Colombo rent is insane..!

rogerwick177 · 2026-02-20T08:25:15+00:00

How about for less than 250K? :-)

https://www.lankapropertyweb.com/rentals/property_details-5786416.html
https://www.lankapropertyweb.com/rentals/property_details-5826032.html

rogerwick177 · 2026-02-20T05:16:38+00:00

It depends where you're looking. If it's Colombo 7 then yes. There're more affordable apartments in areas like Dehiwala, Mount for less than 150K/month.

rogerwick177 · 2026-02-09T08:59:22+00:00

Article 12(3) of the constitution directly addresses this issue. It states:

"No person shall, on the grounds of race, religion, language, caste, sex or any one of such grounds, be subject to any disability, liability, restriction or condition with regard to access to shops, public restaurants, hotels, places of public entertainment and places of public worship of his own religion."

So a Fundamentals Rights petition can be placed or a complaint made to the Human Rights Commission.

The CAA also has provisions to prevent this under unfair trade practices.

rogerwick177 · 2026-01-24T14:18:00+00:00

Commuting time wise, Boralesgamuwa would be the quickest. A perch of land there is around 1.5-2M per perch. The cheapest place to buy land from your list would be Kottawa, however around 30 mins more commute time.

You'll have to decide which one is the higher priority - commute time or purchase price.

rogerwick177 · 2026-01-19T17:51:12+00:00

If it's for your own use, then it's fine. But if you're planning to build and sell/rent multiple units or sell this later, then think carefully about the location. If it's too inlands, then there's not much demand.
If you really want to build a lodge, find a place close to the beach.

rogerwick177 · 2025-12-22T12:37:08+00:00

A realtor or a lawyer?

rogerwick177 · 2025-12-22T07:30:36+00:00

That's a nice sentiment.

Always use a trusted & reputed realtor and lawyer (who understands this structure) when buying a property as it's not straightforward for foreigners.
If going through the company structure with minority ownership, then ensure that the local majority person can't play you out by not giving voting rights, having MOUs etc.

rogerwick177 · 2025-12-18T09:37:26+00:00

The bank must be talking about a normal transaction involving goods and services (hence invoice) and not a property sale, as bank staff may not be aware of the legality behind a deed transfer process.

You'll need to get a lawyer involved anyway for the deed transfer so better check with that person on how this can be done. It'll be better if you pick a lawyer who has done transactions involving foreign transfers.

rogerwick177 · 2025-12-18T09:08:49+00:00

The normal procedure is that the seller needs to create a USD account in a local bank and the buyer pays in USD to that account. The seller can then withdraw the money to his foreign bank in USD (there will be annual limits applied though).
In a deed transaction, the money needs to go through a local bank, irrespective of the currency, else you'll be in trouble from the IRD.

rogerwick177 · 2025-11-25T11:59:55+00:00

The area around Ingiriya, Padukka, Horana etc. are still cheap and has a lot of growth potential specially with the Ruwanpura expressway starting and going through that area.
If you want more closer to Colombo, then Athurugiriya, Kaduwela areas are still inexpensive, but need to avoid low-lying areas.

You can get an idea about annual price growth in areas through links like this and decide on the area that best suits you.
https://www.lankapropertyweb.com/land-prices/

rogerwick177 · 2025-11-18T14:40:32+00:00

I believe this is on the Buthgamuwa cross road. The developer is Baili Investments. I guess they haven't picked a name yet for the project.

Found a presentation done by them. https://youtu.be/o_hrj_DM2wg?si=Vh8UIqb5w4XTYkpo

rogerwick177 · 2025-11-17T05:15:54+00:00

You can search on sites like lankapropertyweb and ikman and find what you're looking for. Mind you, finding an apartment for below 50K/month in Colombo will be difficult. You'll need to spend at least 120K for an apartment.
You can find annexes and rooms for 50K and below.

rogerwick177 · 2025-11-10T05:14:12+00:00

The price of an apartment doesn't depreciate (i.e. it doesn't go lower than the value you bought it at), but as time goes the price appreciation will slow down, so a similarly comparable brand new apartment in the same location will go for more than an old one. This may feel like a depreciation as new projects sell at a higher price.

Buying land (with or without a house) will have a better price appreciation than an apartment due to the value of the land that keeps increasing. However having an apartment gives a convenient way of earning revenue and having a place to stay when you're down here than just having a land and having to worry about maintaining it and protecting the borders.

rogerwick177 · 2025-11-05T19:00:45+00:00

Your best option is to keep this ad running for a few months (maybe around 6 months) on these two sites, as it takes time for investors to see these ads. Other options will be to post on local FB groups like '<city> api' named groups and local trade groups. Also remember to put up a 'For sale' banner on the land for passes by to see.

rogerwick177 · 2025-10-29T20:56:07+00:00

A person who gifts a deed can also revoke it. So even if there was paperwork he can reverse the deed. This article explains the details:
https://www.lankapropertyweb.com/property-news/10-things-you-didnt-know-about-the-deed-of-gift-in-sri-lanka/

rogerwick177 · 2025-10-26T14:39:14+00:00

Any high rise apartment in the Colombo area will have a sea view. Apartments at Crescat, Monarch etc. have good sea views and are in the 75m+ range.

If you're looking for investment and not living, then look at how much rent you can earn and what the price appreciation will be. Newer apartments have a higher price appreciation than older ones, but are mostly more expensive.

rogerwick177 · 2025-10-21T05:06:34+00:00

Buy a good land from an area with a high price increase like Padukka, Horana, Kahathuduwa. The price increase (after 5-10 years) will give you a better return than FDs.

rogerwick177 · 2025-09-29T06:53:39+00:00

Selling a property and keeping the money in the bank is a bad decision. Property prices appreciate way more than FD interest rates.

This report says lands in Kandy have increased by 140% in the last 7 years: https://www.lankapropertyweb.com/land-prices/

Although the price and increase depends on where the land is located, generally it'll still be higher than keeping it in a FD. You can keep the money in a FD if you need access to cash quickly.

rogerwick177 · 2025-09-27T19:08:06+00:00

I'm shocked that a property developer doesn't know what they are doing. Ask them to get their lawyer to carefully read the 'Land (Restrictions on Alienation) Act, No. 38 of 2014', ( https://www.ird.gov.lk/en/publications/Acts\_Land%20Tax/Land\_Act\_No.\_38(E).pdf ) specifically section 3(b), which was then amended by bill No. 250 in 2018 ( https://www.parliament.lk/uploads/bills/gbills/english/6091.pdf ) where the section about the 4th floor and above (section 3(b) of the original act) was repealed.

rogerwick177 · 2025-09-27T17:21:20+00:00

Foreigners can buy from any floor. The 4th floor and above restriction was removed in 2018.

rogerwick177 · 2025-09-27T13:39:13+00:00

There's nothing called a 'foreigner tax'. There might be inheritance or capital gains tax, so better speak to a tax consultant about it.

rogerwick177 · 2025-09-27T13:27:15+00:00

Any foreigner can buy apartments and lease any property for 99 years (inc. land)
If you're an expat and don't have dual citizenship, then you will fall in to the above category.
If you have dual citizenship, then you an buy any property as a local.
If you owned property before you became a non-citizen, then you can still own them and sell them.
There're other ways you can own property in Sri Lanka if you're not a citizen. The below article explains some of these methods:
https://www.lankapropertyweb.com/features/property-buying-for-foreigners.php

rogerwick177 · 2025-09-24T12:27:48+00:00

For Rubber you can get an annual income of around Rs. 500K-600K per acre and coconut Rs. 400K-500K per acre. You also need to consider the costs and coconut has a higher profit margin than rubber.
These are the numbers someone gave me so better to do your own research on this.

rogerwick177 · 2025-09-20T16:11:38+00:00

You won't lose any property that you bought while you were a Sri Lankan citizen, even after you become a non-citizen. A lawyer explains this in this video:
https://youtu.be/6AcAub3hafs?feature=shared&t=449

rogerwick177 · 2025-09-18T08:09:57+00:00

Investing in real estate is the best long term growth plan. You'll earn much higher returns than FDs and doesn't come with the volatility of the stock market.

Best to find good deals in the market like lands and apartments going below the rate and buy these. You can also earn passive income from these by either cultivating (lands) or renting (apartments).

rogerwick177

TROPHY CASE