A dummy’s Real Estate guide to the Island of Santa Catarina
Warning not a monger report

I just returned from spending a month on the island of Santa Catarina, also know as Florianopolis. The soul purpose of the trip being to buy a small house, with the intent of eventually retiring from the brutal Wyoming winters.

The island has 42 beaches and is a center of surfing activity. Newsweek placed Florianopolis in the ”Ten most dynamic cities of the world” list. Veja magazine, a Brasilian publication, named the city as “The best place to live in Brasil”. As a result of the publicity, Florianopolis is growing as a second home destination for many Paulistas, Argentines, U.S. citizens and Europeans.

The island is served by the Hercilio Luz International Airport (FLN), and is home to the Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (Federal University of Santa Catarina) as well as several others.

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After spending a month on the island, with a car, I can honestly say that I either looked at or stepped on every square meter of the island, which is roughly 30 miles long and 10 miles wide at its widest point.

So now to the facts as I saw them. First you need to be very, very careful that what you’re looking to buy actually has a “deed”. The vast majority of the island (the southern half in particular) has been bought and sold back and forth over the years on a “contract”. Which as best as I can understand it is just a buy sell agreement between the “current seller” and the buyer. I do know for a fact that the banks won’t lend on such an agreement, and if the banks won’t touch it, then I won’t either. But it doesn’t seem to bother the locals at all, I saw many multimillion dollar (BR) houses that didn’t have “papers”. I was told countless times “it’s not a problem” just get a lawyer, and lots of money, and file for, what we would commonly refer to as “eminent domain”. Yea right, good luck.





My observations on a few of the better known beaches:

Praia Jurere International,,, Looked to me like I was in any high end subdivision in Miami. Street after street of multi million dollar (BR) houses, loaded with arrogant, loud Argentines. And a sign in every other yard offering it for sale. I never actually looked at any because it just wasn’t my “cup of tea” so to speak. These houses would most likely have “papers”.

Praia Ingleses,,, In my opinion a more livable area day to day. It has a small town center, with markets scattered throughout, and it seemed to me to be a place where people were actually living and working.
Now, they are building like crazy, “apartments” which we would call condos. And the price does not come even close to reflecting the true value, meaning things are, again in my opinion, priced at least 30% too high. And again, building after building completely empty, or only 1 out of 12 or more units occupied and signs in all the windows “Vendo”, with another new building coming up right next to it. As my friend Bwana_dik said to me “supply and demand doesn’t seem to apply to Brasilian thinking”. The prices for the apartments ranged from R250,000 to R1,000,000. Houses fell into the same category only starting at a minimum of R400,000, again over priced by 30%.

Barra da Lagoa,,, A beautiful place with some gorgeous houses. But again “No Papers”.

Lagoa da Conceição,,, Another very beautiful area with some nice houses. Again over priced by at least 30% and most of the desirable locations are without “papers”.

I found that this web site has a wealth of information for each of the beaches on the island. http://www.baraaza.com/Florianopolis-1345692/Travel-Guide.aspx

The real estate company that I ultimately used is www.scimoveis.com.br and the agent is a younger guy that I felt I could trust, his name is Anderson Pompeo. You will need to keep him focused and on task. I don’t remember how many times I was shown the same fucking house and each time I would tell him it’s not what I want! I suspect that the seller was giving a bonus to the selling agent to move it. Anderson only speaks Portuguese, but I know a man that you can trust to translate for you if you want/need it. His name is Saulo Blatt. I’m guessing his age at about 33, he has worked in the US and also traveled Australia a bit. Phone number is (48)–9156-5614, sauloblatt@hotmail.com He also would be a good monger guide to show you around town, he’s single and I’m sure he knows all the good spots. He charges R150.00 a day for guide and translation. He also has a car and can pick you up and drive you around, add another R100 a day if you want that service. A note: public transportation and taxi’s can be a little scarce on the island so a car is a great help to get around. I can also recommend a “tourist” guide I know and trust that speaks French, English, and Portuguese, and he also has a car.

Now for the question did I ever buy anything? After almost giving up, my wife (yes I’m married for a little over 2 years now to a beautiful Gaucha) convinced me to look at just one more thing. That “thing” was a Pousada, and after thinking about it, it was the logical choice over a house or apt. It throws off a reasonable income, is seasonal (high season is Dec, Jan, Feb, and Mar.) and most importantly gives me something to do in a beautiful part of the world. www.castelodailha.com.br

PM me if anyone has any questions about anything in particular.

Ultra

Have fun.

MM

And I thought i've seeing all kind of trip reports. this one gets the "main prize". such a wealth of monger info!!! i'm so blessed!!!!

Sorry I wasted your time...

Nice dickhead post, MP.

He did post this under real estate and state "Warning not a monger report". Not sure what the problem is with his posting! Plenty of stuff gets posted outside mongering that is of interest to the mongering population.

Personally, real estate i would think would be in the top category for most. I have met many mongers that have dreamed about living in their main destinations, be that Thailand, Brazil...

Unfortunately, for those of you interested in living in Brazil be prepared for sticker shock pretty much everywhere. Sounds like Santa Catarina is following the trend of Rio, which has absolutely became NUTS in terms of real estate values. Even just renting a decent place in an upper class neighboorhood (i.e. Ipanema and Leblon) can approach amounts only found in top cities in the US, like NY, San Francisco, etc.... Actually rent is higher now in Rio then it is on average in Miami when I was doing some research.

Thanks for sharing....



(Message edited by lovingmarvin on June 15, 2010)