Sunday, March 31, 2010

Investing in Land and Property in Brazil and how to Send Your Funds for the Purchase.

by Eduardo Collins

Transferring funds to and from Brazil is a relatively straightforward process, however there are a number of rather complex rules and regulations that must be adhered to in order to carry out transfers correctly. These rules are enforced by the government-owned Banco Central do Brasil.

Funds sent to Brazil for the purpose of buying property or land must be sent from your own bank account directly to the account of the person selling the property.

All international transfers are via the Banco Central do Brasil and although technically you are sending directly to the sellers account, your funds will in actually be held by the Central Bank in a holding exchange account, in preparation for the exchange from your currency to Brazilian Reais.

In order to release the funds from the holding exchange account, the seller is required to show a copy of the sales contract signed by both parties. Only once he has done so can the money be exchanged from its source currency into Brazilian Reais.

This is the reason that your bank will not be able to offer an exchange rate at the time of transfer as the exchange rate will only be confirmed when the seller presents the sales contract to their bank.

In many cases the fluctuation in currencies can lead to a shortfall of funds being sent, or alternatively an overpayment. It is important that your contract allows a margin, often of +/-10% on the amount that has been transferred to avoid any problems.

This transfer system provides several benefits to the international purchaser. Not only does it ensure the your funds are registered correctly, thereby proving your investment into Brazil. It also proves that the money was earned outside Brazil and is therefore not subject to Brazilian income tax. Likewise, when you come to sell and want to return your funds to your home country, the system allows for you to transfer back the original purchase amount free of tax. However capital gains may still be payable on any profit made from the propertys sale.

It is vital to ensure your funds are registered correctly with the Banco Central do Brasil on entering the country to prevent any limitations on returning funds to your home country should you wish to do so on sale of your property.

Although other sending options are available via companies such as Western Union, under Brazilian law these cannot exceed R$10,000 per transfer and of course will not result in registration of your funds with the Banco Central do Brasil.

To conclude, because of the registration process employed by the Brazilian Central Bank, sending funds to Brazil for a property or land purchase is very safe as the seller will need a valid and certified contract to access the funds and the Bank will have a register of who has sent and who has received the funds.

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The Affordable Housing Boom in Brazil, What are the Drivers?

by Eduardo Collins

The Brazilian Government owned, Caixa Economica Federal savings and mortgage bank announced remarkable figures with regard to home loans. The Bank has granted in excess of R$17.4bn in home loans in 2009, a 340% increase in lending from 2005 when Caixa granted R$5.1bn in home loans,.

It is easy to see why as Brazilian interest rates have fallen steadily over the past two years, with the rate reducing from 19.75 per cent a year in August 2005 to 10.75 per cent in 2009.

This is a result of the Brazilian Governments series of anti-cyclical measures to boost growth since the onset of the global economic crisis. The most important of these is Minha Casa, Minha Vida (My House, My Life) which at a time when Brazils construction industry was heading into decline after several years of strong growth has reinvigorated the housing.

This programme will pour R$60bn into Brazils housing market and given that the construction industry accounts for 5 per cent of Brazils gross domestic product this programme is giving a valuable boost to employment and earnings.

The Brazilian contractor, Goldfarb Construction, says his company will build 12,000-14,000 properties with this scheme in mind over the next year. Their President, Milton says This will provide about 70 per cent of our business this year.

Of 23 companies that have listed on the Sao Paulo Stock Exchange this year, 11 are property developers. Many of these developers have aimed at the top end of the market. Yet this sector may already have reached saturation, while the real demand in Brazil is among the middle and lower income groups.

It is Caixa’s job to promote development of this housing sector and it does so at subsidised interest rates and at spreads that commercial banks cannot match. For those at the bottom of the income scale, the programme offers eye-popping subsidies. It allows people earning up to three times the national minimum wage of R$465 a month to buy flats or houses worth up to R$52,000.

Subsidies vary according to earnings. For those earning one minimum wage, for example, the scheme will contribute R$46,000 ” leaving the buyer to provide just R$6,000, which they will borrow from the Caixa and repay in 240 instalments of R$46.50 a month.

The US-based developer Hines, operating in Sao Paulo thinks that a recent change in legislation allowing lenders to repossess or foreclose on a property from defaulters and seize their property in lieu of payment has been responsible for this huge advance in lending.

Hines is one of the few big international developers to have chosen to concentrate on middle and lower income groups, with homes costing on average R$100,000, for families with monthly income of about R$2.500 ” not poor by Brazilian standards, but certainly not wealthy.

But both Caixa and Hines have words of warning for private investors, private equity and hedge funds keen to enter this market. There is a big imbalance between risk and return, they say. There is no bubble ready to burst, but investors are being naive about the outlook. There is a blindness to the pitfalls of doing business in Brazil.

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Choose ACE Capital Group As Your Land Banking Specialist

by Erich Brown

The hosts of investment strategies often lead to confusion where to invest. And for such economic downturn, it becomes essential to have informed choice.

Investing in real estate has often been considered as lucrative, safe and more rewarding. Other financial sectors of land banking can be wise investment option you can choose. And here comes the question of finding right investment firm or company that you can trust in.

For the investment services and solutions, you can consider ACE Capital Group which is established and trusted real estate investment firm. They have proved to be more profitable and safe during the economic downturn.

Why Will You Consider Land Banking As Profitable Way of Investment?

The prices of investing in land will never decrease and therefore, many financial experts recommend investing in it.

Making investment in land that is Land Banking, involves buying land at very low cost for the intention of investment and later, in future, selling it off if the market is seen profitable. This practice is truly safe and cost-effective investment in comparison with other investment strategies just like shares.

You are supposed to look for a land banking expert or specialist to perform this investment. Decide a piece of land which is located in the town and there are obvious chances for its growth in future, so that the importance of your land would increase as the town develops.

Why Will You Choose ACE Capital Group As Your Land Banking Specialist?

If you have really decided for land banking, no other consultancies are more trustworthy, lucrative and winning in the field of real estate investment than ACE Capital Group.

As log as the land banking strategy is concerned, they think that the land you select has to be on the path of probable development which will get you maximum returns on your investment. This strategy is tried and trusted one which brought them immense success.

The 2nd annual Land Banking Symposium, which was held at the Cabana Hotel, Palo Alto, California by ACE Capital Group got huge reaction. They truly believe that their asset holding is getting increased in trying times.

What they say that suppose you have brought property five years ago just for $5,000 per acre, the main store change may decide their prospective making a new store close by, and the value of your property will also rise significantly.

So, do your best in terms of your investment planning and consult the real estate investment or land banking expert you can rely on for your noble task.

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