An unsuspecting buyer, one who is new to the Brazilian real estate market, is likely to be baffled by at least three conflicting measurements that are listed for the same property.

It is part of the age-old game that Brazilians play with their tax authorities: More than likely, the stated dimensions are smaller than the actual property size. Chances are that the service area and the balcony(s) of a house or an apartment are not taken into consideration.
 

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It is important to note that the properties we are referring to are not located in the mushrooming urban favelas or lightly controlled remote villages situated in far-away Amazonian Jungles. In 199_, Prefeitura (City Hall) of Rio de Janeiro conducted a study of the legal property documents in the affluent neighborhoods in the municipality of Rio de Janeiro. 

It found that as many as 70% of the official dimensions recorded in the property deed and the Real Estate records of apartments and houses do not correlate with their real size.

The second measurement you will come across is the one your friendly local Real Estate Broker provides.

Additionally, when a broker does check the legal documents and/or talk to the owners, significant modifications are likely to occur. Areas originally not included in the official records, such as the elevator shaft, common hall, staircase, and even the trash chute, suddenly become part of the burgeoning apartment. Similarly, in the case of a house, chunks of neighbors´ lots, public streets, and nearby rivers somehow become incorporated into the total size. 

The third property measurement will come from the owners. They would never rely on what is stated in the IPTU Carnê and will very often inflate the size of the space by anywhere from 10% to 50%, depending on how badly they needed the extra money.  There is no empirical method of measurement involved in producing these numbers.  The dimensions offered by these three interested parties are speculative and are usually well above the real size.