Free Guide: How to Buy an Investment Property in Venezuela

Necessary Legal Stuff in Advance

In order to be able to buy a property as a foreigner in Venezuela, you need a so-called Investment Visa in your passport and this can be applied for in the Embassy of your country. Contact them and ask what information of yours they need. A fee will apply (in Holland it is €154,-). And be prepared that it might take 2-3 months for the Visa to be ready. They will ask for proof of income and proof of assets etc. Even collecting the Visa itself will take some hours to add the Visa to your passport. The visa is valid for three months only and allows multiple entrances in that period. My visa ended up being valid for only 2 months so be aware of that. Nothing is for sure here. ;-)

Currencies

By law, all transactions and contracts need to be executed in Venezuelan Bolivares. But as this currency is devaluating rapidly prices are stated in dollars even with a Bs. sign for it. So Bs 15.000 often means 15.000 US Dollars. During your stay in Venezuela, you will need Bolivares in cash. International credit cards do work, but not everywhere and systems are down more than often, and then you need either to pay in Bolivares or in Dollars. Dollars are not accepted everywhere, so you need Bolivares at a certain point. A local guide that receives your dollars on his account, can resell these dollars on the currency market and buy a daily need of Bolivares for you. Not too much as the value decreases rapidly.

Cash in Dollars

Cash is king and is very helpful as a down payment while closing a deal. During your inbound flight, you will need to fill out a form asking if you have more than $10.000 in cash with you. So make sure you don’t take more than $10.000 or investigate what conditions apply.

Transferring money

After the deal has been closed and you may be paid a deposit in cash, the large sum of money needs to be transferred to in most cases a dollar account. When you have a US dollar account, it will be transferred quickly. If you transfer money from a European account to the USA, it might take 4 days and a large commission applies. I used the Application Wise. There is hardly any commission and a good rate and usually, the transfer takes 24-36 hours.

Security in Venezuela

Most Venezuelan people are poor and there is a lot, a lot, of criminality. It’s a bit exaggerated but the expression says that they’ll kill you for 20 dollars, so make sure you have a trustworthy driver and ditto local guides. Stay below the radar. No expensive watches or clothes. Always stay with your guide. After a while, you get easy with the dos and don'ts. Up till then, follow their instructions.

Real Estate Agents in Venezuela

Like in all countries there are a lot of real estate agents available and they sometimes share properties with each other and sometimes they have them exclusively. You can search on internet sites but we found out that properties offered there are usually too good to be true and only to let you call them and they will offer you their whole range which usually does not looks that good as the internet offer. Before you know it you will have a whole nest of agents showing you properties you are definitely not interested in. Viewing apartments cost a lot of energy and before you know it you are as tired as a lump and you can no longer see the forest for the trees.

Always remember:

Your available time and your personal energy are your worst enemies in this process,
so beware to choose right and dare to say no,
and know what you want, and stay focused on that.

Otherwise, you will find yourself exhausted and puzzled and losing it.

Lawyer

Your Venezuelan lawyer is maybe the most important person in the whole deal. You will establish a long term relation with him and most likely that you will trust him, or your real estate agent, the keys and entrance to the new property. In any future case, he will be the person to operate. So make sure you only work with a trustworthy party. In some cities, Valencia and Caracas, we can advise you. A lawyer will cost you around 250-500 dollars for the whole process.

Buying process and costs

The moment you close a deal with the owner of the property you will proceed with the following steps:

A Personal Contract between you and the owner will be drawn, stating all necessary details like the buying price, the deposit and of course the description of the property. After signing at a lawyers office and the payment of the deposit (maybe in cash),
The next step is the payment the rest of the amount directly to the bank account of the owner. Our lawyer will verify if this is a trustworthy transaction. This is a good moment to also transfer a deposit to your lawyer in order to enable him to make all necessary payments for the last step. Once these payments have been confirmed received, the next phase is,
To have yourself registered as the new owner in the so-called Venezuelan registry. This process can only be completed after payment of the fees, which your lawyer will take care of. Count with around 200-500 dollars.

Let us help you

Out team consists of a Dutch Entrepreneur Aernoud, three Venezuelan locals Xionert and Euclides as advisors and organizers of everything. And Pedro our lawyer. Aernoud bought an apartment in June 2019 in Valencia Trigalenga. As a team, we have been through all the stages of buying and are happy to pass over this information to you, as a fully independent team.

What we offer

We are now offering this independent service to you, including staying in the 1 bedroom apartment Aernoud bought in the upper-class area Trigalenga in Valencia. Our service covers:

Secured airport pick-up in Caracas from arrival hall till airport return
Accommodation in Aernoud’s flat (see pictures)
Investigation on forehand what the wishes are
Inside information of what real estate agents are best for the job, and therefore the best possible chance in success
Guidance on a daily basis including sightseeing and all services needed to enable a comfortable stay
Arranging cash in Bolivars for payment of daily needs
Monitoring security and well being during your stay.

Conditions

As the whole process of buying will take around 4-5 days, you will need a minimum of these days plus the days for searching the right property. We suggest a minimum stay of 8 days in order to achieve the best results. We know the drill and realize that your wishes might change during your stay. Consider some extra days to explore the beautiful sights of the country with or without us.

Our Services

Airport Pickup Caracas to Valencia (2,5 hours drive) (Tariff subject to previous verification)
Rent apartment for max 2 persons per day, €60,- including:
- weekly housekeeping service and welcome package
- internet
- 100% backup power failure (so not only for the elevators)
- backup water failure
- breakfast ingredients & some drinks and snacks

Guidance per day, 1-2 persons (Xionert & Euclides), including
- Enquiry on forehand what your wishes are and what the best possibilities are (counted as one day)
- Selection of best fit real estate agents/properties
- 100% knowledge of all areas, history and future perspectives
- Car rent & costs for your transportation anywhere in the area only
- Between 6-12 hours per day guidance and advisory
- Previous consultancies and paperwork tariff subject to verification (Visa paperwork, real-states offers)

Tell us what you want and we are happy to provide you with a tailor-made offer without obligation. No pressure from real estate agents and feel free to change your mind as many times as you want. We are there for you.

Send us a mail and tell us your plans. We love to hear from you.