Client story – Investing in Maceió before ever visiting: the journey of a Dutch couple

How a Dutch couple who had never set foot in Brazil became owners of two apartments in Maceió, visited the construction sites, started investing in the Brazilian stock market, and are already looking for a third property.

2 February 2026 by

Jason Aerts

The Starting Point: A City Mentioned by Chance

September 2024. A Dutch couple in their thirties, both professionally active, contact Jason through the website. Their only source of information about Maceió: a colleague originally from the city who had casually mentioned that it offered interesting real estate opportunities.

No developer in mind. No specific project. No experience with the Brazilian real estate market. Neither of them speaks Portuguese. They had never traveled to Brazil.

Their initial question was straightforward: is it really possible to invest there remotely without taking unreasonable risks?

The First Few Weeks: The Same Doubts, Asked in Different Ways

The first interactions, phone calls, emails, and WhatsApp messages, quickly revealed a familiar pattern. The same questions kept coming back, sometimes rephrased a few days later:

“Is this really how things normally work?” — “What happens if something goes wrong?” — “How can we be sure the money reaches the right place?”

Those doubts did not disappear after a single explanation. They came back at every new stage. Our role was not to “reassure them quickly,” but to be consistently present over time: answering questions, rephrasing explanations, confirming information, explaining things differently when necessary, and allowing decisions to mature at their own pace.

Trust was not built through a sales pitch. It was built through the consistency of every interaction.

Understanding Before Recommending

Before suggesting any apartment, we took the time to clearly define the project. Budget, risk tolerance, investment horizon, desired level of control, and realistic expectations were all carefully discussed.

Their objective was clear: a purely financial investment. They wanted to acquire a property to grow their capital over the long term, rent it out through short-term rentals such as Airbnb in the meantime, and keep the option of using it themselves for holidays in Brazil at some point.

The Property Search: Apartment 717 Sold in One Day

Based on their profile, we began a targeted search. Several developments were analyzed, compared, and in some cases deliberately ruled out. Some looked attractive on paper but did not align with their goals or involved specific risks.

A studio apartment in the Concept Jatiúca development, on the seventh floor, stood out: excellent sun exposure (nascente), located in the Jatiúca neighborhood just a seven-minute walk from the beach, and developed by a well-established company with decades of experience.

The couple confirmed their interest. We submitted an offer at the end of the day. The following day, the developer informed us that apartment 717 had already been reserved by someone else that same day.

That is the reality of the Maceió market: good properties in desirable neighborhoods sell quickly, sometimes within hours. Without someone on the ground able to act fast, opportunities like these can disappear before buyers have time to react.

We suggested apartment 617 instead: one floor lower, the same size, the same orientation, and BRL 4,000 cheaper. The couple accepted.

Buying as Two Instead of Three—and Why

Originally, the couple wanted to purchase the property together with a third person. We advised them to think carefully about that option for one very practical reason: if one of the co-owners were to pass away, the Brazilian probate process (inventário), the legal procedure through which assets are distributed among heirs, can be administratively complex, especially when the property is still under construction and outstanding payments remain. Court or notary procedures, legal representation, and the possibility of payment obligations being temporarily frozen can turn the process into something that lasts for months.

We recommended registering the contract in only two names initially and adding the third person once the property had been delivered and was legally independent from any remaining payment obligations. They followed that advice.

The Power of Attorney and the Contract: Understanding What You Are Agreeing To

Like all non-resident buyers, they needed a power of attorney allowing someone in Brazil to sign the contract on their behalf. This particular developer requires it, although not all developers do.

We arranged a power of attorney strictly limited to that specific transaction and took the time to explain the contract clause by clause: INCC and IGP-M indexation, delivery delay provisions, and the payment structure. The legal review was carried out by Nieilly, our Brazilian attorney.

Before anything was signed, both parties fully understood what they were agreeing to.

The Banking Phase: When the Money Seems to Disappear

Opening the bank account, making international transfers, and waiting for confirmations: this was where the differences between Europe and Brazil became most apparent.

At one point, a transfer had already left the Netherlands while nothing appeared on the Brazilian side. That kind of temporary silence can be unsettling when investing remotely. The couple regularly messaged us asking whether this was normal.

Our role was very practical: calling the bank and the developer every day, tracking the transfers, cross-checking information, and distinguishing a real issue from a simple administrative or cultural delay, which is not uncommon in Brazil. Without that active follow-up, this phase alone could have been enough to discourage the investment.

The First Trip: Seeing What They Had Bought

A few months after the purchase, the couple came to Maceió. We had first met in Belgium and then visited the construction sites and other developments together in Brazil. The trip turned many things that had previously existed only in emails into something tangible: the neighborhoods, the distances, the pace of construction, and the city itself.

By then, their understanding of the market had changed significantly. What had previously caused stress had become familiar.

The Second Purchase: A More Rational Decision

In May 2025, a new opportunity arose: a one-bedroom apartment developed by one of Maceió’s most established real estate companies, known for high-quality finishes and reliable deliveries.

The context was completely different from the first purchase. They understood how the market worked, what timelines were normal, and how potential setbacks could be managed. What had caused stress during the first investment was now familiar territory. The decision was made more quickly and with far greater confidence.

A Construction Delay Handled Calmly

In May 2026, the developer announced a delay in the delivery of the studio apartment. Originally scheduled for completion at the end of 2026, delivery was postponed to March 2027. For this developer, a delay of that magnitude is highly unusual and the first of its kind.

The couple’s reaction was calm and pragmatic. From the beginning, they had understood that the Brazilian market comes with a certain degree of unpredictability. We contacted the developer directly to confirm that the final balance would not be due until the actual delivery date, that INCC adjustments would continue, and that the construction company would pay monthly compensation starting in December 2026 for the three-month delay. This compensation can be deducted from the final balance.

What Came Next: Financial Investments and a Third Property in Sight

Today, this couple owns two properties in Maceió. They have also started investing in Brazilian financial products through the Brazilian bank account we helped them open, including CDBs (Certificates of Bank Deposit), offering returns that, according to their own experience, are difficult to find in Europe.

They will return to Maceió in July 2026, this time with their children. The plan includes visiting both construction sites and exploring new opportunities around Praia dos Carneiros, a coastal area in Pernambuco that made a strong impression on them during their previous trip.

They are already searching for their third property.

What Comes Next

In March 2027, their studio apartment will be delivered. At that point, we will take care of the complete furnishing and setup of the property, preparing it for rental. We will then manage the entire rental operation, from creating listings and optimizing pricing to handling communication with guests and booking platforms.

To be continued...

What This Client Story Illustrates

This project started with a couple who had never been to Brazil and were unsure whether investing there was a sensible decision. It has evolved into a long-term relationship involving two property purchases, ongoing investments in Brazilian financial products, and a third real estate project on the horizon.

This was not the result of a sales pitch. It was the result of being present at every stage: answering the same questions without frustration, acting quickly when an apartment was about to slip away, monitoring transfers when the money seemed to have disappeared, and explaining a construction delay by obtaining information directly from the source.