Bom Dia Ceará · TV GloboJuly 2026 · in Portuguese
On TV Globo’s morning show in Ceará, advising holidaymakers on how to avoid rental scams.
Beira-Mar, Fortaleza
Falésias, Beberibe
Pedra Furada, Jericoacoara
Praia da Lagoinha
Mucuripe, Fortaleza
Icapuí
Jericoacoara
Beira-Mar, Fortaleza
Fortaleza, Brazil · Three generations in real estate
Property on Brazil’s northeast coast, with an established family firm on your side.
Founded in 1993. Daniel Neves leads our international side:
- Born and raised in Fortaleza, with a lifetime of local connections
- Working with International Living’s readers since 2008
- High school in California, law school in Salamanca, Spain
- 1,000+ deals closed with clients from Toronto to Hong Kong, and many places in between
You deal with a local insider who already understands how you do business.
Ask Daniel a question on WhatsApp
![Daniel Neves]()
Daniel NevesLicensed broker since 1998
Answers in English, usually within a few hours. No obligation.
Want to speak to one of our clients first? Just ask.
Photos: Alex Uchoa
Buy safely, even 100% from abroadWe find it, check it and see it through. You can sign without flying in.
A winter home by the seaSummer all year, a breeze off the ocean and warm water every month.
Rental income, managed for youWe furnish, rent and look after it. You receive the rent at home.
Residency from R$700,000Property here in the Northeast can support a Brazilian residence permit.
Who we are
Whether you are looking for a winter home by the sea, a place to retire, or an apartment that earns rental income, we help foreign buyers find it in and around Fortaleza and purchase it safely. Escala Properties is the international side of Escala Imóveis, a family-run real estate company here since 1993.
- Since 1993
- Escala Imóveis has been selling and renting property in Ceará
- 20,000+
- sales closed by Escala Imóveis: land, lots, apartments and homes
- 1,000+
- deals closed by Daniel with international buyers
- 200+ condos
- managed for their owners today, with occupancy above 90%
“The realtor that I would recommend is Daniel Neves. He is the most experienced realtor with international clients that I know in Brazil.”
Paulo Peixoto, attorney, João Pessoa · working with us since 2010
9.5/10Talks rated up to 9.5 out of 10 by International Living audiences
35+ investor events in 16 cities · On TV Globo · International REALTOR® · SECOVI Ceará Master Imobiliário award
We help our clients make money, safely.
That is our business, and we say so plainly.
Our record supports it. Landscape was the last condo built on the Beira-Mar boardwalk. Chronos led the first buildings one street back from the sea. Studio Iracema and Jardins Iracema stood where the new boardwalk was heading. Vitale went up beside the largest convention centre in Northeast Brazil. Each rose in value for those who bought early. In the summer of 2010 alone, clients from abroad bought nineteen apartments in Landscape and the two Iracema buildings through us, in under three months. We keep the figures for each one and will go through them with you when we talk. Past results are no promise, but they show how we choose.
We have been part of this market for more than thirty years. Our name is on every deal, so we would sooner lose a sale than recommend a property we would not buy ourselves.
Buying abroad, the fear is always the same: will I be taken advantage of? That is exactly why we exist. We are a licensed firm (CRECI 616J), Daniel is an International REALTOR® in the United States, and in over thirty years not a single complaint has been filed against us at the brokers’ council. We show you what similar properties really sold for, so you never pay a “gringo price”.
In their words
What clients and partners say.
Most of our clients live thousands of miles away. This is what some of them wrote.
“An ordinary realtor would have jumped on the opportunity for a listing … but not Daniel. He said … it was not a good time to sell… I found him to be extremely well informed, genuinely concerned, honest and tremendously helpful to someone whom he had only met by e-mail.”
Three years later: “You’re the one who pulled my irons out of the fire. You did a great job and I still appreciate it.”
“I want to express my genuine gratitude to Escala, particularly Daniel Neves, for his professionalism, ethics and knowledge of his business and the market… Although I am thousands of miles away I have full confidence … that my best interests are at the core of this relationship.”
“What impressed me … is their ability to give genuine and honest investment advice … and not just push property. This is vital if the foreign investor is going to avoid mistakes.”
“Just wanted to thank you … for working with us for the past 6½ years… We couldn’t have accomplished all this without your help and advice.”
“It is the first time I have ever purchased property ‘site unseen’… I can highly recommend … Escala as a professional, service-oriented company that can be trusted.”
Read more from clients
“I had a very good experience in my business dealings with Daniel Neves and Escala… I would recommend them to anyone looking for Fortaleza real estate opportunities!”
“To be honest, looking back it was a lot of work, but we would do it all again… It is always helpful to be surrounded by great people.”
“Daniel, thank you for all your help. Words cannot express my appreciation.”
“I trust and appreciate your advice.”
“I took a chance and invested in a pre-construction contract… What was most important to me was that they understood my situation and they sincerely cared and wanted to help me… My unit sold after only being listed for a short time during a very challenging market.”
“I was completely pleased with professionalism, urgency to all matters and timely responses to any of my correspondence and questions from the start… When my situation will improve, I will be returning to them for future services.”
“You … and your staff have been excellent and reliable.”
“Thank you again for your support and services during the period of my ownership of the Iracema condo unit.”
“Daniel, who I’ve known and invested with and worked with for over a decade.”
Would you like to talk to one of these clients first? Just ask.
Ask to speak to a clientWhere we work
Summer all year, on Brazil’s northeast coast.
Days around 30°C (the high 80s°F), a steady breeze off the ocean, and water warm enough to swim in every month. Our clients come for the life and the investment, usually both.
- FortalezaThe Beira Mar, a boardwalk running for miles right along the beach, is the city’s living room from dawn to past midnight: runners and cyclists, kites and little sailboats, dolphins off the jetties at sunset, fresh fried shrimp and free concerts by the sea. A small town where everyone meets on the beach, in a city big enough to have it all. People from all over the world are discovering it.
- Porto das Dunas / AquirazHalf an hour east: wide beaches and quiet condominiums beside Beach Park, voted by Tripadvisor travellers the best water park in the Americas.
- CumbucoHalf an hour west: a fishing village that became a world-class kitesurfing spot, with dunes and freshwater lagoons.
- EusébioGreen gated communities with gardens and pools, where many of Fortaleza’s wealthiest families now live.
- FortimTwo hours east, where the Jaguaribe river meets the sea: empty beaches and river sunsets, long a hideaway of wealthy Brazilian families.
- Further along the coastJericoacoara and Preá for kitesurfing and the sunset from the dune, Canoa Quebrada for its red cliffs, Taíba and Paracuru for quiet beaches.
Come and see it for yourself. We will plan the visit around what you are looking for.
Plan your visit with DanielGetting here
Nonstop from Europe and Miami in seven to nine hours.
Fortaleza sits on Brazil’s northern coast, closer to Europe and North America than Rio de Janeiro or São Paulo. You can fly here directly, without a connection in the south of the country.
Scheduled nonstop flight times from Fortaleza, October 2026. Airlines change their schedules and some routes are seasonal, so please confirm before you book.
Why Ceará
A growing state, well connected to the world.
A property is only as sound as the place around it. Ceará, a state of about nine million, has invested for years in its port, its airport and its links to the world.
- 6.49%
- Economic growth in 2024, almost twice Brazil’s rate. Faster than Brazil again in 2025.
- 6.2 million
- Airport passengers in 2025. Run by Fraport, the operator of Frankfurt Airport, and ranked second in the world by AirHelp.
- 20.9 million tonnes
- Cargo through the port of Pecém in 2025, a record. The Port of Rotterdam is a partner.
- 16
- Undersea internet cables landing in Fortaleza, the most of any city in Latin America.
- 9.3 million
- Foreign visitors to Brazil in 2025, a record. Ceará received 23% more from January to September 2026.
- 573 km
- Of coastline (356 miles), with the sea at about 27°C (81°F) and steady winds from June to December.
Sources: Ipece (state economic research institute), Fraport Brasil, AirHelp, OAG, Complexo do Pecém, TeleGeography, Embratur, O Povo and the Ceará State Secretariat of Tourism. Figures are the latest published as of October 2026.
What we do
From the first visit to the day you sell.
Most agents disappear once the contract is signed. We stay: the same team handles the deed, the keys, the furniture, the tenants and, one day, the sale.
Plan your visit
We plan a first visit around what you are looking for. It usually takes three days: the city, the coast to the west and the coast to the east.
Find it and buy it safely
We shortlist properties we know well and walk you through a Brazilian purchase in English. We recommend a lawyer review the contract: we can introduce lawyers we trust, or you can bring your own.
Furnish, rent and manage
Our team furnishes the property, finds tenants and handles the payments, long-term or as a vacation rental. Many buildings ban short stays, so we check before you buy: our own vacation-rental company, Escala Temporada, rents in Fortaleza every day.
Sell when you are ready
We put it in front of every buyer Fortaleza attracts: local families, Brazilians moving here from other states, and buyers from abroad.
Couch investing
Some of our clients have never needed to come.
You invest from your own sofa, and we are your hands on the ground.
- Buy early, off planChoose by video while the building is still a plot and a showroom. Sign remotely and pay in stages.
- Take the keysWe receive and inspect the unit for you. Nothing faulty is accepted.
- Furnish and rentWe furnish it and put it to work.
- Collect the incomeWe manage tenants, bills and upkeep. You receive the rent.
- Sell and start againA new building gains most of its value between launch and the first years after delivery. Then we sell, and buy off plan in the next area on the way up.
A full cycle takes five to seven years. Some clients have been through it three times.
Furnishing
Ready to rent, without leaving the circle of trust.
New apartments in Brazil are handed over bare: no cabinets, no wardrobes, no appliances. Furnishing one from abroad is hard work. We do it for you, at one of three levels.
- EssentialsCabinets, wardrobes and the heaviest pieces, for long-term tenants.
- Fully furnishedAll the main furniture, the TV and the large appliances.
- Vacation-rental readyDown to the sheets, towels and cutlery. Guests arrive with a suitcase.
The team that helps you buy also furnishes, rents and looks after the property. Every step stays with people you already trust.
Tell us what you are looking for, and we will send you a shortlist in English.
Get a shortlist in EnglishHow we choose
We look for neighbourhoods on the way up, and homes Brazilian families want to live in.
- Where the city is going nextA new boardwalk, a convention centre, a port, a faster road to a beach. We look for property near these projects before prices reflect them.
- Who buys in FortalezaMany beach markets live on foreign buyers alone, and when they stop coming, the market stops. Fortaleza has three forces side by side: its own growing middle class, Brazilians relocating from other states, and foreign buyers. When you sell, you have all three to sell to.
- Free to choose, earlyWe are brokers, with no project of our own to push. Decades of work with the main developers often let our clients buy before a public launch, on first-buyer terms.
- Sometimes the advice is to waitWhen a client’s building fell behind schedule and prices dipped, other agents rushed to list his apartment. We told him not to sell yet, and why. We tell you plainly when the moment is right.
Questions foreign buyers ask
Buying in Brazil, in plain terms.
New apartments come unfurnished, every document is in Portuguese and prices are in reais. None of it is an obstacle when an experienced local firm manages the details. Here are the short answers.
Before you buy
Can a foreigner own property in Brazil?
Yes. In your own name, with essentially the same rights as a Brazilian, and without living here. You need no visa, no residency and no local company.
Can I own property on the beachfront?
Yes. Much of the land along the sea is “Navy land” (terreno de marinha). You still own your home like any other, but there is a one-time federal fee when it changes hands (5% of the value of the land, not the building) and a small yearly charge. We tell you before you make an offer.
What do I need before I can buy?
A CPF, the Brazilian tax number. It is free from any Brazilian consulate, and we help you along the whole way.
How do I know a broker is legitimate?
In Brazil only brokers licensed by CRECI, the brokers’ council, may sell real estate. Ask any broker for their number and check it with the council. Ours are CRECI 616J for the company and CRECI 4852 F for Daniel.
Is Fortaleza safe?
Like any big Brazilian city, it has areas to avoid and areas where families walk the Beira Mar at midnight. We only recommend neighbourhoods and buildings where we would live ourselves, with 24-hour doormen, and we tell you which streets to skip.
The purchase
Do I have to be in Brazil to buy?
No. Many of our clients sign through a public power of attorney, made at a notary or a Brazilian consulate. Some have never needed to come.
What does it cost on top of the price?
Plan for about 5%: the city transfer tax (in Fortaleza, 2% if paid before the title transfer), the notary and the property registry. The seller normally pays the broker’s commission.
Can I get a mortgage?
Brazilian banks rarely lend to non-residents, but many developers finance new buildings themselves, foreigners included, often over eight to ten years after you take the keys. We go through the terms with you.
How do I send the money, and can I take it out again?
By bank wire, in your own name. The bank issues an exchange contract, recorded with the Central Bank. Keep it: with it, and with taxes paid, the proceeds of a sale can go home. We have not seen a client who brought money in this official way have any trouble taking it out.
Owning it
Can I rent it to holiday guests?
Often, but many buildings ban short stays, and the owners can change the rules. We check before you buy, because our own vacation-rental company, Escala Temporada, rents in Fortaleza every day.
Does buying give me the right to live in Brazil?
It can. An investment of R$700,000 in property here in the Northeast (R$1,000,000 elsewhere) can support a residence permit, as long as you keep it. Many owners never need one: as a visitor you can stay up to 180 days a year, enough for a whole winter by the sea.
What taxes come with owning?
As a non-resident, 15% on rental income and on any gain when you sell (rising only on very large gains), plus a modest yearly property tax. If we manage your rental or your sale, our accountant handles it for you.
Do you promise a return?
No. No one can responsibly promise one. We show you what similar properties rent for today and what they have sold for, and you decide.
Have a question that is not here? Ask Daniel directly.
Ask Daniel your questionGeneral information, not legal or tax advice. Rules and amounts change, so confirm the details of your own purchase with us and, if you use one, your lawyer.
Credibilidade é coisa de família
Trust runs in the family.
That is Escala’s motto in Brazil. Adriana Neves founded Escala Imóveis in 1993 and is still its president. She is vice-president of CRECI Ceará, the state’s council of real estate brokers, and a former vice-president of SECOVI Ceará. Escala has won SECOVI Ceará’s Master Imobiliário award, and CRECI Ceará has honoured it for its record: not a single complaint against the firm before the council. Her son Daniel is a managing partner and leads the international side. Together they own Escala Imóveis, Escala Properties and Escala Temporada, our vacation rental business.
When you buy through us, you deal with the people whose name is on the door.
Who you will be dealing with
Daniel Neves
Daniel is a managing partner of Escala Imóveis and the director of Escala Properties. He is the third generation in real estate, has held a broker’s licence since 1998, and has worked with foreign buyers ever since, in English, Spanish and Portuguese. He finished high school in California, studied law in Salamanca, Spain, and holds a law degree from the University of Fortaleza.
His father is a builder. Daniel grew up on his sites, studied civil engineering for two and a half years, and has built more than 70 homes with him. He can tell a coat of paint from a costly repair, and knows what to look for when he inspects a new apartment for a client.
Since 2008, investor groups in the United States, Poland, Spain, Italy and Britain have relied on him as their expert in Fortaleza. In 2010 Pathfinder International, Ronan McMahon’s real estate scouting service at the time, named him to its Panel of Experts. Today his team manages more than 200 condos, with occupancy above 90%. He is an investor and landlord here himself.
- Brazil licence
- CRECI 4852 F
- United States
- International REALTOR® Member
National Association of REALTORS® - Languages
- English · Español · Português · some Polski
- Ceará Real Estate Brokers’ Council (CRECI)
- Director of International Affairs
Seen and heard
Presenting Brazil to international investors since 2009.
From 2009 to 2021, without a break, Daniel spoke at two or three investor events a year, in English, to audiences of up to 1,200: conferences in North America, Mexico and the Caribbean, roadshows in Poland, and private dinners. He has presented in hotels such as the Hyatt in Toronto and Playa del Carmen, and the Marriott in Cancún, Atlanta, New Orleans, Tampa and Panama City. In March 2026, Real Estate Trend Alert, International Living’s real estate group, told its members in Panama City that its story began in Brazil eighteen years earlier, on a scouting trip with Daniel. He is back on stage in 2026.
International Living asks its audiences to score every talk. Daniel’s have scored up to 9.5 out of 10 for content and delivery, above the event average.
Where he has presented
Las Vegas · Orlando · Tampa · Atlanta · New Orleans · Phoenix · Toronto · Cancún · Playa del Carmen · Tulum · Puerto Vallarta · La Romana · Quito · Punta del Este · Panama · Warsaw
- 35+
- investor events in 16 cities
- 80+
- talks given
- Up to 1,200
- people in the audience
- Thousands
- of investors met one to one
In the press and on television
- In the newspaperAdriana’s column in Diário do Nordeste, July 2026, on avoiding holiday-rental scams.
- In the pressDaniel in O Otimista, October 2025, on why more Brazilians are investing abroad.
- On television abroadDaniel on TVP, Poland’s national channel, February 2010: a live interview on the morning show, during a roadshow for Polish investors in Warsaw.
On television
Conexões Imobiliárias · TV CearáCRECI Ceará’s programme · in Portuguese
A full interview on how holiday-rental scams work and how to protect yourself.
Watch the interview ↗
Conexões Imobiliárias · TV CearáOctober 2026 · in Portuguese
On the US market and trusted partnerships between brokers in Brazil and abroad.
Watch the interview ↗For brokers and advisors abroad
Building bridges between Brazil and the world.
Daniel has spent his career opening doors between Brazil and buyers and brokers abroad. He is an international member of the National Association of REALTORS® and Director of International Affairs at CRECI Ceará, and in August 2026 joined its delegation to CIMI 360 in Rio de Janeiro.
The network works both ways: when clients here want to buy abroad, he introduces them to professionals he has trusted for more than twenty years. If you are a broker, an advisor or an investment group outside Brazil, there are two ways to work with us.
- You bring your client to FortalezaWe look after them here as carefully as you would at home.
- We come to your audienceDaniel speaks at conferences and events for international investors, as he has since 2009.
Already own property in Fortaleza?
We can take it from here.
An empty apartment, a manager who does not answer, a property you would like to sell? Our team can take it over: furnishing, renting, upkeep, bills and taxes, with statements in English, and the sale when you are ready.
Looking for listings?
Our full portfolio lives on our Brazilian site.
Escala Imóveis keeps every property we have for sale and for rent, updated daily. The site is in Portuguese. Your browser can translate it, or tell us what you are looking for and we will send you a shortlist in English.
For a short stay, Escala Temporada shows live availability for our furnished apartments, at better rates than on Airbnb or Booking.com.
Contact
Tell us what you have in mind.
A short message is enough to start. We answer in English, usually within a few hours.
- +55 85 99994 5555
- daniel@escalaproperties.com
- Office
- +55 85 3224 1700
- Address
- Rua Alfredo Ladislau, 1394, Varjota, Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil
- Website in Brazil
- escalaimoveis.com.br