll show you the neighborhoods and strategies I'd focus on in Medellin right now. But first, let's step back and cover a few basics about buying real estate in Colombia. One of the first questions people ask me is simple. Can foreigners buy real estate in Colombia? Foreigners can own property directly in their own name, and the process is relatively straightforward. You don't need residency, you don't need citizenship. And compared to many international markets, transactions costs here are reasonable. But Medellin is not a market where you can buy blindly. You need the right people around you. A strong local attorney, a good broker, people who understand the nuances of the market and can help you navigate things properly on the ground. That's especially important when it comes to rentals. Because in Colombia, short-term rentals are generally allowed. But individual apartment buildings can also have their own rules restricting Airbnb style rentals. So if rental income is part of your strategy, you need to verify exactly what's permitted before you buy. Another uniquely Colombian thing worth understanding is the estrato system. Every residential neighborhood is ranked on a scale from one to six. Estrato 1 is lower income. Estrato 6 is the highest tier. And in Medellin, the neighborhoods most international buyers focus on, particularly El Poblado and parts of Lorelis, tend to fall into Estrato 5 and 6. The higher your estrato, the more you typically pay for utilities like water and electricity. And importantly, Estrato also acts as shorthand for neighborhood quality, infrastructure, amenities, and prestige. Now, with those basics covered, let me show you where I think the most compelling opportunities sit in Medellin today. For me, there are three plays in Medellin that stand out right now. Each targets a slightly different trend shaping the city. And each comes with a different risk-reward profile. Before I go further, make sure you subscribe to the channel so you don't miss any future episodes. And if you want more boots on the ground insights like what we have in Medellin, check out the links in the episode description. Now, let's start with what I think is the clearest opportunity today: furnish rentals in premium neighborhoods. One of the strongest opportunities in Medine right now is buying well-located apartments in premium neighborhoods and targeting longer stay international renters. Not backpackers, not weekend tourists, mobile executives. Snowbirds escaping North American winters. Digital business owners, affluent remote workers staying for one to three months at a time. These renters want modern buildings in the best neighborhoods with gyms, pools, views. And importantly, they're willing to pay for it. The sweet spot for maximizing income is two and three-bedroom apartments in El Poblado and Lorelis, priced roughly between $180,000 and $250,000. Here are a few examples of what that looks like today. This three-bedroom apartment in Lorelis spans more than 1,300 square feet and is listed for around $250,000. It sits inside a gated community with amenities including gym and sauna. Another Lorelis apartment nearby with nearly $1,300 square feet is also asking around $250,000. Meanwhile, in El Poblado, this three-bed, four-bath apartment spans nearly 1,700 square feet and is listed for around $225,000. Apartments like these can often rent long-term in roughly the $1,500 to $2,000 per month range when properly positioned and furnished. Here's why I like this strategy. You're not relying on speculation, you're buying into real lifestyle demand that already exists. If you're willing to take on a bit more risk, Medine also has another opportunity emerging right now. And it's a much higher yield play. Now here's a more aggressive play that I think is increasingly interesting in Medellin: co-living penthouses. This strategy targets a very specific renter profile that's growing rapidly in the city. Young entrepreneurs, software developers, crypto traders, people earning globally while living locally. Medine has become a magnet for this crowd. And increasingly, groups of these entrepreneurs are choosing to live together in large luxury apartments. Not because they have to, because they want to. And Medine is almost perfectly designed for this kind of lifestyle. The best opportunities for this strategy are usually older penthouses in El Poblado. Buildings from the early 2000s often have huge terraces, large floor plans, and incredible views, but many haven't been updated in years. That's where the opportunity comes in. Buy the right penthouse, renovate it, configure it with four or five rentable bedrooms, create strong communal spaces, and position it as a high-end co-living hub. The model here is fairly simple. Five bedrooms renting around $800 per month each gives you roughly $4,000 or close to $48,000 gross a year. And if your total acquisition and renovation costs come in below roughly $325,000, you can potentially achieve gross annual yields in the 14 to 15% range. That's extremely strong for a luxury-driven urban destination. Here's an example. This five-bed, six-bath penthouse spans more than 2,800 square feet and includes a large terrace. It's already been remodeled and it's priced at $315,000. Now, this strategy is more hands-on. It requires management, good furnishing, branding, and operations. But I think Medine is uniquely positioned for this kind of rental property. If you want a more conservative, long-term appreciation play, there's another area I'd watch very closely right now. If El Poblado represents Medellin's established premium market and Lorelis represents the mature lifestyle play, then Belen is where I see one of the most interesting convergent stories in the city today. Because over the past decade, El Pueblado and Lorelis have changed dramatically. They've become denser, more expensive, more commercial, more international. And as that's happened, folks have increasingly started looking for alternatives nearby. That's creating spillover. And Belén sits in the path of it. Geographically, it's positioned between some of Medellin's most desirable districts. It's flat, close to major malls, schools, and infrastructure. And importantly, prices there are still significantly lower than in El Poblado or Lorelis. But what really makes this interesting is the infrastructure story now unfolding there. The city is planning a major metro expansion running through this part to Medellin. And alongside that, there's a planned $50 million mega project called Gran Parque de Medellin. This isn't some small neighborhood park. The plans include urban beaches, huge swimming facilities, cycling and jogging routes, green spaces, and recreation infrastructure. Projects like this can completely change how neighborhoods are perceived. And when that happens, real estate values often follow. That's why I think Belen is shaping up as a classic buy-and-wait play. And right now, prices are still remarkably accessible. For example, this two-bed, 1,000 square foot home in Belen is listed for around $120,000. Nearby, this three-bedroom, 1,400 square foot remodeled home is on the market for around $185,000. Homes like these currently rent long-term for roughly $600 to $1,000 per month, depending on finish and location. That creates a reasonable income floor while you wait for the broader neighborhood transformation story to play out. Medellin is one of the most fascinating real estate destinations I've ever tracked because this is a city that has fundamentally repositioned itself in the global imagination. It emerged from a dark history to become a lifestyle hub for international entrepreneurs, remote professionals, retirees, investors, and affluent Colombians who want a better quality of life. And crucially, I think Medellin is still early in its evolution. Not early in the sense that nobody knows about it anymore. That phase is over. But early in the sense that the city is still moving up the global ladder. You can feel it on the ground. The infrastructure keeps improving. International demand keeps growing. Premium neighborhoods keep expanding outward. And increasingly, Medellin is attracting the kind of global resident that permanently changes real estate markets. But the city still feels underpriced, especially when you consider the climate, infrastructure, culture, and quality of life on offer here. That's why I believe Medine could continue seeing strong appreciation over the next decade. I first came here when the city was still fighting its past. Today, Medine feels confident, ambitious, and increasingly international. And personally, I think the next chapter of this city story could be even bigger than the last. If you enjoyed this video and want to discover other real estate opportunities around the world before they fully hit the mainstream, subscribe to the channel now. Because every week I bring you inside the most compelling global real estate stories I'm seeing on the ground. You can also click the links below to get our buyer's guide and check out my book in the description. I'd see you next time.