Thinking about Buying property in Brazil?

mike natal wrote:

Transfer wise for small amounts is excellent...otherwise european banks get the job done at decent exchange rates..

Exchange rates are so crucial in terms of what is affordable and what isn't.
I mean, 10 years ago 1 euro equalled 2.5 reais.

Today, because of the crisis it is almost 5.0 reais which means that my purchasing power has doubled.
My plan is to make money and a career in Europe for about 10 years (in which I will be an experienced osteopath) and then buy a property in the range between 1.2 and 2.0 million reais in Brazil. But the evolution of the real will be crucial for that. I hope the real will stay weak for another decade

It seems that in Brazil you get huge discounts for buying a property if you can buy it "a vista" instead of having a mortgage plan.

Whether we move to Brazil or not will depend on the exchange rate when we are ready to buy a property

from my side of the trenches....    As a Licensed Real Estate Broker

That is São Paulo Metro only.  I claim no knowledge elsewhere.

Commercial Real Estate  ( Office Space )
Leases are being picked up. From as low as 70% occupancy rates back in 2015-2016, now I am seeing a rebound.  Empirically I would claim about 80%.    And that is surprisingly on the upper end of the market ( from entire floors to the whole building ).  Mostly on what I call the "flight of quality " at the end of the lease.   

Flight of Quaity:    It used to be then that if you had an expired lease, that you would be able to get a newer place for less.  Not anymore.  Opportunity artists, professional grinders are losing out on deals just because they think they might have the upper hand.  Landlords are holding ground. From being in denial in 2013-2014 to taking in less money in 2015-2016, now , if they can go to the distance they will lock in better contracts. 

Conversely, places left behind, if you are willing to compromise, are worth to haggle for.  Value oriented rent seekers who are flexible and can compromise will get their space within budget. 

I had some mightly large would be tenants who actually lost on space, and now are in scrambling mode to find a replacement facility.   


On Commercial Sales:
Still few and far in between.  If the price is right, the propérty will get sold, regardless of the transaction size.  .  Mostly are cash deals.   

Retail.
Is getting snapped out, all things considered the location needs to be desirable. 

Industrial.   
The City is no longer a manufacturing hub, so except for Wholesale and Distriubution, E-Commerce, which all tends to be located around Rodoanel Beltway,  and in Gated Condo Warehouses,  Most of the factory builindings that haven't been razed down for skyscrapers are going to be converted, mostly for office space.    Most the manufacturing already migrated to the hinterland, other states, Paraguay, Mexico or China.   

So warehouse space in prime locations with potential for conversion are of great value, in fact in some cases the tenant will bear the cost of conversion itself. A lot of these places are going to be used for
headcount intensive places ( call centers, regional back office facilities, and such ).

Residential:
The lower end of the market is moving, not at brisk pace, but nonetheless moving. The upper end, those pricier homes and apartments, well they are in limbo.    There is a rebound in construction , mostly at the sub 100m² unit (more like a sub 65m² unit ).

Price is king, and deals are getting done if the price is within reach.  There is some haggling out there. 


Residential rentals
Name of the game is location, and price.   A lot of renters are skewering frills if they can find a clean place in a great location.    There are the feature creatures out there, but not one is willing to stretch the budget and whip the checkbook.

Hi Mike,
I am a Belgian citizin and I fell in Love with a Brazilian man. We are thinking about solutions to build up a life together. I am considering about moving to Brazil. I am searching for answers to the questions: 'Can I buy something in Brazil as a Belgian citizin? And what are the laws around this subject?' I found a ground that could be very interesting. But I don't know if I can buy this, also if it is possible to buy while being in Belgium.' Unfortanetly I don't know when I can travel again cause of the Corona crisis ...
Now is the time to gather information.
Thank you for helping.

Juliedh
Foreigners have a couple of options. Obtain an Investor Visa, or come to BR and obtain a permanent resident card (CRMN).
Investors may buy land for business (renting) Large.
Foreigners cannot buy land without having some type of permanent type visa.
There are other recent forums pertaining to buying property.
My purchase was prior to the 2017 changes in the laws, so not a big help on current laws.
The BR Consulate should have investor visa info. (If updated).
There will be some others here that can help.
Have you lived in Brasil? It would be wise to stay in the country for a while.

Hi Julie,
Thanks for your message.You are able to buy real estate in Brazil as a Belgian citizen wit 100% property rights.As for the land you are considering..best to check what can be built on it.Travel restrictions to Brazil have been lifted in Europe as far as I am aware.We are receiving europeans and north americans on property visits at the moment.Feel free to mail me on the specific land plot and questions you may have. Best regards,Mike

You can acquire Real Estate property as a foreign.   There are no barriers for such.

For cash outright transactions only....

The only pro forma requirements are that you file for a Tax Identification ( a.k.a. CPF ), so that you can get a banking account for the sake of transaction.  It needs to be , so the transaction is registered with tax authorities.

To get financing, it is a little more complicated.   

Personally, I would never consider buying a property immediately, until at least I knew who I would be dealing with on matters of heart.   

My advice is that you rent for a while, feel the waters, get to know the real estate market a bit, see if this personal arrangement is going to last, and more important than anything else, feel, you made the right choice in moving to Brazil.

The process of acquiring and then disposing of an asset  can sometimes lead to losses  on the account of not realizing capital gains, taxes, cost of acquisition beyond what the property market bears, etc.

Can foreigners own rural land now?

Not sure.  Never faced this before.  I can find out, if matters to you.

Texanbrazil wrote:

Can foreigners own rural land now?

Nope. Lei 5.907/71, Art. 1 has provisions for that. Only if:

1. They have an investor´s visa.
2. They reside in Brazil with a CRNM.
3. They are businesses authorized to function in Brazil towards use of rural lands devoted to agriculture, livestock, etc.

robal

Does not matter to me now. I live here and as Robal noted could not buy land without becoming a PR.
Investor visa comes with many restrictions and not automatic in retaining Permanent residence and it must be a business.

Thank you very much for the informations! I can work with this for know! Obrigada

Alright mate, I was hoping you could give me some advice. I moved here from London just over two years ago and my wife and I have decided that we want to build a place of our own. We live in Foz and plan to stay here until she finishes uni. What would you say the first most important steps are for starting this journey here? Any pros and cons of building vs buying that you know of? We are also considering a condominium but I always have this feeling that you never quite own the land or house because you have to live by someone else's rules. Are there any genuine reasons to avoid building/living in one?

English Penguin wrote:

Alright mate, I was hoping you could give me some advice. I moved here from London just over two years ago and my wife and I have decided that we want to build a place of our own. We live in Foz and plan to stay here until she finishes uni. What would you say the first most important steps are for starting this journey here? Any pros and cons of building vs buying that you know of? We are also considering a condominium but I always have this feeling that you never quite own the land or house because you have to live by someone else's rules. Are there any genuine reasons to avoid building/living in one?

It all depends on the price. A new gated condo homes open next to Vila B. Some nice older homes in and around Yolanda.
We are in Vila A, nice but too much noise. If you build you never know who or what will build next to you.
Many in VIla A are buying the older homes and upgrading them bottom-up.
As you know Vila A with a "smart Vila". Itaipu and Foz are launching a tech area and providing Fiber Opts and better lighting. I do not feel smarter, just more road work. Do love all the walking/bike trails.

I forgot to ask. SInce in Foz, not sure what the UK calls Condos, we in the US think of nice apartments with amenities. Here drive down Av JK or Parana and see all the I sores left from 2013/14, I call those condos.
Now wife calls "gated communities" condos??????

You mentioned Yolanda. You know that was the first "Jardim" in Foz and the first to get elect and water? Old money still there.
That area also has many old run-down government buildings. That I would shy away from.
Also the area around Av Cataratas and Parana Av floods, No one evens knows there is a Rio in that area.
Once this COVID is over we need to get together. Is the wife going to the Itaipu campus?

Texanbrazil wrote:

I forgot to ask. SInce in Foz, not sure what the UK calls Condos, we in the US think of nice apartments with amenities. Here drive down Av JK or Parana and see all the I sores left from 2013/14, I call those condos.
Now wife calls "gated communities" condos??????

You mentioned Yolanda. You know that was the first "Jardim" in Foz and the first to get elect and water? Old money still there.
That area also has many old run-down government buildings. That I would shy away from.
Also the area around Av Cataratas and Parana Av floods, No one evens knows there is a Rio in that area.
Once this COVID is over we need to get together. Is the wife going to the Itaipu campus?

We don't really use the term "condos" in the UK as far as I am aware but my definition of a condo is about the same as yours in the US, a building of apartments/flats that can be independently bought and sold. The concept of a condominium here is not a thing in the UK either really. I am sure there are some gated communities but not quite like this.

My wife actually studies in Paraguay, so she normally makes the journey over each day. I'd love to meet up when possible!

"My wife actually studies in Paraguay, so she normally makes the journey over each day. I'd love to meet up when possible!"

Oh my, I feel sorry for her. Mine loves shopping but during the week 3 hours each way........I try to limit her to Sunday's.

May just want to rent until graduation. Foz is heavy on tourism. They are trying to change with new industry land and Tech, but that will be awhile.
Stay safe.

Texanbrazil wrote:

"My wife actually studies in Paraguay, so she normally makes the journey over each day. I'd love to meet up when possible!"

Oh my, I feel sorry for her. Mine loves shopping but during the week 3 hours each way........I try to limit her to Sunday's.

May just want to rent until graduation. Foz is heavy on tourism. They are trying to change with new industry land and Tech, but that will be awhile.
Stay safe.

Yeah I kind of feel bad for her, before we met, she lived in Paraguay but moved back to Foz when I came over haha. Couldn't put up with that journey myself.

We are planning to be in the region for a while as she will do her hospital placements here so I'm pretty eager to buy a place. Currently we are paying R$5000 a month on rent and I would much rather that goes towards a property we own than a landlord. Just need to weigh up the pros and cons of buying vs building first.

Wishing her the best. Not many options in Foz. SUS, Costa Cavalcanti, and Unimed (never been there.) Has she thought about Cascavel? I was traveling to Curitiba and one doctor asked why I did not go closer. Rate good.
I respect them especially here with so many in lines even before COVID.

Sorry not sure if this thread is expired or not but i would like to ask a question about investing in land in Brazil.

I have been introduced to a company called BRIC Group and they invest in land themselves in a new resort Fortaleza, Ceara state in the north of Brazil and are offering real estate both villas and land plots to investors abroad.

I just wanted to know and be assured if they are legit and if anyone has heard of them and the Coral resort in Fortaleza or better yet, if someone has invested there through the BRIC group or any other sub agent of theirs. Also any recommendations if a land plot with them is a viable investment.

Here is their website: https://bric-group.com/investment-portfolio
This is the resort website: https://thecoral.com.br/

Their online presence and reviews seem to the mark an legit but i am not sure if the on the ground presence is.

If the property is beachfront, restrictions may apply to foreigners.
You can get an investor visa as outlined in the BR Consulate near you.
I would go and visit first.
Dec thru Feb is the high season for rentals (not 2020 though no Carnaval)

My offhand opinion is that any company which focusses upon expats for customers is attempting to make a fast buck.  But I have my own hands full checking and double-checking about a piece of land that's never before been owned by anybody ....talk about nightmares!

I am in sao paulo and have a tentative agreement to buy a residence in this city. The responder mentioned an international wire transfer to carry out the transaction...I am in the process of arranging the payment in my real estate purchase (with my lawyer and the sellers lawyers) and there seems to be some confusion/hold up regarding this phase...the transfer of money from a U.S. account into a brazilian account. Is this possible? what insight could you give about the transfer of money from an american account into a brazilian account for real estate purchase (appt) in Sao Paulo, Brasil?

08/05/21

American Pai,

Large transfers need to be cleared with the Central Bank and the Federal Police to ensure that they don't violate Brazil's money laundering laws, but your lawyer and the seller's lawyer should be very familiar with the rules and have the banking contacts to facilitate compliance on the Brazil end.  Assuming that the paperwork on the apartment is clean and that you're not having any trouble arranging the transfer on the US end, I wouldn't expect a delay of more than a week or two.

I used a Wise (or Transferwise) USD balance held with WellsFargo. Conditions were to transfer to an account in Brazil in USD plus  held by a company

American Pai,
I did this the same way you described it. My lawyer had an " escrow-type account". The lawyer gave me the bank account and IBAN account. The lawyer's bank was made aware of the transaction and his bank advised BB and Central Bank of the transaction. Within 1 day it was approved and I wired the funds to the account.
I agree that one of the lawyers should know the procedure unless it is their first real estate transaction.

American Pai wrote:

I am in sao paulo and have a tentative agreement to buy a residence in this city. The responder mentioned an international wire transfer to carry out the transaction...I am in the process of arranging the payment in my real estate purchase (with my lawyer and the sellers lawyers) and there seems to be some confusion/hold up regarding this phase...the transfer of money from a U.S. account into a brazilian account. Is this possible? what insight could you give about the transfer of money from an american account into a brazilian account for real estate purchase (appt) in Sao Paulo, Brasil?

_______
I know and have used a facilitator in Sp for anything like this.  He has this done faster than you can ask him questions.  Bank wire transfers for me have never worked well, and have been expensive in both fees and discounted exchange rates.

There is simply no substitute for first hand experience ....
I made sure that I made attempts with Western Union,Xoom, and with Transferwise and even in hand-carrying cash in amounts around $1000 and formed my opinions on the results.  I then came to attempt direct bank to bank transfers by wire using SWIFT, and I have done 10 or 20 like that.  Only AFTER having done it myself, did I attempt to make a transfer of a larger amount for real estate.
My settlement attorney informed me that he could not accept my funds for purchase, because all wires of that size are examined by Receita Federal Brasil and he would be taxed for it.  I had to send them directly to the seller who in my case was a real estate broker.
I would strongly recommend you use a similar procedure and do not attempt the high jump before you have learned how to walk, yourself.
But its your money so ....

Inubia wrote:

There is simply no substitute for first hand experience ....
I made sure that I made attempts with Western Union,Xoom, and with Transferwise and even in hand-carrying cash in amounts around $1000 and formed my opinions on the results.  I then came to attempt direct bank to bank transfers by wire using SWIFT, and I have done 10 or 20 like that.  Only AFTER having done it myself, did I attempt to make a transfer of a larger amount for real estate.
My settlement attorney informed me that he could not accept my funds for purchase, because all wires of that size are examined by Receita Federal Brasil and he would be taxed for it.  I had to send them directly to the seller who in my case was a real estate broker.
I would strongly recommend you use a similar procedure and do not attempt the high jump before you have learned how to walk, yourself.
But its your money so ....

______
If your funds have already been taxed in the USA, such as through income trx, the sale of a home being taxed, etc., then Brazil will not retax you.  All they want is evidence you have already paid tax.

So, what to do?
We are selling our house in the Netherlands and buying a house in Brazil.
Should I open a bank account in my name and transfer this money to my Brazilian bank account from my Dutch bank account to not get taxed? And than wire to the seller of the house?

Any advice? Experience?

The normal route is to send the funds direct to the property seller in Brazil from your account in the Netherlands or to an overseas account if the owner does not have a brazilian bank account.
You can only set up a brazilian account with a permanent visa generally.Hope this helps.I have lots of experience with property sales in Brazil to foreign buyers.

08/06/21

RemcoIvonne wrote:

So, what to do?
We are selling our house in the Netherlands and buying a house in Brazil.
Should I open a bank account in my name and transfer this money to my Brazilian bank account from my Dutch bank account to not get taxed? And than wire to the seller of the house?

Any advice? Experience?

Welcome, Remcolvonne,

What's your visa status?  Coming to Brazil cold and trying to resolve residency issues, find a property,  and buy it all at once is quite a challenge in the 90 days that Brazil gives a Dutch citizen on a Tourist Visa.

It's a good idea to resolve residency first, giving yourself space and time for the rest.

RemcoIvonne wrote:

So, what to do?
We are selling our house in the Netherlands and buying a house in Brazil.
Should I open a bank account in my name and transfer this money to my Brazilian bank account from my Dutch bank account to not get taxed? And than wire to the seller of the house?

Any advice? Experience?

_______________

First and foremost, what is your residence status in Brazil? Foreigners are prevented from having bank accounts in Brazil by the government. However, foreigners can own property, but without a bank account and CRNM, things get difficult, quickly.  I did it for 11 years. 
How much experience do you have in Brazil?  I have traveled quite a bit, and every country and culture is so different than the others.  Brazil can be extremely different, and at times, very difficult loaded with vague laws, strange rules, and yes, corruption too.
Next, always have your own realtor, and attorney, or a facilitator to handle your larger business transactions such as buying property and handling your taxes in Brazil.

My wife is Brazilian.  I am not; I have a CPF and Brazillian ID.  We are in the early stage of negotiating a purchase of rural property in Piauí.  And I have a ton of questions.

There are three adjacent parcels.  Two parcels are undocumented.  The documented parcel has a bank loan.  No home.

The seller will not document the two undocumented parcels, so we will be required to deal with the documentation process, after the purchase.  I have no idea what the steps are for creating the documentation.  The seller's realtor, who seems to moonlight as a realtor, has offered to help us with the documentation process.  What are the steps?  What is the cost?  I heard there is a quick, but expensive process; otherwise, the inexpensive process takes about a year.

The realtor mentioned that we would need to pay INCRA (I am not sure of the spelling). Why?  Any ideas of cost?

In this forum, I read that there is about a 6% transfer tax, about a 2.5% ITBI, Deed fees, Land Registry Office fee, and maybe a Municipal tax.  Where do I learn the whole cost of buying the above mentioned parcels?  Do I visit the local Perfeito?  Or, Piauí's capital, Teresina?

Is there a rough percent estimate that can be used to guess what the property will finally cost, after all the fees and taxes?

This will be a cash purchase.  Are "Brazil bank app" money transfers a wise method of paying?

Regarding the bank loan on the documented parcel, the seller will use our purchase funds to payoff the loan.  What method will guarentee the loan is payoff?  (I am familiar with escrow accounts in the USA, but here?)

This forum stated that the seller should provide a "Certidão Negativo" from the Registry.  Where are these Registries located?

Our USA marriage is not registered in Brazil.  Should I leave my name off the property documents? 

Am I overlooking anything?

Thank you,

Alex

09/03/21

Hi, Alex,

Wow, a lot going on here.  This will probably be the first of a number of posts from me and from others; this is a very complicated area.  I'll be asking some questions, too, to come up with better answers to your questions.

The Golden Rule for any property purchase in Brazil is, always start with clean documents!  By your description, you're dealing with one parcel that has questionable documents, and two with no documents at all, so you can see the problem.

First, I would strongly suggest that you and your wife retain your own attorney, and NOT rely on the seller's agent.  If you're in or near your wife's hometown, her family and friends probably know some attorneys, at least by reputation.  You would interview them much as you would an attorney in the US, to make sure that they don't have any connections, positive or negative, with your seller, that they're knowledgeable of and comfortable with real estate law, and that you two are comfortable, both personally and professionally, with them.  If neither of you is familiar with the area, you can locate attorneys in the area to interview by searching jusbrasil.com.br.  An attorney should not charge you for the introductory interview, and should be able to give you an idea of what their services will cost.

If you're in the Teresina or Parnaíba metropolitan areas, or maybe in one of the other larger towns, finding a good attorney willing to help you may not be too hard.  If you're in a small, remote town and the seller is a big landowner there, it could be a major challenge.

How is your Portuguese?  You and your wife will probably want to have all these discussions together anyway, but if it's only so-so, you don't want to go solo.

INCRA is the Instituto Nacional de Colonização e Reforma Agrária.  It's an independent Federal agency that manages Federal Government interests in rural properties.  It also has responsibility for land reform, but that's not a priority of the current Brazilian Administration.  When the seller's agent says that you "need to pay INCRA", that could mean anything from that the parcels belong to INCRA and you'll have to buy them from the agency (in which case, why should the seller's agent get a commission?) to  INCRA merely charging a fee on every rural transfer in their Piauí Region.  This is the first of many issues that for which I'd want an independent assessment from my own attorney, if I were in your shoes.

"The seller will not document the two undocumented parcels, so we will be required to deal with the documentation process, after the purchase. "  This is very ominous.  If the seller owns the parcels he should be able to document them, and if he doesn't, how does he have a right to sell them?  Every step that will be required to document these parcels will be very specific to these particular parcels, and needs to be defined to your satisfaction before purchase, not after, and the purchase should be contingent on documentation even being obtainable. 

"The documented parcel has a bank loan.  No home."  This documentation needs to be evaluated by your attorney, along with whatever linkage exists to this bank loan.

An acquaintance here recently embarked on a transaction that sounded a lot like this:  rural property, seller without documentation and cagey about getting it, and "helpful" seller's agent.  He started pressing the questions above, and the transaction disappeared, as if by magic.  A disappointment, but far better than the alternative!

I'm not ignoring your other questions -- they're important -- but this is a lot to digest.  I'll stop here and return in the morning.

09/04/21

Alex,

To respond to your other questions:

1. "In this forum, I read that there is about a 6% transfer tax, about a 2.5% ITBI, Deed fees, Land Registry Office fee, and maybe a Municipal tax.  Where do I learn the whole cost of buying the above mentioned parcels?  Do I visit the local Perfeito?  Or, Piauí's capital, Teresina?"

This differs somewhat from state to state; your attorney should be able to provide you with specific information for Piauí. 

ITBI is the transfer tax, payable to the municipality.  Here in Amazonas, it's 2% of the purchase price.  In the city of São Paulo, it's 3%.  I would expect Piauí to be closer to Amazonas.

There's a fee to the Cartório de Notas that prepares and finalizes the purchase and sale documents.  Here in Amazonas, it's 2% of the purchase price.

There's a fee, also payable to the municipality, to register the purchase.  Here in Amazonas, that's another 2% of the purchase price.

The seller's agent has already mentioned some type of payment to INCRA; this and other fees may be applicable to rural properties, in addition to the above.

2. "This will be a cash purchase.  Are "Brazil bank app" money transfers a wise method of paying?"

A transfer of this size will need to be reported to the Central Bank and to the Federal Police, to ensure compliance with Brazil's anti-money laundering laws.  If you sit down with the manager at your Brazilian bank branch ahead of time and review the details with him/her, the bank should take care of the formalities with little or no delay to the purchase.  If you don't have a bank account, you can probably work the transfer through your attorney. or even through the seller's agent, on an escrow basis.

3. "Regarding the bank loan on the documented parcel, the seller will use our purchase funds to payoff the loan.  What method will guarentee the loan is payoff?  (I am familiar with escrow accounts in the USA, but here?)"

Follow your attorney's advice on this.  If it sounds strange to you, don't be shy about pushing back.

4. "This forum stated that the seller should provide a "Certidão Negativo" from the Registry.  Where are these Registries located?"

At the very least, the seller should provide you with a certificate from the Municipal Finance Department -- Secretaria da Fazenda -- that all property taxes are paid and current.  You should receive similar certs from any government agency at any level that has taxing authority on the land.  These are documents that you should be given, not that you should have to hunt down.  These certifications will be reviewed by the Cartório de Notas when they prepare the Purchase and Sale, and will be detailed there.  Presumably, they'll inform you if anything is missing or wrong -- but you don't want to wait until then to find out.

4. "Our USA marriage is not registered in Brazil.  Should I leave my name off the property documents? "

Foreign marriages are generally recognized in Brazil, so there's no need to leave your name off the documents for that reason.  If you registered your marriage at a Brazilian Consulate in the US at some point, then you should have a "Certidão de Registro Consular" somewhere, that you can take to the Cartório do 1º Ofício of your wife's hometown, and they will issue you a "Traslado de Casamento" that registers your marriage in Brazil.  Being a familiar document, this may make recording the purchase at the Cartório de Notas a little easier, but shouldn't be necessary.

The advantage of having both of your names on the documents is that if one of you dies first, the survivor should own the property without the need for further action through the Brazilian legal system, except to update the documentation.  If this doesn't conform with your estate planning, your attorney should be able to provide you with other options.

The INCRA refers to land that might not be inalienable, perhaps on tribal reservation, or in some cases, a natural reserve. 

Out in the boondocks, it is not uncommom for folks to sell you land that is not titled and deeded.  You bought it, you do not own it, and worse you are a tresspasser.

The INCRA agency has a database of what can and cannot be sold.  It's a pro forma requirement that the licensed broker checks land records through that Public Agency. 
This should not be at the buyer's expense.  The cost to provide any documentation that clarifies Clear Title Transferrability must be borne by the seller. 

If there are too many ifs, and conditions, that should trigger the alarms that this might  not , after all, be a transaction worth of pursuit. 

And out on the boondocks, there are a lot of so called "Brokers" that might not even be licensed.  SO ASK FOR HIS UPDATED CRECI BADGE!!!!!  NO BADGE, NO DEAL.

A CRECI badge has, depending on the jurisdiction is issued upon, the broker's full name, an ID number you can double check online, date of expiration ( they are supposed to be re-issued once a year for a fee, granted the broker is not suspended or out of compliance ).  At the back of the badge , personal document ID numbers, signatures, and a QR scaneable code.  IT needs to be in hard plastic.

No ID, no deal!!!


I can only respond for Sao Paulo, which is my jurisdiction.  And I have pleny  land available through the State Government and some Bank REOs.  Problem is, not only I have no expertise on land sales, I would have to know specifics such as where water source is located, soil composition.

@abthree i am looking to buy a property n with all the horror stories i have heard, i would never ever buy a place that didn't  have full complete documentation..escritura e matricula  as well as anything else needed. So in other words if the bank won't  give financing on the place it is missing something. It's  trickier buying a chacara/sitio because  the land has to be over 20000m i think in most areas to be legal. Even though now some places are starting the processes of legally making it 5000m.

@abthree i am looking to buy a property n with all the horror stories i have heard, i would never ever buy a place that didn't have full complete documentation..escritura e matricula as well as anything else needed. So in other words if the bank won't give financing on the place it is missing something. It's trickier buying a chacara/sitio because the land has to be over 20000m i think in most areas to be legal. Even though now some places are starting the processes of legally making it 5000m.
-@Cserebogar

I have bought two places now. Rule number one, NEVER<, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER trust a realtor, any realtor in Brazil, While there are a few, just a few good, honest ones, the majority are not. In any case, no matter how much you trust your realtor, ALWAYS hire a professional to do your due diligence for you, just you. Never trust anyone else, not even if buying from family as there are too many variables. Remember, Brazil has no title insurance.

@Cserebogar I have never heard of that rule - min 20,000sqm - but maybe there is a local restriction if the land is very old? There is a law against foreigners buying very large tracts of land - but this is to protect food provision, and we would be talking of hundreds of hectares here, not sqm...

As far as financing is concerned, unless you have permanent residence with a job for 2+ years, you will have zero chance of buying through a bank, so forget that. And I cannot understand that this would be a pre-requisite for you - any reason?

Personally I have had no problems dealing with CRECI registered real estate brokers, and I have bought and sold quite a lot of real estate over the years! More importantly "emptor caveat" (buyer beware) - the sellers are the ones who can con you more than the realtors...!