Buying property in Brazil

Hi Christine,

The following is from my earlier post about buying property in Brazil. The fact is that there is no prohibition for foreigners owning property in Brazil. One only needs a CPF and some identity document like a passport, certificate of citizenship or the like. One need not even live in Brazil and a CPF can be requested from abroad. Read on......

Can foreigners buy real estate (or any other assets) in Brazil – YES

The simple answer is yes. There is absolutely no restriction on purchasing property in Brazil, whether the purchaser is a Brazilian or foreigner. Likewise the purchaser does not even need to live in Brazil. Obviously there are some requirements that must be met with regard to documents necessary.

Essentially all you really need is your CPF (Cadastro de Pessoas Fisicas) and to obtain this you will need the following documents:

A valid passport OR your RNE (Registro Nacional Estrangeiro)
Birth Certificate (long form bearing names of both parents) which must be legalized by the Brazilian Consulate in the country of issue accompanied by an official translation thereof.

There are a number of taxes and fees that will apply to the purchase of real property and several documents that you will require so please take note.

ITBI (Impostos sobre transmissão de bens imobiliários) these on average will be about 2.5% of the sale price of the property.

Deed fees (taxa de escritura) R$400 – R$3,400 for property with a value between R$10,000 – R$175,000

Land Registry Office fees these are charged by the Registry (Cartório de Registro de Imóveis) and they are exactly the same amounts/property values as charged for the deed fees.

Laudêmio da Marinho a federal tax imposed on beach properties within 80m of the shoreline on average 5% of the value of the property.

Laudêmio Municipal is a municipal tax that may in some cases be applied in certain areas and on average is about 2.5% of the value of the property.

Then too are the taxes and fees that relate to the transfer of funds from abroad in order to make the purchase and an additional charge for the bank draft (cheque administrative) to pay the original owner (you should use this form of payment in order to protect yourself and prove payment).

Documents that your property should have:

At the time of purchase you will want the seller to provide a “Certidão Negativo” from the Registry which guarantees there are no liens or other attachments.

If building your own structure – ALVARA which is a building permit issued by the city/municipality.

It is imperative that your property (whether you buy an existing home or build) possess a “Certidão de Habit-se” pronounced HABITZ. This document certifies that the construction is registered with the city/municipality and is in a “regular” situation. This is of real importance when selling or re-selling since bank financing cannot be arranged without it. You would be unlikely to find a buyer who is willing or able to pay on a cash only basis for property in Brazil. Do not assume that since the property is registered with the city and subject to IPTU (property taxes) that this is an indication that the property is “regular”.

While any good realtor (Corretor de Imóveis) is well aware of the process and all the documents, fees, taxes, etc., you may still want to arrange for a lawyer who deals with property transactions to look everything over to make sure everything is in order.

Insurance - A final note for anyone buying real estate, make sure you purchase good insurance converage. Because financing is extremely burearcratic and difficult to obtain for expats we tend to buy property and pay the full amount in cash. Therefore  we do not have the benefit of the built-in insurance coverage that Brazilians enjoy when they finance through the Caixa Economica Federal or other financial institutions. Insurance converage is a must, it can prevent your life savings from being wiped out in an instant.

Also if you are purchasing an apartment in a condominium make sure they have coverage. The Condominium Act (Lei de Condomínio) requires that they all have an insurance coverage for damage or partial/total destruction of the building(s). This should be included in the condominium fee you are paying. Although it is obligatory many do not have it. The idea is that you are covered for loss of your dwelling and for other kinds of damage. For example, if a chunk of concrete falls from the ceiling of your parking garage and damages your car the condominum's insurance should cover the damage. Another example, a fire breaks out in a neighbor's apartment and the building is extensively damaged as a result, your apartment appears to be fine but everyone is ordered by Civil Defense to move out. The condominium's insurance covers you. However, your furnishings and personal possessions are not covered by this insurance so arrange for your own full coverage insurance policy whether the condominium has insurance or not.

Thanks a lot for your help wjwoodward

Armand

This is something I am also considering, I'm in Goiania looking at apartments (average seems to be R$150'000) and was hoping that marriage was not going to be necessary!!

Gareth,

No, it isn't necessary for you to marry in order to purchase property in Brazil. As I pointed out you need only have your CPF, a valid passport with a current visa of any type or RNE and an original of your Birth Certificate (long form bearing the names of both your parents) which has been issued in the 6 months prior to being used. The Birth Certificate should be legalized by either your Consulate or the Brazilian Consulate where you were born and translated by an official translator here in Brazil (Tradutor Juramentada).

One thing to watch out for, if you are already living in a conjugal situation it may be extremely difficult to purchase in your name only. If you aren't actually living with your partner then you can purchase the property and register it in your name solely.

If at some future date you do get married you will want to make sure that it is under the "Regime de Comunhão Parcial de Bens". Essentially this is the community property law we are most familiar with, that is to say that any assets owned by the individual parties prior to marriage continues to be the sole property of that individual following the marriage and in any subsequent separation/divorce situation. The exception being that should you make improvements or additions that increase the value of the property following marriage or one year of cohabitation your partner will be entitled to half of any increased value. In any case I would also recommend a good prenuptial agreement too.

Good luck, welcome to Brazil and if you have any questions you can message me at any time.

Regards,
William James Woodward - Brazil Animator

Thank you William

So, time has passed and I'm no closer...

My birth certificate is a 'short' one - I applied to get the 'full' version but it hasn't appeared yet :-/

My girlfriend and I would like a place together but no one she has asked knows how to do this (instead preferring to ask why we don't just get married).

When we tried to get a CPF, I left under the impression that it was only valid for the length of my visa. Would this also complicate house buying?

Hi Gareth,

Your CPF is valid for the rest of your life, no problem there.

Unless you are financing through a bank, buying property in both names is quite straight foreward.

lawyer_rio wrote:

Unless you are financing through a bank, buying property in both names is quite straight foreward.

We don't have that sort of cash, I was thinking for her to get the finance in her name, me to pay the deposit and half the repayments.

I think that you're going to have a great deal of trouble finding any bank that would be willing to finance in her name only, if the name of ANY other individual also appears on the "Contrato Particular de Compra e Venda". If you want both names on the documentation and registration of the property (which is the wise and prudent thing) then you're going to have to figure out a way to jointly obtain financing. Otherwise, you're best off letting her by the property on her own, you could help her if you wished to, but it would have to be with the understanding that the property would not have anything to do with you in legal terms and your rights in the event of a break-up of the relationship would be extremely limited if you could even establish them at all.

Exactly.

And no bank wil provide financing for a foreigner without a permanent visa.

so you are saying with a temporary residence permit no any house or property can be purchased and financed with any financing company? This is the contrary of what James explained here above.

Dutchstang wrote:

so you are saying with a temporary residence permit no any house or property can be purchased and financed with any financing company? This is the contrary of what James explained here above.

Sorry, but I have never said that temporary residents can FINANCE, it's difficult enough for even Permanent Residents to obtain financing.

What I was talking about was PURCHASING property.... anyone can purchase, there is only one requirement and that is having a CPF number.

Cheers,
James        Expat-blog Experts Team

I think that I have broken all of your rules on buying real estate.  A rancher died and his family is selling their lots as it was divided in the will.  Since it takes years to settle a will, they have gone ahead without the will being settled and sold their shares of the property.  Ampla won.t provide power without a project map.  Most people here have goto's.  Property owner can't do the map until the will is settled.  My wife and I have invested heavily here.  She insists that this is normal in Brazil.  She says if we pay taxes for five years we'll be ok.

Right! And does she still believe in Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy too?????

Without the will being probated and a proper "inventário" you could even wind up losing the property altogether, since it couldn't legally be disposed of until probate was signed off. As it stands now, if there is any dispute among the potential heirs, there is no way of proving that they received their rightful share of the estate, and thus the property which was an asset of the estate. Since the sale was not legal, the courts could simply return it to the ownership of the heirs, leaving you with only one option and that would be a prolonged civil action against the seller(s) in an attempt to recover what you had paid.

Sorry to sound critical, but what in the world would possess you to purchase property without finding out ALL of the legal issues involved beforehand? That is just an open invitation for serious troubles here in Brazil.

Cheers,
James      Expat-blog Experts Team

Hi James,

I am a foreigner who is currently living in UK travelling to Brazil monthly for 2 to 3 weeks at a time.

My partner lives in Brazil Aracaju.

I am looking to purchase a property as an Aracaju but want to understand how ithe process works please;

- what taxes are payable on a flat purçhase from the Property deveoper.

- Typical purchase fees.

Also in the unlikely event our relationship breaks down is there any safegaurds one could take. I ask as the money for purchase is my lifes savings hence just need to be cautious.

Finally this apartment in Aracaju is about 300 metres to the beach is it posible for a foreigner to purchase the flat close to beachfront?

Also I would want to use a Lawyer for the transaction and how long usually does the transaction take?

Thank You

MkP

Hi, Mkp000888

You've posted your question in a "dead" thread.  There's a live discussion going on on this topic that you'll find interesting here:

https://www.expat.com/forum/viewtopic.p … 11#4195792

Copy and paste your question there, and you'll probably find it helpful.