There are two vehicles for buying a home in Colombia and most people know one. The classic mortgage: the house is yours, the bank holds a lien. And leasing habitacional: the house belongs to the bank, you inhabit it as lessee and buy it at the end via the purchase option.
Everything else flows from that one legal difference.
Where leasing wins
At the entrance: it typically finances 80-90% of the value (versus 70-80% for mortgages), so the down payment shrinks — the decisive argument for those with income but no big savings. It often carries tax advantages for filers (part of the payment deductible under conditions), and Davivienda, the historic specialist, processes it with mortgage-like speed.
Where the mortgage wins
Ownership from day one: the property is yours to sell, rent or renovate without the bank's permission, and family-home protections cover you fully. In payment crises, the mortgage debtor holds more shields — leasing allows faster repossession, since the bank owns the place.
And at term's end there's no purchase option to exercise, no transfer paperwork pending.
Pesos or UVR: the second decision
Both vehicles are signed in pesos (fixed payment, 10.5-13.5% E.A.) or UVR (inflation-adjusted payment, starts lower). In pesos you know exactly what you'll always pay; in UVR you pay less today in exchange for twenty years of inflation risk. Our position, said plainly: for a first-time buyer with stable income, pesos — certainty beats the cheap start.
The right comparison
It's not leasing versus mortgage in the abstract: it's both vehicles' total cost and down payment, at your bank and at the FNA if your cesantías sit there. Run the four simulations (two vehicles × pesos/UVR) in the <a href="/en/creditos/credito-hipotecario">mortgage comparator</a> before falling for the apartment — numbers first, balcony second.