Property in Brazil - General buying and selling tips for Brazil

[Jose C. Santiago, Esq.]

Hi there, here are your answers:

1)The Law does not prohibit the banks to open bank accounts for non-residents, however, the Banks in Brazil chose not to open regular checking accounts, unless the client is a legal resident. However, there are quite a few banks that open CC5 Accounts, these accounts are for non-residents.

2)My clients usually have me pay for the bills on a monthly basis. But you can also hire a management company, open a CC5 account, and/or have a friend pay for such bills.

[JMBroad]

Thanks for the quick answers and help.

[tompy]

Hi,
Im only 19 but my girlfriend have moved to Brazil, Im planning on moving out there aswell and am looking for a small studio / 1 bedroom flat in the center of sao paulo.
I have spent nearly 2 weeks looking online and cant seem to find ANY property...
I was wondering roughly how much a property like this would be? Just an estimate, i have around 20,000 pounds and wanted to know if this is out of my league.
Any help or advice please!!

Thanks a lot
Tom.

[jellybean]

Hi - anyone (or everyone?!) giving power of attourney to their solicitors for the purchase of their property in brazil. I have property in Spain, UK and Italy but have never had to give power of attorney to overseas solicitor to do this - so looking to find out more and understand if this is normal for property purchase in Brazil???

[deedee1]

Hi all,

Not sure for definate but I think in brazil you do plus it means that you wouldnt have to travel to brazil ebverytime something needs signing etc!

I have done it with my solicitors in bulgaria and cyprus-just makes life a lot easier and cheaper!

Dont worry it means they can sign documents etc on your behalf and attend courts or notaries and deal with legal documents on your behalf and not that theyll run away with your property and sell it from under you!

You are still protected when it comes to things like this-and whatever they have to sign for you even with the power of attourney they still need to varify it and you will still have to authorise them anyway to sign on your behalf etc!

Hope this helped a little!

See ya D

[nickohorny]

Can anyone give me any good advice with regards to setting up a foreign exchange account? eg/ moneycorp etc...

I do not fully understand this process, as most know i am a first timer so this is all new. What i can take from it is that basically, they will setup a fixed rate for you so when i need to transfer money to and from Brazil i will always be on that fixed rate? this correct??

Does anybody know what the cost of this is and also if i am stupid and late setting this up now with first payment in October for Natal Golf? Could this sting you real bad?

Thanks all

Nick

[deedee1]

Hi nic,

WISH i could give you more advice on this but unfortunately have never done this before so I cant be sure!!

But yes you are right-they are supposed to get you a good rate and fixed if you request it and they take a minimal slice/fee of this aswell!!!

But this can go either way depending on which way the exchange rate moves- up or down??

When it comes to exchange rates all over the world the banks will always charge you c**p rates and you end up getting less for your money!!

See ya D

P.s- Let me know how you get on as Ive always wanted to do it but could never quite get my head around this fixed rate scenario!!

[Barney]

Hi Nick,

I'm assuming you just want to set up a trading account to convert GBP to EUR and transfer these funds to your solicitor's account when the stage payments are due.

If this is the case, I recommend setting up an account with a forex company like ukforex. com. You can fill in the application online and you need to provide a copy of your passport and proof of address. Once your account is opened you can set up your beneficiary's account details (ie. your solicitor's account).

A company like UKForex offers live quotes on screen and you can check exactly how much GBP you will be paying (including commission) for the EUR you wish to buy. You can either book a deal live when you are required to transfer the EUR or if you think the currency pair of GBP/EUR is going to flucuate quite a bit you can set a limit order (ie. you set now what exchange rate you are willing to buy EUR at - when/if the exchange rate hits this mark then the deal will be booked and you will be required to pay the GBP). The only problem with this is you might have to pay GBP a lot earlier than expected and will lose use of these funds, but you will lock in a good rate and I'm sure your solicitor won't mind receiving the EUR early.

Once the deal is booked you have two business days to pay the company the GBP (this can be flexible as transferring funds can take longer than 2 days in the UK). Once they receive the GBP they automatically pay the EUR to your beneficiary.

The rates offered beat the High St banks and you also get the opportunity to monitor the rates on screen and book your deal live when the exchange rates are at your advantage.

Hope this helps. If you need any further info let me know.

[nickohorny]

Hey thanks guys, yeah thats spot on Barney.

I think the payment will be transferred into Brazillian Real and the developer will exchange into EUR? I am not entirely sure at the moment.

I will look further into this money exchange malarky! thansk for the help on the site etc.

Dee do you mean that you wont bother with this setup? and get yourself a fixed exchange rate account for the transfer of payments etc?

thank you !

[deedee1]

Hi Nick,

Not sure yet- See what happens soon??

Just a little nervie as havent done it before thats all- I suppose though theres a first time for everything!!

Just me I like to know and see where my moneys going ?

Waffled a bit, not sure what I just said makes sense, but I knew what I meant- D