Brazil’s Property Portals Becoming Sophisticated Along with the Market
As global investment attention continues to focus on Brazil as an economy that offers huge potential, the country’s property industry has also been making significant strides – complemented by factors such as a housing deficit estimated at between 7 to 9 million; a lowly leveraged mortgage market; a rising middle class; increased wealth and lower unemployment.
Along with these gains, the number of Brazilian property search portals catering to all sectors of market has also increased. Below are the most popular sites used by the Brazilian house buying and selling public (note that all are in Portuguese):
Zap: Owned by the Globo and Estado São Paulo newspaper groups, Zap was originally solely a property search website (called ‘Planet Imovel’) until 2007 when it was expanded to include vehicles, employment opportunities and other classified goods / services. The site is unofficially considered the main advertising medium for industry professionals and is updated on a daily basis with over 175,000 simultaneous properties and plots of land. Users can access all the search facilities to be expected from a modern portal as well as some interesting supplementary features:
- Advanced Search (Busca Avançada): enables users to pin-point their exact requirements;
- Financial Simulator (Simulador de Financiamento): based on general Brazilian lending criteria, users can understand their financial commitments depending on the level of down-payment made (this tool can assist investors in the analysis of yield levels);
- Real Estate Launch Search (Busca por Lançamentos): a popular purchasing choice for Brazilian home buyers, this section enables users to focus on the latest releases as well as see the progress of property under construction;
- Compare Listings (Comparar Anúncios): enables several listings to be viewed side by side and to register for email alerts based on search criteria;
- Consumer Protection: a complaints section where dubious listings are reported and dealt with quickly and efficiently by in-house staff.
Imovel Web: Established since 1999, the site currently has over 1.4 million registered users with over 2 million hits per month making it one of the principle property portals in Brazil. Imovel Web is regularly updated with residential and commercial real estate (both resale and launch) as well as rural opportunities, land and temporary accommodation. Whilst the site offers standard search facilities; an in-built financial simulator developed with the country’s primary lender ‘Caixa Econômica Federal’ and a ‘save’ facility, there is not the ability to neither undertake an advanced search.
Web Casas: Created in 2007, the site was subsequently purchased by Grupo Santander two years later and now has over 30,000 offers spread over 24 out of the 27 states of the country. The site is expected to grow in the future with extensive advertising campaigns being undertaken in the mainstream Brazilian media as well as due to the affiliation with one of the country’s leading mortgage finance lenders. Standard search facilities are offered in addition to the ability to simulate property finance (using Banco Santanders’ lending criteria) as well as a ‘favourites’ section.
Balcão: Whilst not as streamline and polished as many of its counterparts, the site enables sellers to advertise their properties directly with no fees or other related charges which presents the advantage of enabling some excellent opportunities to be found. However, the moderation of the site is questionable and the fact that literally anyone can advertise brings the downside of not only time-wasters but also scam artists. If you are considering buying a property that has been found through this site, it is highly advisable to have all paperwork (including pre-contractual agreements) not only professionally translated into your own language but also reviewed by a registered lawyer (at the Brazilian Bar Association) – particularly with issues related to title.
Lopes: Lopes is officially the largest brokerage and consultant of Brazilian real estate launches, present in 12 states (São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais, Espírito Santo, Goiás, Rio Grande do Sul, Rio Grande do Norte, Paraná, Santa Catarina, Bahia, Pernambuco, Ceará and the Federal District) and have also expanded to resale homes. The Lopes group also own a number of related real estate search sites including Habitcasa and Pronto! and state that they have over 4.5 million hits on a monthly basis. The groups websites are modern, easily navigable with a number of useful facilities including a ‘fast search’ (‘busca rápida’), an online ‘live chat’ as well the ability to save and forward properties via various social media networks.
For assistance on maximising the use of these sites, feel free to contact us at info@brazilinvestmentguide.com. Please also access our ‘Real Estate and Land Investors Dictionary by clicking here (membership required).
