Dee, no I haven't bought, no I would never ever buy off plan unless I saw some foundations, bricks and mortar, especially 5000 miles away! I'd never buy anything without visiting, seeing the location, the terrain, the logistics. I wouldn't believe a word an Agent told me, least of all one who had never been there themselves, (many haven't). I wouldn't buy on the strength of a computer generated image, I wouldn't buy unless I was sure I could get there, reasonably easily and cheaply. Brazil is administratively your worst nightmare. The language is complex as they don't even speak the same Portuguese as the Portuguese. The mentality is wonderful but not conducive to Anglo Saxon organised thinking. The country is awsome, the women are beautiful, the music is great, the beaches out of this world. It is far removed from European and Middle Eastern agro. It is what Spain and Portugal was 30 years ago and it is cheap. But and it is a big but, nothing in life is easy and that is why it is cheap..you get what you pay for in life. And when you buy off plan, you take some of that agro away, that is why these developements are not cheap and are over priced in relation to the difficulties you can encounter. Anyone who thinks they are sheltering from those difficulties by going into a development is fooling themselves and because they are paying a price for that, it comes off their eventual profit. It's a simple equation. You build your own house and it's cheaper than someone building it for you, less hassle but less profit. The key analysis is how much less will the profit be and how much less agro will you encounter. If you want a place for a holiday and cover your costs, maybe, maybe it is worthwhile...but I think it is entirely dillusional to think that buying these developments at the price they are offered will bring short or even long term capital gain. Does that help? What I see on here and also hear elsewhere is that many people who have bought or are considering buying have never even been there, nor, so it seems do they intend to go there before they buy. You can tell this from some of the questions asked as if they had been there then they wouldn't have to ask the questions. My mission is to throw out all the negatives and see what comes back..if I am overwhelmed with reasons why my negatives are wrong, then I might convince myself that my hunch is correct. But, a lot of what has come back has been self justification of the hype, trying to justify facts and alleged benefits which are just not true. All these sellers have put together a package of reasons why everyone is onto a winner, it is their job to do so. Mine is to say, "ok convince me and I might invest". How much credibility does a seller of a product have if the facts and benefits he puts out are proven to be "exaggerated" to say the least. Back to the big four....the airport won't be open in 2009, there aren't regular easy and cheap flights there, it is extremely difficult to get a bank account, the economic movement seems good but it is nowhere near as guaranteed as the claims being made. Take all those factors into consideration and the question is...."is it a good investment, is it as easy as it seems, can I afford it and do I want to do it"? You pays your money and......................