One of the first things a real estate buyer wants to know about a property is the exact square footage or yardage. Generally speaking, this bit of information is a major factor in calculating a fair market price. Under most circumstances, the owners, real estate brokers and property listings readily provide accurate dimensions of a property. This is the system most folks are accustomed to. But in Brazil, none of the old rules apply.... 

An unsuspecting buyer, one who is new to the Brazilian real estate market, is likely to be baffled by at least three conflicting measurements that are listed for the same property. 

First, there are the legal measurements listed in Matrícula (Property Title). Any old Brazilian hand knows that the official property size stated on the Title and listed in the IPTU Carnê (Municipal Tax Payment Coupon Book) is wrong 99 times out of 100.

It is part of the age-old game that Brazilians play with their tax authorities: More than likely, the stated dimensions are smaller than the actual property size. 

Chances are that the service area and the balcony(ies) of a house or an apartment are not taken into consideration. It is also very likely that structural extensions and changes that occurred after the original measurements were officially recorded have been conveniently forgotten.

It is important to note that the properties we are referring to are not located in the mushrooming urban favelas or lightly controlled remote villages situated in far-away Amazonian Jungles.

In 1990, the Rio de Janeiro Prefeitura (City Hall) conducted a study of the legal property documents in the affluent neighborhoods in the municipality of Rio de Janeiro. It found that as many as 70% of the official dimensions recorded in the property deed and the Real Estate records of apartments and houses do not correlate with their real size. 

The second measurement you will come across is the one your friendly local Real Estate Broker provides. Again, be wary. Considering that in many cases, the brokers do not review the actual property documents or even visit the space before starting to sell it, this information is not to be taken seriously. 

Additionally, when a broker does check the legal documents and/or talk to the owners, significant modifications are likely to occur. Areas originally not included in the official records, such as the elevator shaft, common hall, staircase, and even the trash chute, suddenly become part of the burgeoning apartment. Similarly, in the case of a house, chunks of neighbors' lots, public streets, and nearby rivers somehow become incorporated into the total size. 

The third property measurement will come from the owners. They would never rely on what is stated in the IPTU Carnê and will very often inflate the size of the space by anywhere from 10% to 50%, depending on how badly they needed the extra money. 

There is no empirical method of measurement involved in producing these numbers.  The dimensions offered by these three interested parties are speculative and are usually well above the real size. 

So neither broker nor the owner bothers to personally measure the property and cross-check the measurements with the official (yet still questionable) data.

All things considered, this mostly overlooked technique of measuring the dimensions by hand is the only truly reliable method. 

So, when viewing a property, bring your own tape measure, unless you wish to pay for the imaginary square footage. 

Boris Goldshmit is the publisher of the magazine Lifestyles Brazil Digest. The magazine is available for sale at the newsstands and bookstores in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. You can contact Boris at support@lifestylesbrazil.com if you have any questions or wish to purchase a copy of the magazine or the Pocket Dictionary of Brazilian-Portuguese Real Estate and Legal Terminology.

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