BreakThru Realty

Buying a Home in South Florida From Brazil

From São Paulo, Rio or Belo Horizonte: the money, the taxes, the structure and an interpreter for Portuguese

Brazil sends a steady stream of buyers to South Florida: families who want a vacation condo they can reach on a direct flight, investors who want rent in dollars, parents of students, and owners who simply want part of their savings outside the real. Nothing about the purchase itself changes for a Brazilian; what has to be answered first are Brazilian questions about moving money through the exchange market, taxes in two countries without a treaty between them, and how to hold the home. This page covers them in outline, and an interpreter joins every consultation and tour for buyers who prefer Portuguese.

BreakThru Realty · Founder and Broker of Record: Tyson E. Sam, Florida License 3565210

Published October 24, 2026 · Reviewed by Tyson E. Sam, Founder and Broker of Record

Plan My Florida Purchase From Abroad

Find My Florida Home

Your first step: BreakThru International Buyer Plan

Buying in Florida From Another Country? Settle the Rules, the Money and the Paperwork Before You Choose a Home

Foreign citizens buy South Florida homes every day, and the ones who do it well settle three things first: which rules reach them, how the money will arrive and what they can sign from home. The plan starts with a consultation in your language about how you will use the home and how you will pay, and ends with a shortlist, a carrying cost review in United States dollars, and a closing you can complete without a second flight.

What you receive

  • A consultation in English or Spanish, with an interpreter arranged for Portuguese or French, about how you will use the home and how you will pay
  • A plain summary of the rules that reach a buyer from your country: the Florida ownership law, the tax identification you will need, and FIRPTA when you sell
  • A shortlist of homes and buildings whose rules allow your plans, including seasonal use and renting it out
  • A carrying cost review in United States dollars: property tax without homestead, insurance, flood, association dues and the services that run while you are away
  • Introductions to the professionals a foreign buyer needs: a lender who writes foreign national loans, a cross border tax adviser, an attorney and a title company that closes with buyers abroad
  • A tour and closing plan: live video tours now, one visit scheduled around the finalists, and the signing arranged for where you live

What happens next

  1. Tell us where you live, where you are looking, your budget in United States dollars, how you expect to pay and the language you prefer.
  2. A BreakThru agent replies within one business day to schedule your consultation.
  3. After the consultation, your agent prepares the rules summary, the shortlist and the carrying cost review, and introduces the professionals you need.
  4. You tour by video or in person when you are ready, and the closing is arranged around where you are.

Free and without obligation. Nothing you tell us is shared with a seller, and you sign a buyer agreement only when you are ready to tour.

Plan My Florida Purchase From Abroad · Find My Florida Home

How does a buyer in Brazil purchase a home in Miami or South Florida? Funds leave Brazil through the regulated exchange market with the purchase recorded as the purpose; most buyers pay cash or use a foreign national loan; rent and gains are taxed in both countries with no comprehensive treaty; and many hold the home through a Florida company on estate tax advice. An interpreter joins every step in Portuguese.

Sending Money Through the Exchange Market

Funds leave Brazil through the regulated foreign exchange market, with a contract at your bank or an authorized exchange house that records the purpose of the transfer, and the purchase of a property abroad is a recognized purpose. Expect your bank to ask for the contract or a letter from the title company, documents showing the origin of the funds and your tax identification, and expect the transfer to take days and to land in dollars in the title company's escrow, after you have verified the account by phone. The exchange rate at the moment of each contract is part of the price, so the timing and the number of transfers are worth planning with your bank well ahead of the closing day.

Cash, or a Foreign National Loan

Many buyers from Brazil pay cash, which closes faster and is preferred by sellers, and some then arrange financing after closing where a lender allows it. Buyers who want a loan from day one turn to programs for foreign nationals, where the lender reads Brazilian income and asset records in place of a United States credit file, requires a bigger down payment and money held in reserve, and reviews the building as well as the borrower when the home is a condominium. Consult a mortgage lender early; the rate and the conditions belong to the lender and shift with the market.

Taxes in Brazil and in the United States

Brazil taxes residents on income from anywhere, so a Florida home's rent is Brazilian taxable income, and the home itself appears on your annual Brazilian return as an asset abroad, with a separate declaration to the central bank above its threshold. In the United States you file as a nonresident landlord and pay tax on net rent, and when the home is sold the buyer withholds a FIRPTA deposit against the tax on the gain, which Brazil taxes as well. There is no comprehensive income tax treaty between the two countries, so any credit for tax paid in one is a matter of the other's own law. Choose an accountant who handles Brazilian owners of United States property before the offer is written, not after.

How to Hold the Home

Buyers from Brazil are often advised to take title through a Florida limited liability company, sometimes layered under a second entity, because American estate tax falls heavily on a home a nonresident owns in person and Brazil has no treaty that lightens it. The cost of that advice is paperwork: annual filings here, Brazil's own regime for declaring and taxing offshore companies, and lenders who may not finance an entity at all. The home's price, the people who will inherit it and whether it will be rented decide whether a structure is worth it, and the decision has to be made before the contract names the buyer, with a tax adviser and a Florida attorney in the room.

Documents, Apostilles and Signing From Brazil

Brazil is a party to the Hague apostille convention, so documents notarized by a Brazilian notary and apostilled are accepted by Florida title companies and lenders, and a power of attorney prepared here, signed in Brazil and apostilled can let someone in Florida sign for you at closing. The United States consulates in São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Brasília, Recife and Porto Alegre also notarize by appointment, and remote online notarization over video is available where the title company accepts it. Translations of Portuguese documents for a lender are done by a certified translator. Your agent confirms with the title company at the start which route you will use, so nothing waits on paper.

Where Buyers From Brazil Tend to Look

Miami is the natural starting point for a buyer arriving on a direct flight from São Paulo or Rio: Brickell and downtown towers, Sunny Isles Beach and Aventura for high rise condos on or near the ocean between Miami and Fort Lauderdale, and Key Biscayne for an island with the city across the bridge. Families looking for a house and schools often go on to Weston, Doral or Coral Gables, and buyers who want a beach town at a lower price look to Hollywood and Pompano Beach. For a home used part of the year, the building's rules on seasonal rental decide the shortlist as much as the view does, and the plan reads those rules before you tour.

Service in Portuguese

For buyers who prefer Portuguese, an interpreter joins the consultation, the video tours and the calls in between, and the written plan is prepared with the interpreter so nothing is lost. Buyers comfortable in Spanish can work with our Spanish speaking agents directly, and this site switches to Portuguese from the language menu. Florida closings are papered in English; a Portuguese explanation of each document comes from your attorney before you sign. Tell us your language on the form and the first reply comes back in it.

Questions you may be asking

Can a foreigner even buy property in Florida?
Yes. Citizenship and residency are not required to own real estate in the United States, and a foreign owner has the same property rights as anyone else. One Florida law restricts purchases by people domiciled in a short list of countries, and the plan tells you plainly whether it reaches you.
We do not have United States credit or a bank account.
Most international buyers start that way. Lenders who write foreign national loans work from documents in your home country rather than a United States credit file, and a bank account and a taxpayer identification number can be opened as part of the process. Consult a mortgage lender early; many buyers simply pay cash instead.
We cannot travel for every step.
You should not have to. Your agent tours homes on live video, attends the inspection with you on the line, and the closing documents can be signed abroad before a notary, at a United States consulate, by remote online notarization where the title company allows it, or by a power of attorney.
What about taxes when we sell one day?
FIRPTA requires the buyer of a home from a foreign seller to withhold a share of the price for the IRS, as a deposit against the tax on the gain. There are exceptions and a certificate that can reduce it. The plan explains it in outline; a tax adviser who handles nonresident owners plans it with you before you buy.
We would rather do this in our own language.
Then we will. Spanish speaking agents are on staff, and for Portuguese or French an interpreter joins the consultation and the tours. The contracts are in English, as Florida law and the title company require, and your attorney explains them in your language.

Plan My Florida Purchase From Abroad

Tell us where you live, where in South Florida you are looking, how you expect to pay and the language you prefer. A BreakThru agent replies within one business day to schedule your consultation, in English or Spanish, with an interpreter arranged for Portuguese or French.

Call or email the brokerage directly: (786) 914-1017 · sales@breakthrurealty.com

Questions International Buyers Ask

Can a Brazilian buy a house or a condo in Miami?
Yes. United States law places no nationality or visa condition on owning a home, and Florida's ownership statute does not list Brazil among the countries it restricts. What differs is sending funds through the exchange market, taxes in two countries without a treaty, and how to hold the home, all of which the plan addresses with an interpreter for Portuguese.
How do I send money from Brazil to buy a home in Florida?
Through the regulated exchange market, with a contract at your bank or an authorized exchange house that records the purchase of a property abroad as the purpose, supported by the title company's letter and the documents showing the origin of the funds. The dollars go by wire into the title company's escrow, verified by phone, several days before closing.
Is there a tax treaty between Brazil and the United States?
No comprehensive one. Both countries tax the rent and the eventual gain, and any credit for tax paid in the other depends on each country's own law. The home is also reported in Brazil as an asset abroad. Plan it with an accountant who handles Brazilian owners of United States property before you make an offer.
Should I buy through an LLC?
Many do, because of American estate tax on a home a nonresident holds in person, with no Brazilian treaty to lighten it. The trade is reporting on both sides and lenders who may balk at an entity. Price, heirs and rental plans decide it; get a tax adviser and a Florida attorney to settle it before the contract is drafted.
Can I sign the documents in Brazil?
Yes. Documents notarized in Brazil and apostilled are accepted in Florida, the United States consulates notarize by appointment, a power of attorney apostilled in Brazil can let someone sign for you here, and remote online notarization is available where the title company accepts it. Your agent confirms the route with the title company at the start.
Do you work in Portuguese?
An interpreter joins the consultation, the tours and the calls for buyers who prefer Portuguese, and the written plan is prepared with the interpreter. Those at ease in Spanish can deal with our Spanish speaking agents directly. The documents themselves are English, like every Florida closing; your attorney takes you through them in Portuguese first.

The Service

Rules, Taxes and Money

Buying From Your Country

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