Greetings,

I have just, through the help of Boris, become part of this group. And am happy to be here!

I have been traveling to Brazil over the past three years. Primarily, I have been in the North East (Salvador, and Recife) but I plan to go to Rio in one of my next few trips. I have become very interested in purchasing an apartment or a home in Brazil. I live in the USA and I wonder at how difficult it would be do purchase property in Brazil. Back in December 2001, when I was in Recife, I tried to open a bank account but after going to several banks I could none that would open the account for me. They all wanted me to have some sort of Brazilian Identity card or proof residency. I had thought that by
openning a bank account in Brazil I could make it easier to later purchase property but if I can't even get a checking account how hard will it be to try and buy a home or apartment?

Do any of you folk, who live abroad, have bank accounts in Brazil? How did you manage it? I am returning to Brazil this coming October and I would really like to establish some sort of presence there
(e.g. a bank account). Does anyone have any ideas as to how I could begin to pave the way for the purchase of property in Brazil?

Thanks!

George

opening a Brazilian Bank Account:

CPMF charged until 2004

The Brazilian Congress approved a constitutional amendment that
extends the CPMF tax as of June 18th. The CPMF is charged over any
and all transactions with bank accounts. With the approval of
Congress, the tax will be charged until December of 2003 at the rate
of 0.38% and at the rate of 0.08% in 2004.

Source: O Globo

Hello George and Welcome,

Buying a RE property in Brazil is not that difficult. The process is rather straightforward. The only Brazilian document that you need is the CPF and it is easily obtainable within a few days and with a cost
of less then $2.

In my experience it is not nessessary to have a Brazilian Bank account in order to make significant financial purchases. Money can be trasfferd from the abroad when needed using a variety of venues
and holding your funds in hard currency could save you from inflation and sudden Government actions a la Brazil 1996 and Argentina 2001/2002 when all bank accounts were seized and/or frozen.

In my opinion, the best way to start paving the way to buying a house or an apartment in Brazil is to do as much homework as possible about all aspects of living here. Portuguese is also a major asset.

What is your time frame? Have you made up your mind as to where you'd consider buying, North East or some other region?

Regards,

Boris

Boris,

Thank you for the reply. My timeline is relatively flexible though I would certainly like to buy something within the next two years. I have no pressure in that regard. Location? I am partial to the North East but I have often thought of how great it would be to own an apartment in Rio. So, I am open to location but were I flush with capital I would purchase a home in Salvador, Recife or Fortaleza and
an apartment in Rio near the beach. One can dream, can't one?

By the way, what exactly is this CPF that you mention and what does it substantiate for a foreigner such as I?

Thank you,


George

George,

You are very welcome. We are planning to launch English Property listings on our Web Site (due out in a month) where you would have access property listings. Also, we would have continuos RE market
coverage encompassing different aspects such construction, building material cost, zoning, Real Estate auctions etc. Buying an apartment in Rio implies making many decision as to the location, number of bedrooms, maintenance fees, taxes, security, proximity to transportation.... I believe that the best way to start looking for a property is to come down to Rio and see 20-30 apartments in
different neighborhoods and with different profiles. It should give you an idea of what is available and how much it costs. Let me know when you are planning to visit and I would arrange with local brokers
to demonstrate you as many apartments as you could handle .

CPF is an equivalent of a Social Security Number in the United States and is an absolute requirement for anyone planning to have any kind of financial transactions in BRazil. Look at the repost of my
artical (coming up) for more specific information.

Thank you,

BOris

boris, thanks for all the valuable information on real property acquisition and rental in brazil, and more specifically rio. I have been reading your
responses for several months and have made several trips to get more of an idea of what my interests are in acquiring real estate in brazil. I own property in los angeles and thailand(condos), and was pondering rio.

I agree with you that you must do a lot of reserach and look at many properties as you discussed in this response. I will be reading your responses in the future and when I get to the point of deciding to buy, I will be contacting you.

Thanks again for the valuable information

Mike R. - Los Angeles

Boris,

You mention "on our website". What site exactly are you talking about? Do you know of many sites out there that have international listings other than Escape Artists.

Thanks, Glen

Glen,

Our site is www.lifestylesbrazil.com. It is going to be launched shortly (hopefully within a month). There are only a few sites that have legitimate Brazilian property listings. One of them you can see
in our bookmarks section.

Thank you,

Boris

I guess I was misinformed about being able to purchase real estate in Brazil if you are not a citizen, of course my information is rather dated.
Apparently they now make allowences. Good luck! Brazil is a beautiful
country. Cf

George,

My husband is a Brazillian citizen, actually he has dual citizenship US/Brazil. We live in the US. Anyways it is my understanding that you do
actually have to be a Brazillian citizen or atleast a resident there to obtain property. That is what we have always been told. Hope that is somewhat helpful, I'll ask my husband if he has any suggestions for you.
Cfreitag