Andréa Novais

Andréa Novais


The Brazil Business

Updated

penelope waits

Renting the right property in Brazil

Andréa Novais

Andréa Novais


The Brazil Business

Updated

Finding a new home in Brazil can a very time-consuming task. In order to facilitate this search for the right place to live, we have written an article with some of the options available when looking for the property to rent in Brazil.

Major online portals

Classified portals gather ads from both private people and realtors and are an option to give an idea of prices and locations. However, they are paid services and for that, the marked properties are not the cheapest options available in the market. Some of these portals, for example, settle the minimum price for the rental of a property to BRL 800,00 when it is definitely possible to find something cheaper.

If you are moving to Brazil, here are some good options of classified portals that even though working with the whole country, have a greater number of properties available for rent in the Southeast and on the coast of Brazil:

ImovelWeb

Imovelweb does not offer properties for rent on the North region of the country nor on the following states:

  • Ceará
  • Espírito Santo
  • Goiás
  • Maranhão
  • Mato Grosso do Sul
  • Pernambuco
  • Rio Grande do Sul
  • Sergipe

It is possible to find a wide range of real estate options, with rental prices ranging from BRL 550,00 to BRL 4500,00 per month.

  • Website: www.imovelweb.com.br

TiqueImóveis

TiqueImóveis offer properties for rent with prices as low as BRL 280,00. The classified portal covers cities from the following states:

  • Bahia
  • Espírito Santo
  • Goiás
  • Minas Gerais
  • Pará
  • Rio de Janeiro
  • Rio Grande do Norte
  • Santa Catarina

  • São Paulo

  • Website: www.tiqueimoveis.com.br

ZAP

One of the most popular in Brazil, ZAP offers property for rent in the following states, with prices starting at BRL 300,00:

  • Bahia
  • Ceará
  • Distrito Federal
  • Minas Gerais
  • Paraíba
  • Pernambuco
  • Rio de Janeiro
  • São Paulo

  • Santa Catarina.

  • Website: www.zap.com.br

Webcasas

Established in 2009, Webcasas belongs to Santander Group. With the exception of Espírito Santo, Webcasas has a strong presence in the Southeast and also on the states of Bahia and Paraná. Webcasas has few or even none rental options on the other states.

One bedroom apartments in Rio de Janeiro, for example, can be found for BRL 650,00 per month.

  • Website: www.webcasas.com.br

Viva Real

Viva Real is a real estate portal performing in the US and Latin America for the purchase, selling and renting of real estate. Operated by VivaReal Inc., the website advertises real estate for rent in São Paulo city for prices as low as BRL 250,00 per month.

Most of the real estate marketed by Viva Real come from the following Brazilian cities:

  • Belém (PA)
  • Fortaleza (CE)
  • Natal (RN)
  • Recife (PE)
  • Salvador (BA)
  • Brasília (DF)
  • Goiânia (GO)
  • Belo Horizonte (MG)
  • Vila Velha (ES)
  • Rio de Janeiro (RJ)
  • São Paulo (SP)
  • Curitiba (PR)
  • Florianópolis (SC)

  • Porto Alegre (RS)

  • Website: www.vivareal.com.br

Lugarcerto

Mostly focused on the Southeast and Central-West of Brazil, Lugarcerto also operates through partnerships with local classified newspapers and online portals. The classified portal is very strong in Belo Horizonte (MG), Brasília (DF), Goiania (GO).

  • Website: www.lugarcerto.com.br

Local Portals

Apart from the major online portals previously mentioned that supposedly covers all the Brazilian territory, there are also some classified online portals that are more specific. Here are some of them:

North region

Northeast

Central-west

Southeast

South

Other websites

There are some online classified portals that are free to advertise. For this reason, they offer more properties and sometimes at lower prices as negotiations would be made directly with the owner of the property instead of having a realtor intermediating it.

What can be an advantage in terms of prices requires more attention, especially from foreigners, to avoid getting involved in a fraudulent business. Also, have in mind that these classified portals are not exclusive for real estate, working also with electronics, cars, jobs and others.

The four major online portals that do not charge for their ads are:

Precautions

When renting a property in Brazil – and this includes properties rented through online portals or realtors –, it is good to have a Brazilian or at least a Portuguese native speaker to assist you. If possible, get assistance from a lawyer or accountant as some clauses in the contract can be very tricky and can include fines in case of contract termination.

Another particularity of Brazil is that the tenant must have a guarantor or acquire an insurance called "Seguro Fiança", which is very difficult to get, even for Brazilians.

A recent study made by Folha de São Paulo has shown that the second semester is the most expensive for rental and therefore, the one that offers less negotiation opportunities. The recommendation is to always present a counterproposal, even if you may end up without the real estate. There is no property shortage in Brazil.