Living Our Tropical Dream In Fortaleza, Brazil

We have been living our tropical dream in Fortaleza, Brazil (on the Northeastern coast) for about 5 weeks now, and have been experiencing Brazil’s “wet” (rainy) season. Apparently this is the worst rain in Brazil in fifty years! There are some cities in Brazil that are completely flooded, but fortunately Fortaleza (the city we are in) does not seem to get flooded being right on the coast. However, even this worst rain in recent history is still much better than the winters in Canada! June should be starting the dry season, which is also the start of the “high” season here.

The climate in Fortaleza is amazing too, and claimed to be one of the best climates in the world. We are only a couple degrees South of the Equator, therefore it averages between 24 and 31 degrees year round, which is almost perfect! And there aren’t any known natural disasters here, such as hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes or volcanoes.

Every gringo we have talked to here says they would not trade Fortaleza, it’s beautiful beaches and it’s amazing climate for any other place in the world to stay or live. We do agree (in the short time that we have been here) that it does have a lot of strong advantages pointing in its favor.

We rented a flat or “apartamento” only 3 blocks from the beach near downtown Fortaleza. The cost is 1150 Reais per month, which is the equivalent of approximately $550 USD or $650 CAD. And for that we get a large and bright flat with 2 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms (the master bedroom has a beautiful ocean view), wi-fi Internet, electricity, and maid service twice a week. We also have access to a TV lounge with a large flat-screen TV, and a huge veranda deck on the roof with a nice piscina (pool). Not a bad deal.

This apartamento complex is also for sale! We really like this place so far and feel it has huge potential. It has homey Spanish character and is very charming, and is a mix between an apartamento building, a small hotel, a Pousada (bed & breakfast), and a big backpacker’s hostel.

We know of many people that are very interested in investing in land and real estate here in Brazil. Opportunities (along with the hype) are abound all over the internet. We have got a lot of good education and guidance in the short time that we have been here about all of the cautions and pitfalls of buying land in Brazil.

It is very tricky - you need to know what you’re doing, you need to do a lot of hands on due-diligence, along with legal counsel that you can trust before purchasing any land. We have been warned that people are crazy to try and buy land in Brazil as a foreigner from long distance. Many people get burned doing that. Buying real estate in Central and South America is very different than it is in North America.

Established structures, buildings and residential real estate that are already built are not as bad as buying land-only or raw land. Buying land can be done, but you need to physically be here with a good and trustworthy lawyer working directly with you to guide you through the “minefield” pitfalls.

We have begun to establish several good lawyer and realtor contacts that are helping us with our real estate investment endeavors. One of them is the “International Living” recommended lawyer and his realtor partner, who seem to have a very good reputation.

Now that we’re settled in a bit and have established a few contacts, we have begun searching for good real estate investment opportunities. We are focusing our search in the beach towns just outside of Fortaleza along the North and South coast where prices are lower and we aren’t right inside the big city. We have already looked at interesting areas like Tabuba, Cambuco, Taiba, Uruau and Canoa Quebrada. Canoa Quebrada was an incredibly charming and quaint little town with sand dunes everywhere and a huge picturesque beach. We may still check out Joao Pessoa, which is a small city South of Fortaleza and Natal.

We also saw a most unforgettable unit in a newly built condo project overlooking the ocean in Tabuba, which is about 20 minutes outside of Fortaleza. The unit was two levels, had two bedrooms, three bathrooms and measured 1,475 sq ft. It also had large balconies on both levels with spectacular ocean views both up and down. One of the balconies had its own Jacuzzi tub and a built-in barbeque. The common grounds had a jacuzzi tub, big outdoor pool, full gym and saunas included. The asking price was $255,000 Reais, which converts to approximately $126K USD or $140K CAD. This particular condo property was a true ocean-front dream home, and the same thing would most likely cost between $1.0 to $1.5 million or more in coastal Western Canada or USA.

We have also started to research the possibilities of purchasing and owning a Pousada, which is a small Bed & Breakfast hotel. It would have great revenue potential, while allowing us to enjoy all of the amenities of living near the beach and meeting and socializing with people from all over the world.

Being here and experiencing firsthand what is happening with real estate in Fortaleza, is very different from hearing about it in Canada or the US over the internet or from other information sources. To give you an idea – when we arrived during low season, the accommodation situation and availability was surprisingly scarce! Compared to even a year ago, there is almost nothing decent available right now. As the high season kicks into high gear over the next month, the vacancy situation will get much worse.

We really struggled for about a month to find a decent place to rent, and couldn’t find anything online until we arrived here and got to know an knowledgeable contact with good connections who has been helping us immensely. We wouldn’t have found the place we are living at now if it wasn’t for our friend.

Things have completely changed in Brazil over the past year, and the boom along with demand will only get stronger. This is very good for real estate investors who want to hold short-term rental accommodations as these are in high demand and there is a shortage of supply. Our friend’s holdings are always rented, and the rents and real estate market continues to go up, although it is still very cheap here.

We will keep everyone posted with our continuing progress and adventures here.

Bom dia from Brazil!

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