OK, I think I got it Paul, but let me clarify...
Currently, you are renting to Brazilian citizens who pay your local contact in cash when they arrive at the property for their vacation stay. Then, when you visit the property, the contact gives you all of the cash he has collected since your last visit, less his 20% cut for his work. What do you do with this money while waiting for your Brazilian bank account to be set up?
For non-Brasilian residents, you have them transmit payment directly to your UK account when they make a reservation, correct? That sounds simple enough if the tourists are from the UK. What do you do if you get someone from outside of the UK who wants to rent it out? Do you know if businesses like PayPal can handle international transactions? If so, it sounds like that would be a convenient way of handling rent payment.
Then, once you set up your brasilian bank account, you will have brasilian citizens pay directly to that account (can you explain how this would work logistically?). Will you still have non-brasilians pay to your UK account or will they pay into your account in Brasil?
Also, how would you suggest going about finding an agent who specializes in investment properties? I guess it would be the same process as at home....you ask around and ask the agent questions about investing. While I love the idea of buying fixers, rehabbing them, furnishing them, and then renting them out (great way to create capital gains), I am a bit wary of doing so from afar as I would not be able to be there to oversee the rehab process. I'm guessing your local contact handled this for you, no?
I am also curious about buying land for development, but have no idea how to look into the legal side of development (i.e. finding out how buildable a plot of land really is, who owns the neighboring plots, getting permits and approval to develop the land, etc). I'm guessing a good local real estate lawyer can assist with that. Again, the issue is finding a good one. I have also considered buying land and holding it to resell to larger developers, but that is a very risky strategy as waiting for a developer to be interested in your specific parcel of land could be like waiting for your numbers to be called in the lottery.
I guess I have a lot to think through (as well as a LOT of on-the-ground investigating to do), but this type of dialogue is very helpful and is why I love this site. So many issues have been mentioned that I never even thought about (and I'm guessing a lot of people who have bought off-plan haven't thought about either).
Thanks again and please keep us posted! Feel free to PM me if you feel the discussion is getting too detailed for the general board.
Greg
Oh, one more question...do you speak portuguese or use translators?
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