Transferring Money US to Brazil to Buy Apartment

@danielmurphy2035 Actually Wise uses Banco Rendimendo as their transfer agent in Brasil.  As @rraypo mentions the transfer limits of Wise are quite high.  Any delay is the result of Brazil laws regarding the transfer of money.  Transfers over a certain limit need to be validated by Banco Rendimendo to ensure you aren't doing anything like money laundering or something like that.  If that applies you'll get an email from Banco Rendimendo asking for additional information.  It might delay your tranfer by a day or so.  Typically, the turnaround for Wise transfers through Banco Rendimendo are quite fast.

@mikehunter Yes, and we actually tried the Wise/Rendimento process for our sinal payment to out seller. Rendimento required the seller to sign a procuração which is like a power of attorney. Well, our seller refused to do this and that was the end. We had to recall the transfer.

@danielmurphy2035 That is why I said it's a good idea to have your own bank account.  You transfer the money from the US to your Brazilian bank account and then pay from it rather than a direct transfer from the US to the Brasilian seller.  Yes, it's another step, but IMO it's safer and much easier to deal with. 

@mikehunter I think you are right.  To do an international transfer to Brazil requires the seller to be fully cooperative with the process which involves a lot of steps and disclosure or personal info. In our case the seller brought the requirements to his bank and they recommended that he now sign the procuração. They are retired and don’t trust anything different. I think the only way to get this deal done is with a local bank account.

@abthree hi all, just a quick update to close out my question. We successfully closed on our apartment this week and received out signed ‘matrcula’. Last step is the ‘registrio’ which is in process. Thanks to everyone that responded to my question. It all worked out in the end, but was quite the process. Hope it helps someone in the future trying to do the same thing. Non resident account is the way to go so you can control the money transfer. We love the new place and have already started fixing things up.