Ok so that's a start and I am only interested in Brazil....we now know about buidling licenses and ownership..so what are they called in Portuguese, is there a document number, who is it registered with, how do you verify it is real etc etc...let's do chapter and verse so that interested parties can learn on the job. You know my mission Mr Broad and that is to cut the glib statements, cut the "talking up" and get to the nitty gritty..rather like you..if I can't be convinced..."I wouldn't even waste time with it"! Clearly, the more professional sellers become, the more they are likely to sell.

So you didn't get a written report with a copy of all the documents with it. You have got big cojones buying there then ...

No mate I didn't I asked the guy if he was a "reputable builder" and he said yes, so he must be ok!

Thank you LisaNic very informative post

Well done Lisa, someone is starting to shine through!

Golfingworld,

It is interesting to hear about your comments on ''Due Diligence''. I completely understand where you are coming from and agree that when investing in foreign countries you should always act with caution (not every body is as honest as you are).

I would like to put my suggestions forward to you for consideration. However, my interests do not lay in Brazil but are with German property investment, which I suspect will be of a different rental market to what you are looking at (therefore not everything I talk about will necessarily hold true to Brazil). I do believe that the principles of property investment remain pretty much the same.

My view to purchasing property is that you need to conduct your own search this taking the form of 3 basic steps. (This is possibly what people refer to as DD).

1) Research the area you want to invest in. What is its potential.

2) What type of property do you want to purchase. What is your rental market.

3) Evaluate your financial costs to ensure its a viable investment.

These are only the basic steps, you will need to carry out further research to fully appreciate if your chosen investment is suitable. This can all be done by yourself on the net.

Once you feel comfortable from your research that your chosen area is good for investment, then you need to find a suitable property. When you have found a suitable property I would then suggest finding a lawyer to conduct your conveyancing.

I consider it very important to appoint your own lawyer as any lawyer employed by a broker will always share an interest with the broker (the lawyer will not act solely on your interests). Also any Notar involved will not conduct any conveyancing, they are employed only to oversee the sale of contact on a property between buyer and seller. (Not sure if the Notar process follows the same in Brazil).

I have posted comments about what you are talking about on another thread German Property - Buying in Germany. This may be of interest as I believe this is what you are trying to get a grasp of. I make reference to DD but having read this thread about DD, I have interpreted DD as the prospective purchasers research and what I initially referred to as DD in my thread would be conveyancing.

I think I am on the same wave length as you and hope this helps.

Good luck

Reindeer.







2)

Being the newcomer to the forum and the real estate investment industry, I really appreciated your post. It is my sentiments exactly.

Have no fear, I plan to hold on tight and get as much knowledge as I can out of this forum.

1) Research the area you want to invest in. What is its potential.

2) What type of property do you want to purchase. What is your rental market.

3) Evaluate your financial costs to ensure its a viable investment.

Reindeer, thanks for your contribution, but couldn't this be best described as common sense? To give you an example, when a business is sold there is a process known as "due diligence" this means that accountants and lawyers go in and study the business for sale and look for loopholes in the proposition. What I am asking and so far Lisa has done the best job, is that instead of this well worn cliche being thrown around, someone actually gets down to the nitty gritty and that means this step, that step, this document and that one, where, how what it is called, where we can see examples etc etc. Quite honestly, if anyone went into overseas property without doing what you suggest, wouldn't they be a little insane...or are there really people out there that need telling that?

Thanks for such a clear but simple definition of due diligence. Not to mention, I also gathered the impression from your post that anyone considering investing overseas had better equip themselves with an accountant and an attorney before making a move. Is that so?

What I was trying to say, although I'm not sure if it came across particularly well, is that I was trying to explain the difference between ''due diligence'' and ''conveyancing'' as I see it.

Initially when I was approached in the German property section about DD, I thought that this was referring to conveyancing, but then having read this site I interpreted DD as being different to conveyancing. As I explained DD is your own research based on the property which you intend to purchase as to whether this is a viable investment. Conveyancing is conducted by a lawyer that you appoint should you wish to appoint a lawyer. The conveyancing carried out by your lawyer would search the property to make sure no debts or other obligations are registered to the property and check the official general building plans for public obligations and restrictions.

Conveyancing by a lawyer is common practise in the UK when purchasing property. When buying property abroad why should you buy it differently than you would in the UK, unless you are able to conduct conveyancing yourself in a foreign language (I know I can't). Remember also, any lawyer employed by a broker to act on your behalf does not have your full interests at heart as they are indirectly employed by the broker.

Personally I would employ a lawyer as I am a cautious person but the choice to do so is entirely the buyers, possibly at their own risk. I would also suggest having a building survey report carried out by your own appointed surveyor, although this is the choice of the purchaser (how do you know your property hasn't got any structural hidden defects (just because it's new, doesn't mean it hasn't any, could have been built by a shoddy builder)). This again is something that most purchasers employ in the UK, so why be different when buying abroad.

I don't personally think you need an accountant when buying property as you should be able to calculate yourself if the property will earn you a financial return (unless you are investing in a business as a going concern). Establishing your real incoming and outgoings would form part of your DD.

I hope I have explained it clearer this time, however these are only my thoughts and its entirely down to the purchaser if they want to save money by excluding these services (possibly at their own peril).

The question to ask yourself, which I have already mentioned is "Why buy property differently abroad than you otherwise would in the UK".