What we'd tell a friend.
Plain-language reference for the foreign buyer and the curious visitor — how buying actually works, how the money moves, where to live, where to eat, the fifty buildings worth knowing and a satellite map of the city we work in. Written by Charles Jonas, principal broker at Art de Vivre, CRECI-RJ 009278/O.
Where to stay in Rio de Janeiro.
Ipanema, Copacabana, Leblon and Vidigal, compared for beaches, walkability, nightlife and value — a local's read on which few blocks set up the whole trip, and where we'd put you.
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The best time to visit Rio.
Weather season by season, the summer peak, the calm shoulder months that give you the best value, and how Réveillon and Carnival rewrite the rules. The honest Rio calendar.
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Rio's beaches, one by one.
Copacabana, Ipanema, Leblon, the Arpoador sunset rock, quiet São Conrado and the Vidigal hillside — what each stretch of the South Zone coast is like, and which one suits your trip.
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Réveillon, explained.
Two million people in white on Copacabana and fireworks off the water — what Rio's New Year actually is, the traditions worth knowing, where to watch from, and how far ahead to plan.
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Carnival in Rio.
The free street blocos and the grand Sambódromo parades — how the world's biggest party works, when it falls, where to base yourself and how to do it well without burning out.
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Three days in Rio.
Christ the Redeemer, Sugarloaf, the beaches and old Rio around Santa Teresa and Lapa — a sensibly paced first-timer's itinerary that sees the icons without turning the trip into a checklist.
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Selling your Rio apartment from abroad.
The step-by-step for a foreign owner: the documents to have ready, how a Brazilian sale actually closes, the tax on your gain, and — the part that worries people most — getting the proceeds out of Brazil cleanly.
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Capital-gains tax when you sell in Brazil.
What a foreign owner actually pays: the progressive 15%–22.5% rates, the exemptions that mostly aren't yours, the non-resident withholding quirk, and how it meets your tax at home through the treaty. Information, not advice.
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What a sales mandate actually is.
Exclusive versus open, what belongs in the document, the difference between the mandate and the power of attorney, commission and CRECI licensing, and the red flags to walk away from before you sign.
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Buying in Rio, end to end.
Every foreign buyer asks us the same five things — can I even own it, how does the money work, what does it cost, how long does it take, what goes wrong. This is the version we tell our own clients, with the numbers written down.
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Brazil visa and residency for foreign owners.
VIPER investor visa, digital-nomad, retiree and innovation pathways — what each unlocks for a foreign property owner, what each costs, where each tends to come unstuck, and the four-year clock to a Brazilian passport.
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Buy in Rio, live in Brazil.
The hub for buyers going for residency: the six visa routes, banking, mortgages, foreign-owner tax and the Brazil-vs-Portugal comparison, pulled into one map — with a straight line to Charlie for a personal route and, when it helps, an immigration lawyer.
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Brazil vs Portugal Golden Visa.
Portugal removed its property Golden Visa route in 2023. The honest side-by-side with Brazil's investor visa — investment floor, residency, days on the ground, the road to a passport, tax and lifestyle — and who each one actually suits.
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Buying from France.
You already have Europe — so Brazil is the diversification play. The France–Brazil tax treaty in force since 1972, moving euros in cleanly, the IFI question, and the Air France nonstop from Paris.
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Buying from Germany.
The one European market with a real wrinkle: Germany's tax treaty with Brazil lapsed in 2006, so relief runs through the §34c credit instead. The exit tax, the câmbio, and the Lufthansa nonstop from Frankfurt.
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Buying from the UK.
Post-Brexit, post-non-dom. Moving pounds in cleanly, the UK–Brazil treaty signed in 2022 but not yet in force, the Schengen clock that now applies to Britons, and the BA nonstop from London.
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Buying from Russia.
General information on Brazil's neutral position and the Russia–Brazil treaty in force since 2017 — and, stated plainly, the strict KYC/AML and sanctions-compliance framework any purchase runs through. Informational only, no workarounds.
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Banking in Brazil, in plain language.
The twelve banks worth knowing — Itaú, Bradesco, Banco do Brasil, Caixa, Santander, BTG, Safra, XP, Nubank, Inter, C6, Sicredi — plus CPF, BACEN registration, PIX, mortgages and the private-banking shortcut.
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Insuring a Rio home, properly.
Why the building's mandatory policy never covers your apartment, and what to buy instead — module by module, with the short-stay trap, the vacancy gap, landslide cover on hillside addresses, and a real claim run end-to-end.
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Financing the purchase, honestly.
Why most foreign purchases here are cash, and what financing really exists — SAC vs Price, the CET, mid-2026 rates at the big four, who qualifies, the four routes foreigners actually use, and a worked R$2M Ipanema example.
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Rio investment calculator — Airbnb vs. long-let.
A working underwriting sheet for a Rio apartment or villa: full ten-year discounted cash-flow, IRR in BRL and USD, equity multiple, year-by-year cashflows, short-stay vs. annual side-by-side. Sliders move, numbers re-run.
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ADV's Rio, pinned.
Every Art de Vivre home for sale, the restaurants Charlie books for clients and the things to do — on one satellite map of Rio de Janeiro. Click a pin, read the note, save the address.
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The restaurants ADV actually books.
Twenty Rio rooms hand-curated by the brokerage — Oro, Olympe, Lasai, Mee, Fasano, Aprazível and the table we'd send a client to first. Reservations via ADV concierge for guests on the calendar.
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The eight museums worth a real afternoon.
Museu do Amanhã, MAR, MAM, MNBA, Museu Histórico Nacional, CCBB, Paço Imperial and the Museu Nacional at Quinta da Boa Vista — hours, admission, architecture and the rooms we'd send you to first.
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The top buildings of Rio, one entry at a time.
A working directory of Rio's residential addresses worth knowing — year built, units, recent comps, short-stay rules, gross yield. Kept by Art de Vivre, added to regularly.
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Sixteen Rio neighborhoods.
Zona Sul classic, Zona Sul charm, the West Zone and the Costa Verde. Leblon, Ipanema, Copa, Lagoa, Jardim Botânico, Gávea, Urca, Leme, Vidigal, Barra, Joá, São Conrado — plus Angra, Paraty, Búzios and Cabo Frio.
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