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Buying a home

How buying a flat in Brazil works: an off-plan contract, ITBI and cartório fees, the realtor's commission, a consórcio instead of a mortgage and price benchmarks.

A foreigner can buy property in Brazil and, if the property is valuable enough, obtain residence on that basis (Residence). Below is how a purchase goes and what costs there are beyond the price of the flat, from the accounts of Rio de Janeiro residents. This is not legal advice: before a purchase, have a lawyer check the property and the contract.

Checked on 8 October 2026. Prices and rates are as of the post dates; fees depend on the city.

In short

  • The costs of closing the deal in Rio were 4.4% of the price of the off-plan flat: ITBI tax of 3%, 0.5% for each of the two cartórios, plus a laudêmio fee if the land is state-owned.
  • The realtor's commission is included in the price and does not fall on the buyer: 2–3% on the primary market, about 5% on the secondary.
  • A consórcio is an interest-free instalment scheme with no down payment, but with an administration fee of up to a quarter of the price.
  • Price estimates depend heavily on the city and the district.

Buying off-plan: how the deal goes

In August 2025 the @brazil_lifehacks author described buying a 96 m² flat for R$ 1,400,000 (the contract price):

  1. A promise contract (contrato de promessa de compra e venda) with the developer: a description of the property, the construction schedule and the payment schedule. The author had a 30% deposit, then 25% of the price in monthly payments over 2.5 years, and the remaining 45% after the building was put into use (the habite-se certificate was issued). The balance can be paid with a mortgage.
  2. The escritura de compra e venda, the sale contract, under which you become the owner of the finished flat. The ITBI tax is paid before signing.
  3. Registration of ownership at another cartório, the Cartório de Registro de Imóveis.

The costs beyond the price of the flat in this example:

  • the ITBI tax, the tax on the transfer of ownership, 3% in Rio (paid by the buyer): R$ 43,400 in the example;
  • the cartório fee for certifying the contract: 0.5%, R$ 8,000;
  • the fee for registration in the register: 0.5%, R$ 8,000;
  • laudêmio, a fee in favour of the state, which is not always paid, only if the building stands on state land (for example by the water): R$ 2,757.

The total was R$ 61,300, that is 4.37% of the flat's price (post, 14.08.2025). The ITBI rate of 3% in Rio has applied since 2018 (Municipal Law 6.250/2017); other municipalities have different rates (overview).

The realtor's commission

In Brazil the realtor's fee does not fall on the buyer: it is included in the price of the flat. On the primary market the developer usually pays the realtor 2–3%, on the secondary market 5%. The channel author, who has worked as a realtor in Rio himself since 2025, explains that this is how the developer motivates realtors to sell its properties (post, 14.08.2025). A realtor must have a CRECI number (post, 04.01.2023).

A consórcio: an alternative to a mortgage

A consórcio is a group of buyers who pay into a common fund every month. Each month, by lot (or by bid), one participant gets the right to buy for the full amount but keeps paying until the end of the term. The author's example: a group of 600 people, a flat worth R$ 300,000, a term of 150 months (12.5 years), a payment of R$ 2,000 a month. Interest-free and with no down payment, but there are drawbacks:

  • Luck. Without a bid you can get your flat last. To speed it up, people place a bid, for example R$ 20,000, which is paid into the fund at once.
  • An administration fee of up to a quarter of the price: the flat in the example would cost R$ 360,000.
  • Insurance and indexation of payments to inflation.

(post, 27.04.2025).

Price benchmarks

In March 2026 the @svoibrazil author gave ranges across the country (very approximate): a kitnet (studio) R$ 50,000–70,000; a one-room (a room, living room, kitchen) R$ 100,000–150,000; a typical two-room R$ 150,000–250,000; in central or good districts of Rio from R$ 350,000; a decent flat in a good district from R$ 500,000; with a view and three rooms from R$ 600,000; "great" properties from R$ 1,000,000; exclusive ones from R$ 3,000,000 (post, 19.03.2026).

A flat through an online platform

In June 2023 the @brazil_lifehacks author bought a "dacha" in Rio through the Quinto Andar service: the whole process took two months and was done remotely, apart from viewings (post, 07.06.2023).

Sources

Official and overviews:

Personal experience (channels @brazil_lifehacks and @svoibrazil, in Russian):