Ray,

Why don't you talk to Ralph, he has helped a lot of people to get their money back through the courts. Mbush is another using the courts.

BTW, Dale is an agent.

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Brazil Property | Pipa Brazil

Firstly ,the demand is not there from the foreign market at present ,secondly,it is costly to invest in brasil now as prices are way o.t.t ,because it is not just the cost of property ,but the upkeep ,taxes(buying and selling) and thirdly you need to be realistic as to how frequent are you going to be hopping back and forth and at what cost??Then if you want to sell how will you get around it?It is not Spain or Ireland but another continent and unless you are going to use it year in year out the novalty will quickly wear thin and will be costly in the long run!

Hi Bob -

Our money is long gone. Old lady Olga on the run somewhere in RGN. Over $120,000.00USD gone! Scammed in Brazil! However, if we ever decide to invest again, highly unlikely, we'll contact Ralph. Unlike a lot of agents/developers in Brazil; example Doug Simon in Bahia; at least Ralph posts and is very open about how Brazil works, and the scam factor there. Ralph is a good guy to know in Brazil.

Looking back (hindsight is 20/20), we would do everything differently, most importantly TRUST NO ONE. Brazilians are slick, highly intelligent with great common sense and most important--excellent instincts, maybe the best worldwide.

When dealing with corrupt Brazilians; you have move down to their level. Once they realize you can be just as clever, conniving, nasty and crazy; they usually move on to easier prey.

Rather than just saying be careful about investing in Brazil...why don't you explain what happened with your investment group. We can then see if your group was carefull and if you actually did any due dilligence checks..which would be mandatory for a purchase anywhere in the world.
I don't know about your experience or knowledge of Brazil but there is a good justice system for those that use the correct methods of purchase ie: a laywer or CRECI reistered agent to do all the checks...these people are accountable.
When you make a payment transfer for a purchase to the sellers acc, the money cannot be withdrawn until all the deeds and registry are provided at the bank (escritura e registro actualizado) therefore your money is safe and it should not be possible to have a rogue land deal.
Reading between the lines I would suggest that your investment group need to be more carefull. Is your investment group active ? Do you visit the locations for investment ? Who makes the decisions for purchase? Can you speak Portuguese? Who did your documentation checks ?

Property Brazil - Brazil property for sale near Fortaleza

Lagrato -

Dude, will you wake up and smell the coffee?

And you are dead wrong. In Brazil, if you get robbed, scammed, petty theft, whatever; that $ is gone forever. Do you really think you have any recourse if rogue developers scam you out of $100k?

Sir, do us all a favor and go back to Brazil and live for a few years like Ralph, and when you have more experience -- talk to us.

It must be wonderful to be able to use a computer at such a great age, you think you know all there is to know about Brasil and the rest of LA, stop being pedantic and condescending, some people are on this forum for advice, not to be told they are idiots.

Hello Greymax -

My apologies if I come across hard core or perhaps "to much" for some of you and I'm sincerely sorry for that.

We are just a little upset at losing $100,000.00us in Brazil on what we thought was a legit real estate deal. We have no one to blame but OURSELVES - was our own fault as we trusted in the wrong people. We were naive and gullible because we trusted in Brazil and Brazilians. We did not do 'due diligence' and we entrusted long time Brazilian friends -- and they let us down. We tried for a very long time to get our money back. Even hired a Brazilian Lawyer based in Rio and recommended by US Embassy, and he did nothing. Made excuses, even (we feel) lied to us. Brazilian lawyers no different than American -- maybe worse.

Greymax, we learned a great deal from this experience, and now we know what to do should we ever decide to invest again in Brazil. That said, we learned the hard way!

I never called anyone here an idiot. I am saying that some us should stop asking repetitive questions that are redundant.

We're all here to learn, advise and help each other.

Have a nice day sir.

I do live in Brazil and have done for the last nine years therefore I am writing to you again as I feel that I have much much more experience. Your reply is Dead wrong. I am a developer and investor and obviously my experience is well above yours.
You're obviously deaply scarred by your loss of money but I was being constructive and by no means mocking.

Also we are not talking about robbery or petty theft here...we are talking about a system which protects buyers who purchase through the official and legal channel. Their money is protected as per my previous post explanation.

I can recommend a good English speaking lawyer who could certainly help you recover your loss and part of a very highly rated law firm.

Property Brazil - Brazil property for sale near Fortaleza

Hello Lagarto -

Thank you, but no thanks sir -- our $ is long gone. And if you think Brazil has a justice system - we have swamp land in Florida cheap right off Alligator Alley! And sir, my coffee statement, although not appropriate, was simply an attention getter to some of us who continue to ask repetitive questions over and over again. IMO, Brazil is not a place that we all seem to think it is. Brazil is a deceptive society.....unfair, corrupt, rude and we foreigners have no recourse should we become a victim of a crime(s) or scam(s). Things appear fine above the surface, but below it's a very different deal -- and we learned the hard way. I'm very sorry if my posts are negative, but we simply have little faith in Brazil... anymore, and we learned a hell-of-a lot!

Lagarto, I see you joined our Forum.... thats interesting sir. Well, I suppose we can all learn something new can't we? But I am curious, if you're so much more experienced than say most of us or I, then why bother joining another Forum? Or perhaps, you're interested in advertising your services on my Forum? Curious minds want to know!

Maybe he's interested in reading some Brazilian chat-up lines or finding out which brothels are the best. I went on your forum once and it seemed there was a lot of that sort of valuable information there - seemed well researched.

Just because you had a bad experience doesn't mean everyone will, you openly admitted you went in with your eyes closed and from your description it does sound like you were a very easy, tempting target... Add that ingredient to 100k US$ and you'll have millions of people of all nationalities lining up to "help you invest". You just happened to meet a Brazilian. You admitted you did no Due Diligence. Unless you are doing at least some basic form of Due Diligence, you are property gambling, not property investing.

The basic of investing in Brazil is registering your money entering Brazil through the Banco Central. You can do this either by sending the money yourself or having it sent on your behalf. Once it is registered, if you get scammed you should be able to get it back no problem. However assuming you do your homework you shouldn't.

Now, if Manuel or Pedro tell you that they can get you a great plot at half price and get all licenses on it within 2 weeks and resell the land and double your money but to do that you need to give him cash in a paper bag and he'll scribble an IOU on some toilet paper - odds are you won't be able to get the money back if he scams you.

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Yes, I work for a Real Estate company doing market research and analysis but I'm not involved in sales.

Have a nice day