Hi Frogman - congratulations on your move.
Can I ask why you have chosen to move to Brazil and why the Salvador region in particular ?
Sorry I dont have any advice to pass on, but have brought some land in Belmonte 2 hours south of Salvador and was was just interested in your reasonings.

hi sunnyshores we have decided on salvador because of the diving we want to open a dive school we have chosen brazil because the climate the affordability the lack f threats i.e. terrorists, tsunamis e.t.c. and we are just fedup with the u.k. we alsofeel that by the time we retire if we stay here we wouldn't be able to have a decent standard of living, and our pensions will go further in brazil than here. Are you building your own house,we are toying with that idea

Ah ha, hence the name frogman!

That's certainly enough reasons for me, I wish I was braver. We have decided to persevere with the UK and its bad customer service, plumbers that cost the earth, repair men that dont turn up, trains that are late, traffic jams, expensive food . . . . . Anyway, our plan is to invest in a couple of places abroad (NE Brazil and Morocco) and hopefully make enough money that we can pay off our mortgage and not have to stay in the rat-race.

We have brought 2 plots of beachside land with planing permission and a guaranteed price (£35k) for building a specified 3 bed house with garage and pool in 2 years time. We plan to sell 1 plot of land, hopefully it will have increased in value enough to pay for the building on the second plot.

I dont know anything about the building side of it, but it does seem the best route for knowing exactly what you're getting and financial gain. I have spoken to a friend in Sao Paulo, who is used ot living in Europe, and he says generally standards of building, carpentry etc in Brazil are good.

Am sure you already thought of this but don't forget to make sure there is a deco chamber at one of the hospitals nearby or you'll be investing a lot of money buying and maintaining one.

thanks for that we will make sure there is one near us

Buying pre-construction or off plan properties in Brazil has become almost a fever for the past 3 years. National and foreign investors have noticed the generous returns of such investments in Brazil and now what we are seeing is a consistent and considerable increase in sales of pre-construction properties to foreigners and foreign companies. However, buying an off-plan property requires, if not more, the same amount of homework needed when buying a regular piece of real estate.

The regular title search needed to buy real estate, in this case should be more thorough. Besides checking for related title defects, such as, survey errors, title flaws, fraud, forgery, undisclosed liens and encumbrances, and a host of other problems, buyers shall request their attorneys to double check the financial and fiscal situation of the developer; that because it is common to see newly opened development companies going bankrupt in the middle of their constructions, leaving buyers with big damages and few legal recourses.

The most famous case was known in Brazil as the “Encol” case, whereby more than forty thousand (40,000) families who bought property from this developer claimed to have suffered financial damages due to their default in delivering the properties as contracted, and subsequently, due to their bankruptcy. Note that “Encol” was considered to be a big development company; needless to say what risks a buyer should be looking at when buying from a small and newly opened development company.

Pursuant to the Law n. 4.591/64, all developers, before they are able to start selling, shall have complete set of innumerous documents, permits, disclosures, etc. On the other hand, the buyer shall always request a copy of such documents. Some of these documents must analyzed by an experience professional in order to make sure that the developer is in accordance to the Law, and therefore reducing, quite considerably, the risks.

To name a few, documents such as: 1)Titulo de propriedade, ou de promessa de compra e venda ou de cessao de direitos ou de permuta; 2)Certidoes negativas de impostos federais, estaudais e municipais, de protestos de titulos, acoes civeis e criminais e de onus reais relativamente ao imovel, aos alienantes to terreno e ao incorporador; 3)Registro da Incorporação; 4)Certidao Vintenaria do terreno; 5)Projeto de Construcao aprovado; 6)Certidao Negativa de Debito da Previdencia Social e Receita Federal; 7)Memorial Descritivo; 8)Declaracao de carência; 9)Atestado de idoneidade financeira; shall always be requested and properly analyzed.

Once these and all the other documents are provided and double checked by an experienced and impartial professional (that excludes the realtor who are selling the property of course), buyers shall have no problems, and if they do, they will be able to have legal recourse against the developer.

Some irregular clauses developers like to have in their contracts:

1) The address of the property is usually unidentifiable, meaning, it describes the property in a corner of an intersection of two streets, all intersections have four corners, and the buyer cannot know which corner the contract is referring to.

2) The description of the unit is usually insufficient, they often refer to the unit with number only and ask buyer to refer to the floor plan. However, in the contract shall have the full legal description of the unit, describing how many square feet it has, as well as the correspondent "fracao ideal" of the entire condominium.

3) One of the most famous clauses. Developers like to have inserted a clause that affirms that buyer has read, reviewed, and understood the "memorial descritivo", floor plans, garage description disclosure, which are not usually given to buyers, unless when requested.

4) Special attention to a clause that prescribes that developer may get financing during construction and give the bank the property as collateral. In this case, be aware even after buyer pays it all off, there could be a lien in the title regarding the condominium's “fracao ideal”, which can become a title cloud for the unit owner.

5) Look for a clause that prescribes that buyer can only transfer/sell the rights of the contract/property to someone else once buyers have paid it all in full and with the developer's approval, leaving buyer at the discretion of the developer in order to authorize the sale of the rights or the property to someone else, even if the property is paid off.

These are only a few examples of some irregular clauses often seen in pre-construction purchase and sale agreements. You, as the buyer, must look carefully in the purchase and sale contract in its entirety and always double check with an impartial and experienced professional for unforeseen flaws, irregular clauses, and illegalities.

I hope to have been able to advise prospective buyers of the dangers, precautions and solutions one must have when purchasing real estate in Brazil. Should you have any questions, related to this matter or any other legal questions, please feel free to contact me directly at:

Jose C. Santiago
Licensed & Certified Title Attorney - Brazil
Paralegal & Licensed Real Estate Agent – USA

Hello jose,

Thankyou very much for all the information- it makes very interesting and factual much needed reading!!!!

See ya D

Jose, thank you that really is useful.

Hope you Brits don't mind mind me asking some questions on here, I know how you guys all like to kinda stick together.......even on yur holidays
Anyhow was wandering is this only going to be for golf, or can surfers get in here too, mind you I hear that a golf course is as likely to last as Snow over there.
Been doin some research on the o'l internet, great thing eh, and looks kinda out in the wilds a bit this place, whats the big draw for you guys, not just the pitch and putt for sure eh! I mean thats no prob for me being Australian we are used to a bit of rough, but you Brits, i know how you all are in Spain, daily mail and full english, pint of bitter and you guys are laughing, but I see you are all planning some Barbbies that should be cool, who knows I might bring along a few tinnies and join you all.
Let me know abou the surf.........................

Jose,
That is probably the best posting i have read from a lawyer on a forum for any country...ever.
It is reassuring to know that someone with such an intimate knowledge of the Brazilian legal system is prepared to spend time providing such a detailed a truly comprehensive exposition of the intracacies and potential pitfalls involved.

I have been investing in international property for over 7 years ,though this is my first foray into Brazil, and with each individual jurisdiction having its own different laws and rules,to all intents and purposes, with each new country in which i choose to invest, my status is relegated to that of a comparative novice.Many thanks for filling the void.


Brazil would certainly appear to have its own little idiosyncracies and i would just like to strongly emphasize to anyone that is investing here,who may have bought into a project that appears to have been delayed or stalled that this, in itself,ought NOT to be a cause for concern.

The more i research this market ,the more it becomes evident that due to problems in the distant past,Brazil now has one of the most secure and protected property acquisition procederes in the world.

Project delays for example are often accountable to the rigourous procedures and specific laws passed by the government to protect us-the buyers.A developer here for example ,must not only obtain permission from the local municipality through City hall but ALSO from all the environmental and utility companies involved including COELCE(electricity),CAGECE(water,sewer),TELEMAR(te lecomms),IBAMA etc.Then there is the land registration and building licences-it really is a wonder that anything gets built at all!
It is therefore somewhat ironic that a system designed to assist us often has quite the opposite effect in reality.

Hopefully this will help to put a few fellow investors at ease.It should all be worth it in the end as the country has excellent potential.

p.s.Jose-hope you manage to generate some extra business for your law firm. I really have no problem whatsoever with that.I think we all realise that you are not a charity organisation-i am just pleased that you have taken the time and trouble to post. I cannot even obtain that quality of info from my existing lawyer, and they are being paid to provide it!

However, to conclude on a positive note,i have literally just uncovered what appears to be a quite oustanding opportunity just South of Fortaleza and would hope to be in touch soon.