Rafael Oliveira, Brazil contributor

Covers Brazil's private-sale process from primary sources: the two-step formality that decides when ownership actually moves, from the public deed (escritura pública) signed before a notary to the registration on the matrícula at the Registro de Imóveis. Tracks the costs that fall on a private seller, chiefly the broker commission avoided by selling directly and the federal capital gains tax with its reinvestment and single-property exemptions.

In a Brazilian sale, price gets you a buyer, but it is the paperwork that gets you to closing. The certidões clear the path to the notary, and the registration on the matrícula is what turns a signed agreement into a transfer of ownership. Miss a step and the calendar, not the price, is what stalls the deal.

The hardest gap for a private seller to grasp is the one between signing and owning. A handshake means little here. A signed promessa de compra e venda commits both parties, but in the eyes of the law it hands the keys to no one. Ownership changes hands only when the deed is recorded at the Registro de Imóveis. Sellers who learn that late tend to learn it expensively.

The tax side is where a contador earns the fee. ITBI belongs to the city and shifts from one municipality to the next. Capital gains belongs to the Receita Federal, and the exemptions, reinvesting within 180 days or selling a single modest home, are worth real money to those who qualify. None of this is advice. It is the map a first-time private seller rarely gets handed before the first signing.

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