Investing in Cape Verde safely: a risk register

Investing in Cape Verde with peace of mind is not a matter of luck. It comes from a list of risks identified one at a time, each with its countermeasure and its written proof. This guide is for buyers who live abroad: it does not try to persuade you to invest, it helps you avoid losing money if you do.

What risks threaten a purchase made from abroad?

Six risks account for most bad surprises: a weak title, a seller without the power to sell, non-compliant construction, poor remote management, untraceable payments and a hard resale. Each of them is handled with specific documents, requested before any money changes hands.

How can you be sure the seller is able to sell?

By checking that the property is definitively registered in the land register in the seller’s name. The Código do Registo Predial requires this unbroken chain, the trato sucessivo: without it, your own definitive registration is impossible. The certidão predial, valid for one year, shows current entries and pending applications.

• Ask for a recent certidão predial and compare the registered owner’s name with the ID of the person signing.
• If the seller acts under a power of attorney, obtain a copy and have the notary confirm its scope.
• An unsettled inheritance or a registration that is still provisional must be resolved before the promissory contract, not afterwards.
• Check the tax register (matriz predial) and, in a cadastral area, the Certidão de Identificação Predial, which then replaces the tax and land-register certificates.
• After the deed, apply for registration without delay: it is what makes your purchase enforceable against third parties, and the code sets a three-month deadline wherever the obligation already applies.

What should you check for a new-build, off-plan or self-build project?

Check the permits as carefully as the walls. A completed home needs a use permit, which in a condominium can be granted unit by unit. A building plot must come from an approved subdivision with its alvará. An independent technical survey completes these administrative checks.

• Off-plan flat: since Lei n.º 57/X/2025, a condominium can be set up before construction ends, provided it rests on approved plans entered in the land register. Ask for those plans and the founding deed.
• Completed flat: make sure the use permit covers your unit and that the common parts are fit for use.
• Building plot: selling a plot before the basic infrastructure works are done can be grounds for cancelling the contract; the deed must state the alvará’s number, issue date and expiry date.
• Technical condition: have the structure, roof, damp, wiring and corrosion inspected by a professional who has no stake in the sale.

How do you stay in control of a property managed from afar?

Put management in writing before you buy, not after. A contract should set out the tasks, fees, reporting frequency, who holds the keys and what happens in an emergency. If you plan holiday letting, also check who will hold the alojamento complementar licence, and on what terms.

• Require a regular statement of income, expenses and call-outs, backed by invoices.
• Have rent paid into an account in your name rather than the manager’s.
• For a foreign individual acting as operator, the alojamento complementar regime requires a valid residence permit, an equivalent document or a copy of the residence application.
• IPI is owed by whoever owns the property on 31 December, resident or not: make someone responsible for tracking the deadlines.
• Line up a second local contact who can step in if the manager becomes unavailable.

How do you secure payments and fund transfers?

The escudo’s fixed peg to the euro (1 EUR = 110.265 CVE) removes exchange-rate risk, not payment risk. Every payment should leave a bank account, go to the identified owner and match a signed document: the promissory contract for the deposit (sinal), the notarial deed for the balance.

• Make no cash payments and refuse any account held by a third party not named in the contract.
• Have the promissory contract state the deposit amount, what happens to it if the deal falls through and the schedule for the balance.
• Align the timetable with the ITI: it is assessed before the deed, and proof of payment is a condition for the notary to proceed.
• Keep transfer confirmations and receipts: you will need them again when you sell.

How do you avoid a property nobody will buy back?

Think about the next buyer on the day you buy. A property that several profiles could take over — a resident, a diaspora family, an investor — sells more easily than one designed for a single use. A clean file matters just as much: your future buyer will in turn require a title registered in your name.

Keep the exit cost in mind too. According to the texts analysed in our selling guide, the seller’s gain falls under category E of IRPS, with a final 1% withholding on the gross sale value for real estate. Build it into your numbers from the outset.

Which documents must you have in writing before paying?

Before any significant payment, gather a file that your notary and adviser can read without you. Photos sent over a messaging app are not enough: ask for full, dated copies. The list below covers most purchases; a plot or a condominium flat adds specific documents.

• A certidão predial less than one year old, or a CIP in a cadastral area.
• The seller’s ID and, where relevant, the power of attorney or the selling company’s commercial registry certificate.
• Entry in the matriz and the tax position of the property.
• For a condominium: founding deed, description of the unit, service charges and recent general meeting minutes.
• For a built property: the use permit; for a plot: the subdivision alvará.
• A draft promissory contract stating price, deposit, deadlines, conditions precedent and an inventory of what is included.
• A technical survey report and written quotes for any works identified.

Which warning signs should make you walk away?

Some signs call for stopping, not negotiating. A seller missing from the register, pressure to pay before you have seen the documents, or a refusal to allow an independent survey cannot be fixed with a discount. In those situations, walking away nearly always costs less than carrying on.

• The signatory is not the registered owner and cannot show any authority to sell.
• You are asked for a deposit before any certidão is produced, or for a cash payment.
• The receiving account belongs to someone who appears in none of the documents.
• A plot is sold without an alvará or before the basic infrastructure works.
• A rental yield is guaranteed although no holiday-letting licence exists.
• The technical survey or a visit by your representative is refused or endlessly postponed.