Real estate investments in Brazil
Buying a real estate in Brazil, especially as an investment, requires some special attention. Find in this article how is the procedure to get your property in Brazil.
Brazil has no restrictions when buying real estates in urban areas. In many cases, this information becomes a real surprise for foreigners who plan to buy a house or commercial establishment as a form of investment in the country.
The only restriction for foreigners is regarding properties located in the countryside, where foreigners’ properties has size limit, and land situated in the range of 100 meters along the Brazilian coast. This rule is excluded in case of properties belonging to a condominium.
Documents you will need
- Cadastro de Pessoa Física (CPF)
- Registro Nacional do Estrangeiro (RNE)
- Passport if the foreign does not have the RNE For foreigners that do not live in Brazil, there are some other documents necessary to start the process:
- Birth Certificate with official translation into Portuguese and authenticated by the Brazilian consulate of the foreigner’s country.
- Attorney at the consulate, with full power to buy, sign deeds, and resolve any issue before the Office Notes, Real Estate Registry and Revenue for the regularization of property acquired on behalf of the foreigner.
Taxes and documents you will pay
- Imposto sobre Transmissão de Bens Imóveis (ITBI)
- Imposto sobre a Propriedade e Território Urbano (IPTU)
- Real estate Register – 2% of the real estate value
- Public deed – 1,5% of the real estate value
First step
If you are planning to buy a real estate in Brazil, we recommend you to hire someone specialized in house-hunting in order to facilitate your job when looking for good and specific areas. Be careful with the person or company you are going to hire, ask as much information as you can to certificate the veracity of the job, especially if the contact was done online.
Second step
After finding someone to help you deciding the correct place and also with the paperwork, it is time to define the place and verify its documents. In this part of the process, it is indicated to have a lawyer verifying the real estate status with the law.
If there is any irregularity and you buy the property, the whole problem of the real estate will come directly to you.
Third step
After choosing the real estate in which you are interested to invest and verifying the legal part, it is time to give the “Sinal”, which is an amount of money that goes from 15% to 25% of the value of the real estate you are planning to buy that must be paid to the owner to signalize that you are really interested in the place and want to have it reserved for you.
In case of desistence, this money should go back to you. That is a common practice is Brazil, mainly for real estate bought directly from real estate developers.
Fourth step
After definitely deciding to buy the real estate, it is time to elaborate the selling contract that must contain all the information about you, about the seller and the property.
Fifth step - Part I
Here you have to start the arrangement of the registration of the property and the public deed, which must be registered at the office of real estate registers. This is very important, once without these registrations the real estate is not legally considered yours.
Fifth step – Part II
At this step the payment must be done, but pay attention: foreigners cannot finance real estates in Brazil unless they are naturalized Brazilians or if they have permanent visa.
If you are not in Brazil, this payment can be done via bank deposit, which must be direct from your account to the seller one, an action that must be registered at Banco Central do Brasil.
Important: When making the real estate payment, you must also pay taxes as ITBI and IPTU.
Foreigners buying a real estate as an investment in Brazil do not face much limitation by the Brazilian government. You should only pay attention to all the required documentation to avoid becoming a victim of scams that are more common than we would like it to be.