The Foreign Buyer's Brazil Property Checklist

Get your bearings before signing or paying anything. The goal is to confirm what you're actually buying and who you're dealing with.

• Get the property’s full address and matrícula number. The matrícula is the property’s unique registry record — without it you can’t verify ownership or history.
• Identify which cartório de registro de imóveis holds the record. Every property is registered at a specific land registry office; you request all official documents from there.
• Confirm who the real estate agent legally represents. In most deals the agent works for the seller, not you — knowing this tells you whose interests the advice serves.
• Decide early whether you’ll engage your own independent lawyer. An advisor with no stake in the sale closing can flag issues the parties have no incentive to raise.
• Clarify your own purpose and timeline. Home, rental, or investment changes the tax, structuring, and residency questions worth asking up front.

The heart of due diligence: confirming clean title and a seller who can legally sell. Most title problems are visible here if you look.

• Pull a recent certidão de matrícula and read its full history. It shows the chain of ownership and any liens, mortgages, or encumbrances recorded against the property.
• Check that the seller on the matrícula matches the person selling. Mismatches — heirs, ex-spouses, undivided estates — are a common source of disputes over who can actually transfer.
• Request certidões negativas for the property. These certificates show whether the property itself carries outstanding debts or charges.
• Request certidões negativas for the seller (person or company). Debts and lawsuits against an owner can attach to their assets; a seller in trouble is a risk to the sale.
• Ask for proof that IPTU (municipal property tax) is up to date. Unpaid IPTU can follow the property to the new owner, so confirm there are no arrears.
• If it’s a condominium, request a statement of condo fees. Outstanding condo dues can also become the buyer’s problem after transfer.
• Verify the physical and registry descriptions match. Differences between what’s built and what’s recorded can complicate registration later.

Plan the financial side before you commit funds — especially if your money comes from outside Brazil. Getting this right is what lets you take money back out later.

• Budget for the ITBI (transfer tax) and registration costs. These fall due around the transfer; rates and fees vary by municipality, so confirm the current local amounts.
• Confirm how and when the price will be paid, in writing. A clear payment schedule tied to milestones protects you if something goes wrong mid-transaction.
• If funds come from abroad, plan the foreign-capital registration. Under Lei 14.286/2021, foreign investment into Brazil is registered with the Central Bank (the RDE-IED registry).
• Keep records of the inbound transfer and exchange documents. Proper registration of the foreign funds is what allows the capital to be repatriated later if you sell.
• Confirm any taxes or withholdings that may apply to a non-resident. A non-resident’s tax position can differ; verify the current treatment for your situation.

The contract is where every prior check gets locked into enforceable terms. Read it before signing — translation included, if you need one.

• Confirm the exact price, currency, and payment schedule. Ambiguity here is the most common source of post-signing disputes.
• Check the penalty and default clauses for both sides. You want to know what happens — and who pays — if either party fails to perform.
• Confirm the conditions and date for handover of possession. This defines when the property (and its risks and costs) actually becomes yours.
• Understand the preliminary contract vs. the final deed. A signed promise to sell is not the same as a registered transfer of ownership.
• Have the final deed (escritura) signed before the proper authority. For most purchases the deed is executed before a notary (tabelionato de notas); confirm the correct procedure.
• Make sure any translation reflects the binding Portuguese text. If you’re signing in a language you don’t read fluently, confirm what the official version actually says.

The deal isn't done when you sign — it's done when the registry shows your name. This phase makes your ownership official and durable.

• Register the deed at the cartório de registro de imóveis. In Brazil ownership transfers on registration, not on signing — until you register, you are not the legal owner.
• Pull a fresh certidão de matrícula showing you as owner. This is your proof that the transfer was recorded correctly and completely.
• Confirm IPTU records are updated to your name. Keeps future property-tax notices coming to you and avoids gaps in the record.
• Update the condominium and utilities to your name. Keeps billing, voting rights, and responsibilities correctly assigned to you.
• Keep your foreign-capital registration and all documents on file. You’ll want this paper trail for any future sale, repatriation of funds, or tax filing.