I am in the process of buying a property in Brasil, and Brasil being Brasil it is highly recommended to use a lawyer when attempting to buy real estate.
One name that kept popping up on this site posted by highly satisfied clients was Jose Santiago (you will find his contact info on this site). Based on the reviews I decided to go with him, and also because he has offices both in the USA and Brasil, so he understands the process on both sides. Well from day one I could not have been more impressed with the service I have received. I have sent this guy emails on a Saturday or a Sunday not expecting a response til the work-week starts, but no, I have been getting answers within hours, sometimes within minutes, weekend or not! It has gotten embarrassing as I sometimes feel I am being a burden since he always seems to be at my beckoned call. Never once have I called his office and been told he is unavailable. It has gotten to the point that I almost think he wants me to get the house without any problems more than I do. All I can say is you will not find legal services like this anywhere in the US, or probably in Europe. I have full faith in him and he comes very highly recommended from me (and many others if you scan this site). Also, I have been in need of related services and this guy has the contacts, and I have been very happy with his connections. All in all he has made this minefield of buying Brasilian real estate a smooth cruise for me.
I am in no way affiliated with Jose Santiago or this site and would be happy to talk with anyone in person on the telephone should you need further info regarding his services.

Hello Tom,

I somewhat disagree about the indespensability of attorney services for conducting a real estate transactions in Brazil. In my experience, local attorneys involved have often shown themselves incompetent, negligent, and unethical. A foreign buyer/seller would most definetly need some competent bi-lingual professional (a real estate broker, a tabelião - notary clerk, or even an attorney) to guide and to advise through the process. I´ve had better luck with having notary clerks handling the more delicate aspects of due diligence then self-proclaimed real estate attorneys who often failed to percieve obvious problems and who dragged their feet in order to justify much higher fees.

Jose Santiago's is a special case, for he is a very competent real estate professional as well as an attorney with, both, Brazilian, and US experience. Many so-called real estate attorneys in Brazil are self-proclaimed specialists who lack even basic knowledge about practical aspects of real estate transactions.

For Lifestyles Brazil ts has been an ongoing struggle to identify competent and professional real estate legal services for our members. In over five years we have found only two firms that can be highly recommended, one is Castro, Barros, Sobral, Gomes - Advogados in Rio de Janeiro and the other is Jose Santiago's. Unfortunatly, Castro, Barros, Sobral, Gomes - Advogados is rather expensive which effectivly prices them out of the budgets of many individual property investors. They´ve been providing superb legal services (real estate, tax, immigration, corporate law, litigation), but with a hefty price tag.

I think that one of the main advantages of using Jose Santiago's services, aside from his versatile and professional approach, is his strategy of providing affordable bi-lingual legal assistance. We´ve been referring Jose´s services to Lifestyles Brazil members with great results. No, complaints, just complements. Thank you, Jose.

Hi Tom/ Hello Boris, well, I appreciated the comments and compliments of both of you. Thank you very much!

Since I love what I do for a living, I am very glad to know that my services are very appreciated.

Sincerely,

Hi again, for some reason I forgot to imput my username in the previous message.