The author tells about his initial apprehensions and journey into the foreign real estate game of Cartagena while largely unprepared. Gathering inspiration largely by meeting his wife and a sense of adventure.

A tale of two lovers?..or how I stumbled upon an emerald in the rough.

The truth.

I have to be honest. I really don’t have ANY real world experience with real estate, especially, in a foreign country. In fact, you could say that I am probably the last person you should ask for advice regarding the subject. There, so now that I have gotten that off my chest, I can write knowing that you’ve been warned. So tread with caution, I am blindly entering this enterprise and this blog with no clear win scenario. I just want to do it. That’s it. I’ve made a lot of mistakes and feel that it is at the very least therapeutic if not helpful to write it all down. I think my therapist would concur, so here we go.

So where to start? …My origin story or just the beginning? How about somewhere in the middle? I had only purchased one home, my entire life, after leaving the US Army, my own home. I think I would best describe myself as a slightly broken ER doc who spent too long in Iraq where I grew a fondness for organized chaos. I eventually left the service to move back to Texas, because that’s home. So how do I go from gunshots, stabbings, and drug overdoses to Colombia? Simple. I met my wife.

Before meeting my wife, I had no realistic expectation of every visiting Colombia. Like Gabriel Garcia Marquez said, “To him she seemed so beautiful, so different from ordinary people.” And that was it. In fact, my only experience with South America before that was as a soldier and that, my friend, is a different story for a different blog.

I’m afraid, my story is a bit more tame. I met the love of life. Her hips didn’t lie. We had children. We brought said children to her family parked conveniently in the jewel of Colombia: Cartagena. From there, what started as a practical solution to avoid overcrowding my wife’s fine Lebanese family soon turned into a business opportunity and the beginning of my blog.

First Impressions and Misconceptions

Growing up in Texas during the late ’70s, my perception of Colombia was heavily influenced by Miami Vice, music videos of Shakira, and Blockbuster rentals. For any Gen Z people that might have accidentally stumbled onto my blog, this was a place were families would congregate on Friday nights and rent movies and video games before streaming was a thing. Scar Face, Blow, Clear and Present Danger, and Delta Force 2. Yes, Delta Force 2. Who doesn’t love Chuck Norris beating his way through half a movie with just his feet and personality? Since we are being honest, bad stuff did happen in that part of the world. The cocaine trade painted a bleak picture of danger and instability, and Pablo Escobar was the OG that shook the world. But that was then. Today, is different.

Pablo Escobar fell about the same time when most of my hair had and that was long time ago. Most of the guerrillas have since turned in their weapons, the US has pivoted regarding their relationship with Bogota, and the FARC has retreated into relative obscurity. This has left Colombia an opportunity to showcase their heritage once more and change the prevailing narrative. Now, I really didn’t learn this till much later. Truth is, I was gripped by my fear and apprehensions. I had no clue what to really expect.

But, my first visit to Cartagena was magical. Instead of crime filled narco nightmare, I found a walled city nestled in the Caribbean sea that reminded me of the books I read in college by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, warm Andalusian homes where my mom grew up, and a sense of authenticity that I hadn’t seen in a long time. I fell in love with her as fast as I did for my wife. Love at first sight. -SA