Can a foreigner buy property in Brazil?

The purchase, step by step

The order matters. Most problems in this kind of purchase come from money paid before the documents were checked.

1. Get a CPF. Without a CPF the deed cannot be drawn up and the property cannot be registered. If you live abroad, you apply at a Brazilian consulate or through a representative in Brazil. There is no fee.
2. Appoint a representative if you will not be there in person. The power of attorney must give specific powers to buy that property, sign the deed and act for you before the notary, the registry and the tax authority. It can be made at a Brazilian consulate, or before a notary in your country, with an apostille and a sworn translation.
3. Check the property before you pay anything. The up-to-date title record (matrícula) shows who the owner is and whether there is a mortgage, a fiduciary lien, an attachment or a restriction on disposal. The seller's certificates and any unpaid condominium fees and property tax are checked as well.
4. Sign the purchase agreement. It sets the price, how it is paid, the deadline for the deed and what happens if either side withdraws. The agreement can be bilingual; the notary and the registry work from the Portuguese version.
5. Bring the funds in through a foreign-exchange transaction. The money enters Brazil through a bank or broker authorized by the Central Bank, in a transaction identified as a property purchase. Keep the exchange contract.
6. Pay the transfer tax (ITBI) and sign the public deed at a notary office. If you do not speak Portuguese, a public translator takes part in the signing.
7. Register the deed on the title record. In Brazil, ownership passes only when the deed is registered at the Real Estate Registry (Civil Code, art. 1,245). Without registration you hold a contract, not the property.

What a foreigner can and cannot buy

• Urban property (an apartment, a house, a commercial unit, a city plot): a foreigner can buy it, resident or not, with no limit on number or value.
• Rural land: restricted by Law 5,709/1971. A foreign individual must live in Brazil, there are limits on area and, in some cases, authorization from the land agency (Incra) is required.
• Border strip (150 km from the land border): under Law 6,634/1979, transactions involving rural land require prior consent from the National Defense Council.

An apartment in Maringá is urban property and falls outside these restrictions.

Documents the buyer needs

• Valid passport
• CPF
• Proof of address in your country of residence
• Marital status: marriage certificate showing the property regime; your spouse's identity document and, as a rule, their CPF too
• Occupation
• Power of attorney, when a representative acts for you

Documents issued outside Brazil need an apostille (Hague Convention) and a translation by a sworn public translator in Brazil (Civil Code, art. 224). China has been a party to the Apostille Convention since November 7, 2023, so documents issued there are apostilled and no longer need consular legalization.

What is checked on the property

• Up-to-date title record, issued by the Real Estate Registry for the property's district, showing liens and any lawsuits noted on it.
• The seller's certificates: civil and labor lawsuits, tax debts and protested bills. A seller's debt can reach the property after the sale.
• Condominium fees: unpaid fees follow the unit and pass to the buyer (Civil Code, art. 1,345).
• Property tax (IPTU): a clearance certificate from the municipality.
• Off-plan units: registration of the development on the land's title record (Law 4,591/1964, art. 32), whether the project's assets are ring-fenced (patrimônio de afetação), the delivery date and the rules for cancellation (Law 13,786/2018).
• Who signs for the seller: the powers of whoever represents the developer or company, and whether the seller's spouse must sign.

Bringing the money into Brazil

The money enters the country through a foreign-exchange transaction with an authorized institution (Law 14,286/2021). The bank asks for the purchase agreement and the buyer's documents. The sender should be the buyer.

Keep the exchange contract and the proof of payment. They show where the money came from, they are required in an application for residence by investment, and they make it easier to send the money back abroad if you sell.

Check the rules of the country where you live on sending money abroad as well. Some countries limit or set conditions on this kind of transfer, and that needs to be settled before the agreement is signed.

To grant a mortgage, Brazilian banks usually require an account in the country and proof of income. For that reason, non-resident buyers commonly pay in full or in installments directly to the developer.

Taxes and costs

When you buy

• ITBI: a municipal transfer tax charged on the property value, at a rate set by municipal law.
• Notary and registry fees, under the State of Paraná fee schedule.
• Sworn translation and apostilles for foreign documents.

While you own it

• IPTU, the yearly municipal property tax, and condominium fees.
• Rent: income received by a non-resident is subject to income tax withheld at 15%, paid by your representative in Brazil. A higher rate applies to residents of jurisdictions that Brazil classifies as low-tax.

When you sell

• Income tax on the capital gain, from 15%. For residents of low-tax jurisdictions the rate is 25%.

How you are taxed in the country where you live depends on local law and on any treaty. Brazil and China have a treaty to avoid double taxation (Decree 762/1993).

Does buying property give you a visa?

Not automatically. Owning property does not change your immigration status.

There is a separate route: a residence authorization for people who invest in real estate, under Normative Resolution 36/2018 of the National Immigration Council. It requires a minimum investment of R$ 1,000,000 in urban property, built or under construction, made with your own funds brought from abroad. The application goes to the Ministry of Justice and Public Security.

The resolution has been amended since 2018. The requirements on duration and on time spent in Brazil are checked against the text in force when you apply.

How the office works on these cases

The office is in Maringá, in the north of the State of Paraná. The work in real estate law covers reviewing the title record and the certificates, reviewing the agreement with the developer or the seller, acting under power of attorney at the deed and the registration, and dealing with the notary, the registry, the bank and the public translator.

You can write in English or in Portuguese. Messages in Chinese are answered with the help of translation. Legal documents in Brazil are drawn up in Portuguese.

Frequently asked questions