Analysis, news, and guides on real estate, mortgage, and documentation — for developers and buyers.
While a development has a single parent title record, the units don't legally exist — they can't be sold, registered, or financed. Understand individualization, the registry step that unlocks handover.
ITBI is levied on the purchase price, not on a value the city hall sets on its own. When the municipality overcharges, Brazil's STJ gives the buyer the right to recover the difference.
The property's title record is the starting point of a safe purchase — not the finish line. See what else to verify before you pay: the chain of ownership, the seller's debts, charges that stick to the property, and building compliance.
In a mortgage with a fiduciary lien, the bank's contract already has the force of a deed and goes straight to registration. Understand why there's no separate deed — and what actually makes you the owner.
With high interest rates, the math of buying goes far beyond the monthly payment. See after how many years buying starts to pay off — and why waiting for the Selic to fall may not be worth it.
Brazil's CNJ dropped the requirement to pay the ITCMD inheritance tax before drawing up the probate deed. But the deed unlocks — the property registration doesn't — and São Paulo and Rio's tax authorities have already pushed back.
An up-to-date property record (matrícula) shows who owns the property, its liens and any attachments — and it's what separates a safe purchase from a scam. See what it reveals and why to check it before paying.
With Brazil's Selic rate at 14%, buyers are back to buying to live in (78%) and pulling back as investors (22%). Understand both logics — and what makes the property yours in either case.
The contract you signed is not the deed, and neither one proves the property is yours. The property record does. Understand the three documents almost every buyer confuses.
The advertised price is not what you pay. On top of it come the ITBI transfer tax, the deed and registration — and the same purchase can cost more than 20 times more in one state than in another.
There is no mandatory minimum score: approval is always the lender's decision. But, according to Serasa, a score above 700 signals low risk and improves your chances of approval, your interest rate and your term. See how the score is calculated and how to raise it before applying.
Yes, and it is more common than it seems: when a condominium was never properly instituted and registered, the property record cannot take the sale. Understand what blocks it, the Vitória case, and how to spot the problem.
Brazil's dominant real estate lien keeps the property in the creditor's name until payoff — and it meets off-plan buyers at two distinct moments. Here's each one.
Occupancy permit, individualized property record and municipal registration: without all three, the buyer can't register, the bank won't release financing, and the developer's sale stalls. Understand what each one unlocks — and why the law holds the developer liable for delay.
Brazil's Real Estate Registry launched the National Asset Search: you enter a CPF or CNPJ and the system sweeps registries across the country for the property records tied to that person.
It depends on the value and how you pay. The law only requires a public deed above 30 minimum wages (R$48,630 in 2026); below that, or when financing, a private contract may suffice. But registration is always mandatory.
The contrato de gaveta (informal purchase contract) is the cheapest — and riskiest — way to buy a property in Brazil. Without registration on the property record, whoever pays does not become the owner. See the real risks and the three ways to regularize it.
Paying, holding the deed and living in the property does not make you the owner. By law, only registration on the property record transfers ownership — and those who don't register can lose everything.
Signing the deed and paying the ITBI transfer tax does not make you the owner — only registration does. Understand what each one is, where it happens and in what order.
No. The law accepts a private instrument with the force of a public deed — but one step remains mandatory, and it is where most people get confused: the registration.
From August 3, 2026, electronic invoices without the new IBS and CBS fields are rejected. But the deadline that decides how much a developer will actually pay is another one: December 31.
A study compared both systems. Brazil issues a property record in 2 hours; the US takes up to 19 days — and charges ten times more.
Brazilian notaries recorded 185,861 real estate gift deeds in 2025, the highest figure ever. The rush has a reason — and a real deadline, one that falls well before December.
