English Speaking Lawyer Needed for Americans Investing in Rio de Janeiro Condos

[pqsllc]

Wow what a great board. I've learned a lot. My business partner (Brazilian) and I started investing in property in Rio de Janeiro 4 years ago. (Yes all our money was registered with the government as it came in). We now own 3 condos and are in the process of selling one of them and buying a 4th.

Now we have friends interested in loaning us money for some of our projects since we can provide a better ROI than they are getting elsewhere. We need to speak to a lawyer who understands getting money in and out of Brasil, specifically related to what we want to do.

Any experience/contacts you have would be greatly appreciated. And if you've done what we want to do (bring on other investors) and wouldn't mind sharing (or point me to where the website I can find) your experience, that would be greatly appreciated too!

Regards,
Woodie

 

[JMBroad]

Welcome Woodie

Re. Lawyers, you might want to check the other thread which deals with English speaking lawyers in Brazil - namely: http://www.propertyforum.com/forum/brazil-property/10614-brazil-property-solicitors-law-firms-ideally-uk-office.html

Regarding sharing experiences - what do you want to know?

 

[pqsllc]

Thanks for the quick response! I think working with lawyers that are either Rio or Miami based would be best for us since we are Americans.

As for experience, I'm looking to see if anyone has a successful blueprint for forming an investment group, taking money from them for the purpose of renovating and selling property, how returns were negotiated/determined, what kind of structure the money came in (eg: loan, equity, some blend, etc),and how the money was paid out (at end of project, money rolled over to next project, profit taken out and returned to the lender after each project, a blend, etc).

Thanks!
Woodie

 

[robh]

Wow what a great board. I've learned a lot. My business partner (Brazilian) and I started investing in property in Rio de Janeiro 4 years ago. (Yes all our money was registered with the government as it came in). We now own 3 condos and are in the process of selling one of them and buying a 4th.

Now we have friends interested in loaning us money for some of our projects since we can provide a better ROI than they are getting elsewhere. We need to speak to a lawyer who understands getting money in and out of Brasil, specifically related to what we want to do.

Any experience/contacts you have would be greatly appreciated. And if you've done what we want to do (bring on other investors) and wouldn't mind sharing (or point me to where the website I can find) your experience, that would be greatly appreciated too!

Regards,
Woodie

Hi Woodie,

We have set-up something similar but much more complex and on a larger scale.

A lot depends on how much money you are talking about.

The best way to protect everyone's investment is to combine your funds into a company in the US or other jurisdiction outside of Brazil and have that company own a Brazilian company which buys and sells the properties. You will need an accountant to get your dividends and any capital infusions made out of the company back to the parent company, but as long as your accountant is good you should have no problems.

Hope that helps,

Regards,
Rob.

 

[pqsllc]

Hi Rob,

Thank you for the quick reply! We already have the USA company set up. Can you tell me if setting up the Brazilian one was difficult? Is there a firm you used to do that, that you could recommend? Initially we are starting small with about US$200k.

Thanks,
Woodie

 

[robh]

Hi Rob,

Thank you for the quick reply! We already have the USA company set up. Can you tell me if setting up the Brazilian one was difficult? Is there a firm you used to do that, that you could recommend? Initially we are starting small with about US$200k.

Thanks,
Woodie

Setting up a Brazilian company is fairly easy but it will cost a couple of thousand dollars, plus a few hundred a month in running costs.

What we setup, although suitable for you, was for total investments a lot more than 200k and is also very tax efficient but it wasn't cheap so I wouldn't recommend it for you.

If your friends trust you then you might be better off drawing up an agreement in the US and then they hand over the money to you for you to buy the property in your name and return the principle and profits to them when you sell the property.

Regards,
Rob.

 

[brazilianlawyer]

Hi Woodie,

If you need any advise, we can help you.

We have offices in São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Belo Horizonte and Natal.

My contacts are:

dfsales @ almeidalaw . com.br

Best,

Diego Felis Sales
Almeida Advogados

 

[Frank_London]

Hi,

I would recommend you the american law firm Clifford Chance and their office based in Brazil.

Clifford Chance
Rua Helena 260
6th Floor
SP 04552-050
São Paulo
Brazil

TELEPHONE : +5511 3049 3188

FAX : +5511 3049 3198

 

[Andreas Brazil Invest]

structure / private money

Hi Woody,

K200 is to small to set up a REIT or Fund.
So probably the best is if the investor hands the money to you. In order to increase his guarantees you can think of a "alienacao fiduciaria" / Chattel Mortgage, that is much quicker as does not need to be executed via courts (vs. mortgage).

Im not sure about the tax implications.

Best regards,
Bernd