Venezuela » The Purchase Process

In Venezuela, there are no limitations on ownership of real estate for foreigners. They enjoy the same legal rights to property as Venezuelan nationals.

In Venezuela a written pre-sales agreement between the buyer and the seller is a common practice. Here, the obligations are established between both the parties concerning amount of payment, method of payment, time limit of contract, penalties, etc. In order to buy property in Venezuela, the valid documents required are your passport and your tourist visa. Next, you need to register with the tax authority of Venezuela.

Before investing one should take a look at the legal history of the property. This can be done at the Registry Office of the jurisdiction where the property is located. Every municipal authority in Venezuela has a real estate database within its jurisdiction that can be used to identify properties and their owners.

The Public Registry information is not computerized everywhere and in a majority of the registries throughout the country, the information is handled manually. It is very important to make sure that the person who is selling to you is the true owner of the property as required by law in Venezuela. If that is not the case, you must verify that the seller holds a registered Power of Attorney (POA) (Poder in Spanish) to sell. In Venezuela, a down payment of 20 - 30% of the value of the property is required once you have entered into a pre-sales agreement with the seller. A time period of 30 to 45 days is the typical time selected by the seller to make final payment and finalize the transaction.

Powers of Attorney

For registering powers of attorney, there are two simple processes:

• Drawing up the document and notarizing at a local notary public
• Registering the POA with the Property Registry of your area

When registering a power of attorney, you should obtain at the same time the "apostille" through the notary public in your country. (An apostille is an official document from your host nation required to authenticate signatures to a document that are not signed in the presence of the notary public in another nation.)

All documents must be translated into Spanish language to be considered legally valid in Venezuela.

A property sales tax is applicable on property with a high-declared value, which are often paid by the buyer. This tax can be waived if you declare that this is your primary residence.