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21 thoughts on “5 Best Neighborhoods in Medellín: A Guide to Choosing a Neighborhood”
Square meters to square feet is easy.
The exact measure is 10.75 square feet per 1 square meter.
An rough aproximation can be made in your head by multiplying a square meter by 10. For exampla 1125 square meters is roughly 1150+ square feet.
I feel you. I have the money to stay in el poblado but eh i like the unwesternized places. Its a great culture experience. I remember i stayed in pitalito for a month and enjoyed it due to me being the only gringo people have seen in months. Especially if you speak spanish and can interact with the locals. Its a great experience and they are more interested in you. Once things open back up ill proboably give san german a try or buenos aires for a more local experience
Mr. Paschke,
Excellent article. Very well organized and articulated. Based on my several experiences in Medellin I found your observations to be dead on. I have a question. I will be buying property in Medellin in the near future. With the exception of Sabaneta and possibly Belen, I would prefer to buy in a location not mention in your article. I’m trying to escape the expat crowd. What I’m looking for is a neighborhood that is classified as a high strata 3 or solid strata 4 and can be consider in your opinion (understand you will be subjective) having the following traits.
– Safety (I love to jog and walk outdoors)
– Growing with new development . Still mainly residential. Light business. Based on development the neighborhood will probably have a large portion classified as a strata 5 within 10 years.
– Very little traffic. In other words fairly quite at night.
– Located within 10 minutes (Taxi) ride of decent shopping center.
Based on what I described, it appears that I’m looking for is the next Laurelas. Basically 10-15 years from now.
Finally, when forming your list, don’t limit yourself to the typical areas where expats can be found. I don’t mind living at the edges of the present day Medellin.
In closing, looking forward to your suggestions. Thinking based on your previous experience you will provide insight other than what I have been told thus far, i.e. expats should only buy in El Poblado or Laurelas.
Very well written Jeff!! After living here for several years now, it’s nice to read through this and see someone else’s perspective—especially seeing how you’ve broken it down. I see how the numbers add up, but really? Sabaneta? One thing I don’t think you’ve stressed enough is the fact that most developments in both Sabaneta and even Envigado are way up in the hills. Yes, you’ll get more bang for your buck, but it can often be hellish trying to hail an Uber or order something from Rappi. Also, let’s be honest, traffic is an issue everywhere. If you plan to dine out somewhere nice or meet with friends on the weekends and you live in Sabeneta that usually means trekking through 3 municipalities of traffic and a much longer commute. That’s what’s kept my wife and I from moving there. Regardless, this is a very solid overview and it’s awesome to see the detail you’ve put into this. Great work!!
Where did you end up moving?
Hi Jeff,
This is surely one of your best posts. #1 in the top 10. You put a lot of work into this and it shows! Very informative and a must-read for anyone considering moving here. The only request is that they move to Sabanete and not here in Laureles! 🙂
Cheers,
John and Susan
Hi John and Susan, thanks!
LOL about your request that they move to Sabanete and not to Laureles. I’m sure this article will help some decide on Sabaneta. Today I met one expat in Parque Sabaneta who recognized me and said articles on this site helped him decide on Sabaneta.
Jeff, Great article with a lot of good information. I used you guide to apply for a retirement visa which I got this year. I have only rented furnished apartments so far but may look for a unfurnished in the future.
thanks again for your hard work.
I have a question I got the visa and also a cedilla do also need to get health insurance here? is that a requirement?
As always Jeff, you write remarkable, honest and very informative articles. Great job Sir!
Thanks for this interesting article that obviously took a lot of work. This should be required reading for any newbie to Medellin.
Also, be careful of real estate companies pushing properties in El Poblado that may be cheap compared to the U.S. but are expensive for Medellin.
Very interesting article. I looked at apartments in El Poblado and other neighborhoods like Laureles, Envigado and Sabaneta. The prices per square meter were much cheaper in Sabaneta than the other neighborhoods. Also, El Poblado looks to have too much supply as there are so many for sale signs on windows and so many properties listed on Espacio Urbano. You mentioned over 35 new projects in El Poblado. I recall several years ago when a gringo real estate agent in Medellin said “Poblado is done” with nowhere else to build. LOL, since that time they continued to build and they are now building 35+ new expensive properties in Poblado.
LOL. I just looked for “Poblado is done” and found this post written by Brad Hinkelman at Casacol in 2014 – http://blog.casacol.co/blog/poblado-is-done/.
Shows a complete lack of knowledge about the real estate market in Medellin. The builders continued to build in El Poblado over the past several years and are still building 5 years later with over 35 projects currently in the El Poblado area. Poblado was not “done”.
It looks more like Laureles and Belen are “done” based on the above post with only a few new projects in each.
“Poblado Done” way back in 2014 what a joke. Also, beware of Casacol that pushes high priced properties for sale and also has many high priced furnished rentals. You can easily find cheaper furnished rentals on Airbnb.
I agree that Poblado has too much inventory. There are so many apartments for sale and for rent. I wonder how long it take to sell in Poblado, I bet it’s a long time.
I looked at overpriced properties in El Poblado and decided to buy a nice apartment in Sabaneta for about half the price per square meter. El Poblado is overrated — too expensive, too hilly and too much traffic.
Thanks. Just a broad based figure ranges would be helpful.
The adjustment to metric was, and still is something of a challenge for me too. But listings will tell you the sq. meters only so including that data can be of help when analyzing the relative value of properties on the market.
To convert square meters to square feet, multiply the square meters by 10.764.
Get an area converter app for your phone. It will give you instant results!
Jeff you are truly a star. Fantastic information. My only comment is that when you talk about the individual area. The rental cost is very helpful. But your figures to buy based on per square metre are totally meaningless to me. Perhaps this an American thing but in the UK or Australia, there is no concept of what a square metre is. Indeed the UK is still old fashioned feet and inches. Also I get confused when people talk about millions. Sometimes meaning pesos other times dollars. I would be most grateful if for buying you couid provide a range. For example a typical appartment in Poblado can cost from $nnn, nnn to $nnn, nnn. For example. Whereas Sabaneta is lower at $nnn, nnn. Also I then have to convert from US dollars to Australian dollars, Thanks so much. John. Aka Jo Elgas Facebook.
Hi John, thanks for the comment. We plan to look at buying in more detail in the future with prices per square meter and we’ll add per square feet. And hopefully the price differences based on age of the property.
That will be great!
Thank you so much for your thorough and insightful articles.
You have truly been a blessing to me and my family in deciding many of our decisions as we embark in a new adventure in Medellin.
Thanks again,
Fabi Johns