How Do You Measure Your Property in Brazil

@roddiesho

Are you talking about construction or land? Usually measured in square meters, or acres and hectares for larger areas of land.

08/20/25 @roddiesho.  Here's the formula to convert hectares to acres, and a converter:

https://www.unitconverters.net/area/hec … -acres.htm

There are links at the bottom of the page for converting other common measures between SI and US Traditional.

If the Escritura for the property shows an area in hectares, try converting that.  If it doesn't show an area in hectares, or there is no Escritura, or you don't trust it, then I'd hire a professional to measure it.  If you want to tackle it as a DIY project, my suggestion would be to get yourself a cheap laser distance meter ("trena laser"), stake the lot you want to measure, and take the measurements yourself; you should be able to read the area off the trena under good measurement conditions.  If it's odd-shaped, stake it off in rectangles, measure the rectangles, and add them together.   That should get you  close enough.

@abthree Thanx! I am probably the only one in the family interested in this, but when my wife's business manager makes his annual? visit I will sit in. At some point this will all go to our daughter, and I want to make sure it goes smoothly, since we won't be around.

Roddie in Retirement😎

@Peter Itamaraca We have a very large compound with three houses, pool, sorvetes shop and three times as much unused land. The house that I live in is built on this land. My wife only knows the area by the Brazilian measurement, not square feet, but I am sure we are into Acres at least. I just do not understand what that measurement is.

Roddie in Retirement😎

08/20/25 @roddiesho.  For what it's worth I think you're on the right track, as long as your wife is onboard with the project.  It's actually not as hard as you seem to think:  the hectare (10,000 sq. meters) is the standard measure of land area in Brazil, the traditional measurements were converted to hectares long ago, during the 19th Century, and the conversion from hectares to acres is well known and standardized. 

If the tract was never surveyed -- a situation all too common in Brazil, especially in the interior -- now may be as good a time as any.  Based on your descriptions of your wife and her overall skill at managing her affairs, I have no doubt that she'll be able to "counsel" the surveyor adequately to ensure that he doesn't make any "mistakes" in his measurements. 

@roddiesho

Basically, whatever measurement is recorded in the escritura will be the law, although it can be challenged if you feel there has been a serious mistake, using the services of a topographer and attorney. The problem in the countryside is that the title paperwork is often not completed, or amended to include things like extensions and new builds. Frequently ownership is by possession not title...

It would be better for you to learn to use square meters and forget square feet, as Brazil never uses them. as a rule of thumb, simply multiply the sqm by 10 to get an approximation in sq ft. It is slightly more than that, but it will give you an idea.

@roddiesho
... The problem in the countryside is that the title paperwork is often not completed........ - @Peter Itamaraca

Title paperwork might not even exist and of a given piece of property, there might be often large extended family claims on property. Buying a piece of rural land is a delicate dance.

While I am no expert on the topic there are laws about registering RURAL properties, even small rural properties.

https://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/d … /D4449.htm

https://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/l … l10267.htm

Regarding the need to register using georeferencing:

https://www.assiscity.com/especialista- … -processo/

We get complete georeferenced details and incorporate those into the contracts for purchase that are then registered at the municipal cartório. We include family members and good neighbors as testimonies. For initial negotiations we pull together the available families and reach out to distant family for approval.

There's no such thing (in the rural, at least) as title insurance.

Property issues here can be frustrating for those that are used to better organized systems.

mberigan

@mberigan

Actually, there is no such thing as title insurance anywhere in Brazil. I personally have only come across it in Florida, as a result of problems with record keeping in the past - never seen it in any other country...

08/24/25 @Peter Itamaraca.  I think that it exists in all or most US states:  I know I had it in Illinois, and I think  that I had it in Massachusetts, too.  It seems to be mostly a scam:  just one more fee you have to pay as part of the purchase process, file the document, and probably never look at it again until you're ready to sell.

@roddiesho

Just step it off. Your stride is about 3 feet. Walk the sides of your property counting your steps and we can tell you how many square feet or square meters or acres or hectares you have.

08/30/25 @roddiesho
Just step it off. Your stride is about 3 feet. Walk the sides of your property counting your steps and we can tell you how many square feet or square meters or acres or hectares you have. - @alan279

That may be easy, but since he says that he wants the measurements for inheritance purposes I doubt very much that his going out and pacing off the land himself is going to get him what he wants, even if his stride happens to be exactly one meter long.

@abthree Well the Big Boss finally got to the point. Our property is worth at least a million in Brazilian money. My biggest fear though is that my daughter will try to sell it instead of realizing that tons of people in America would love to have a ready-made paid for Assisted Living Compound, the truth is in USA dollars you could barely use the proceeds to purchase a small middle-class house.    Fingers Crossed she will keep it. 🕵

Roddie in Retirement😎

09/05/25  @abthree Well the Big Boss finally got to the point. Our property is worth at least a million in Brazilian money. My biggest fear though is that my daughter will try to sell it instead of realizing that tons of people in America would love to have a ready-made paid for Assisted Living Compound, the truth is in USA dollars you could barely use the proceeds to purchase a small middle-class house.  Fingers Crossed she will keep it. 🕵
Roddie in Retirement😎 - @roddiesho

But everything you've ever said here about your daughter suggests that she's personally and professionally settled in the US, and is unlikely to ever want to live in Brazil permanently.  That means that once you and your wife are gone, she very probably will want to sell up and get out from under a property that's 5,000 miles away from her. 

You've done her a service by determining the approximate value of the property.  That will help her not to be cheated too badly, as long as she's not in too much of a hurry to unload.  Take the win, you deserve it!  That done, in your place I'd enjoy my life, and not stress myself about what might happen when I'm beyond caring.

Our property is worth at least a million in Brazilian money. - @roddiesho

You would be surprised (perhaps not) to know how many times I have heard comments similar to that in Brazil...! They call it "selling your fish." Then they realise the paperwork does not match the reality, and values come crashing down. Get it official, and values will rise....  but it will cost you to do it. Otherwise your daughter may be tempted to take the first best offer.

@Peter Itamaraca In my family, the fish is ALWAYS Fresh. 😉

@abthree You are absolutely correct, but it's amazing how your viewpoint changes when you get to your 50's and 60's. My wife's sister of many lived in Maryland most of her American life but as she got older, built a huge mansion in our "everyone in the Nascimento family lives here in big houses" village. She is permanently moving to Northeastern Brazil in October. I've learned that if I kind of slip it in my daughters when she is young it will stick when she gets older. 😏

Another thing I did not learn until I had already created Aqui Brazilian Coffee in Maryland is that the smart ones ALWAYS build their retail store (Pastry Shop, Sorvetes Shop) attached to the house.

Roddie in Retirement😎

@roddiesho

You have fresh fish in your desert?

You can do rough measurements using google earth measurements. Sketch it out and convert square meters to hectares or acres etc..