A house in Portugal! Or an apartment of course.

It is a step that many French people do every year. What should I know BEFORE buying a house in Portugal ?

We are not a real estate agency but we help by finding for you what you dream. See exactly what we can do for you by clicking here.

Whether to rent or buy a house in Portugal. We have helped many, many people. In the past it was the many visitors to Casa Vergao who bought and we followed them. Now it is all those that our team has helped directly.

So we have a lot of information beyond our personal experience.

Furthermore we have a distance to this topic, we are independent since we have no stock of houses or apartments for sale at any price. We search for you only what you want.

We can say what the agencies do not like to say.

Point 1: There are many properties in Portugal

The Portuguese are well known for their building skills. When they came to France, they rebuilt many houses after the war. They know how to work, they are brave and skilful. And really it is a well shared characteristic. Because it is often easy and stupid to generalize: the French are all .., the Belgians are .., the Swiss … etc.. But for this fact it is quite exact and general, the Portuguese are all tireless builders.

And their culture makes them build individual houses, much more than buildings. Unlike Spain, which builds tight cities with mainly apartment buildings, with an apartment market.

Here the whole country is dotted with villas, individual houses, very often original, beautiful and large. And generally very well built.

The more modern constructions are up to the best current standards, the older constructions are often very solid.

In short, the market is very vast, with a lot of choices ranging from very expensive dream houses to ruins to be taken over. Even for apartments, there is something for every taste and every budget.

Point 2: The quality is very good

Not only are the Portuguese builders, but they are also excellent builders and have been for a long time. Old houses like ours are exceptionally solid, modern houses are also very well built. The quality of the interior fittings is often remarkable. The finishing of the doors, the wooden or marble floors, the kitchens for example, the bathrooms are remarkably well equipped. There is taste, research, choices that are not often found in France. And for almost all the houses or apartments.

Everything or almost everything is well built and well cared for.

I am more dubious about the Algarve where developers have given in to the ease since foreigners there buy anything and at any price. One would have to be a saint not to succumb to the temptation. The sharks have appeared to eat the too naive little lambs.

It must be said that one finds there under a radiant sun, with beautiful beaches, very pleasant houses for the price of a rotten studio in Paris. So it seems a fabulous deal. The real quality is sometimes lighter. In the Algarve, the quality/price ratio is less good than elsewhere in Portugal. But it is the Algarve and has been sold very well for years with its real qualities.

Almost everywhere from North to South, you will discover remarkable houses and apartments. This is a very good point!

Point 3: The prices are very interesting, almost 2 times cheaper, on average!

And the prices are still very interesting in many places. As the volumes are large, you will find very attractive prices per M2. There are great deals to be found and bought.

The main characteristic that produces these attractive prices is the size of the surfaces. You will find houses of at least 200 M2 with 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms for 125 000 Euros, apartments of more than 100 M2 with 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms very well equipped for 80 000 Euros. Of course it will be more expensive on the coast itself.

I don’t have an average price for houses which are too diverse but for apartments? This gives an idea of how Portugal compares to France.

• Price per square meter to buy an apartment in the city center: Portugal 2 600,46 € and France 5 647,70 €.
• Price per square meter to buy an apartment outside the center : Portugal 1 680,46 € and France 3 788,47 €.

Almost 2 times cheaper, on average!

You can search more average prices in cities with this site Numbeo, click here.

What will be more difficult is to find a very small house. It doesn’t exist or it’s of bad quality, too old. But if it seems too big at first, you will be helped and you will have many visits.

It will always be nice to visit you in Portugal!

Point 4: Prices go up fast every year

But you are not the only one, you who are reading me now, who is interested in buying a house in Portugal. And for years now, thanks in part to the RNH status, thousands of French and foreigners have already bought here. Ten years ago, great deals were being done even in Lisbon, Porto and probably even in the Algarve. Later than in France, the prices went up. But they are still going up very well. And this will continue. It’s just that it’s already more expensive on the coast and in some places.

Read my last article on the evolution of real estate prices in Portugal. Great potential evolution!

Why? Because many people come to buy a house in Portugal, attracted by the weather but not only. There is a very good reason that goes unnoticed but that some feel very well. The security of Portugal! Portugal is the 4th safest country in the world on all levels. Read here . If you want to invest in a real estate, would you do it in a country in turmoil, overtaxed and even presenting serious financial risks? No then!

Sell what is risky and buy what is peaceful. You are not the only one to consider this, so prices are going up by 10% per year, everywhere! Even in the center of Portugal. The last evaluation on our house itself, though atypical and in a village far from the sea, is more than 6% in one year.

Read our other previous articles, read here or read here or read here.

Point 5 : There are regions where prices are already very expensive

There are regions like the Algarve, Lisbon, Porto where prices are already expensive. One can still find bargains there or simply like these regions enough to pay the current price. It’s probably also a safe investment since it’s in such high demand. Nevertheless, these are places where purchasing budgets have become substantial.

But with the Covid pandemic prices have come down and become affordable again. For a while.

The whole region between Lisbon and Porto, near or a little further from the sea, what is sometimes called the Silver Coast, is more and more in demand. Without reaching excesses, it is necessary to go there quickly enough and to be interested in it. There are already many French people who are the biggest buyers and transactions are frequent. If you are attracted to this region, and probably rightly so, hurry up and get there. We will help you to find something very good at a good price.

Point 6: House in Portugal: Not easy to find on the Internet

Many people search on the Internet, from France or their country, for THE house, the apartment of their dreams. And we did the same. For hours and days. We dream, it is free and pleasant. We have long noted the “beautiful” houses in our budget, planned our trips to see them and … we were very often disappointed. The photos, descriptions are fancy, even false, do not show the disadvantages, locations, etc.. It is not easy to find on the Internet!

We can have leads on the Internet but nothing replaces to come and look on the spot. Not just visit what you find online.

Dream online but don’t stay limited to these virtual searches. Buying a house in Portugal is still a job to be done on the ground. That’s why we show you properties from a distance BUT make you visit them as soon as possible.

And then it is only on the spot that you will know if your dreams of this country are solid and concrete. “The map is not the territory!

In our increasingly virtual worlds, we believe things that are not real. No big deal if it remains a fuzzy belief, but much bigger deal if you change the country and invest on fuzzy feelings and clouds.

Come on site with our help! Visit on site! Discover on the spot! See exactly our service for you by clicking here.

We are not a real estate agency but we help by finding on the spot for you what you dream of.

Point 7: The agencies are not very competent

For additional point, the agencies here are not of the greatest competence.

On the one hand, even if you specify your request, your specifications, they will often take you to see properties that have NO connection with your desires. This is quite curious and generalized. You can ask for a house on one level, without floors. And they will take you to see a two-story house simply because they think it is a great deal! We’ve driven miles into the mountains only to immediately get in the car at the first sight of the property to be viewed.

And this happens to everyone, frequently. So what is discussed at a distance and in advance before your trip, is almost useless. They discuss with you so that you come to see them, that’s all. 100% bullshit! I’m exaggerating a bit but not more than that.

Then the agencies don’t have a very complete file on the properties to propose. No plans often, no indications on the neighbors, the building conditions around, the possible restrictions, etc.. We visit with our hands in our pockets and without any file. Most of the time they know nothing about the property. So you have to visit carefully and take your time. Don’t just flash on the beauty of the house without taking a good look. Beware of the “coups de coeur”!

I don’t want to repeat it over and over again, but this is the main reason why we have decided to help you visit properties with our support. I don’t want to say it again and again, but this is the main reason why we have decided to help you visit properties with our support. Neutral and professional.

Point 8: House in Portugal: There are no diagnostics

And in the continuation of this generalized vagueness, there are no compulsory diagnoses when buying a house. Even worse, there are no specialists to make the diagnoses, lead, asbestos, termites, merule, etc. as in France. There are no diagnoses on risks: floods, seismic and natural risks, etc..

You can simply check and see that they have built the house or apartment with the right materials. It is up to you to check if you know how to do it.

The bank, before giving a credit, will make an evaluation by an expert and it is an interesting document for the real value of the property. But even this document is very light and in no way a serious diagnosis. There is a vague indication about the thermal insulation but nothing else. So be careful!

Our advice on the spot is all the more useful.

Point 9: Insulation and heating are often absent or deficient

Portugal is not France. Is this obvious? It does not seem to be well understood by many French people when they arrive here. Is Portugal a hot country? In summer yes and even with beautiful summers guaranteed. But in winter it is cool, not very cold. So those who come to buy a house in Portugal don’t look very hard at the insulation and heating. It is not the most important point.

In Canada you would pay a lot of attention to it, but not here. Well, the Portuguese don’t pay much attention either and they insulate very little, and often there is NO heating at all. I can tell you that even with a “mild” winter, a house, an apartment without heating or just with a few electric radiators, is very unpleasant. And the windows are very often single glazed. We were very cold in a rented apartment in Lisbon itself.

I don’t know how they manage to bear it but I have never been as cold as here in winter in their houses. We go to dinner at the neighbors with coats and anoraks, on the back, the whole dinner. Even at parties! They do not heat. I remember a winter in Monchique with Canadians. Died of cold in the house even though the afternoons were beautiful. In Quebec it is much colder – 30° degrees but with warm houses where we live in tee-shirt. Here, only 5 degrees outside but the anorak in the house!

You will often be offered “reversible air conditioning”. Why not, but you will have to install them. Because sometimes there are only the pipes in place but nothing more.

So look carefully if there is something to heat when you want to buy a house in Portugal. Often when our visitors come back from a visit I ask them: “is there a heater?” and often they don’t know, they didn’t even think to look so obvious.

You have to pay more attention to everything yourself than in France. Note that renovating a house, installing a heater is not that expensive, read here our experience. An entire installation with a very large wood-burning stove with 25 radiators and 4 bathrooms, all included material and labor for 9300 HT. At least two or three times cheaper than in France. And no worries.

Point 10: The capital gains regime is not simple

Many people, mostly retired, come to buy a house in Portugal and resell it in France. It will be their main home and maybe they will sell it one day. But there is one important thing to know, little known and little discussed by the agencies.

Once again, Portugal is not France and this time there is a tax that does not exist (yet?) in France. There will probably be a capital gain since the market is going up and very well indeed. But there is a tax here on capital gains even for the resale of a main house. And not a negligible tax. I pass you here the complexities of the calculations, it is not the goal of this article. We’ll talk about it again in a future article on the financing and taxes of real estate in Portugal.

It is possible to get rid of it but you have to buy a property in Europe within 3 years and of the same value. Not necessarily obvious if you do not wish to invest after Portugal.

Point 11: The formalities for buying a house in Portugal are simple but there are no notaries

This is a positive and negative point at the same time. To buy a house in Portugal the formalities are simple, no papers, no endless delays as in France. No notary? Good or bad? In France we suffered from the incredible slowness of our own notary. 3, 4 or even 6 months to conclude between two people, seller and buyer who are in agreement with each other. It is long, painful and a source of rupture.

Here, no notary except to verify the signatures, it is much faster and simpler. A little more economical too, even if the taxes for the most expensive properties are not negligible at all. Find here a real estate transaction cost simulator called IMT.

On the other hand less security! It is up to you (or your lawyers) to check the papers (land registry and property deeds). Note that if you ask the bank for a loan, the bank will do these verifications. It is interesting because the bank does it to secure itself, so it does it well. It is all the more interesting to buy with a bank credit because the banks lend here easily and according to the property more than to your income.

We’ll talk about this again, but it’s a strong point in Portugal, banks that play the game! We lost that in France. Ours are content to take fees from us and play the stock market to make money.

So buying here is safer WITH a bank. Because the lawyers … Sincerely there is to drink and eat, often very unprofessional. Very inaccurate. And it is also safer with us because we accompany you for all the formalities.

Point 12: You can find exactly what you want!

My conclusion is that it is an excellent real estate market.

Coming to buy a house in Portugal is, whatever your desires and budget, very possible and a good deal. There is a lot of choice, a lot of good deals, quality, prices, security!

We are not a real estate agency, but we help by finding for you what you dream. See exactly our service for you by clicking here.

Simply it is necessary:

• Preferably to be accompanied! By our teams if you want.
• To come on the spot to search, to visit at length,
• Be aware of the differences with your country, Portugal is different,
• Be careful, check the property and the papers yourself,
• Study BEFOREhand the fiscal and legal conditions for the purchase and the resale.
• And above all, be accompanied for at least advice, better still by French people who have lived and live here.

So see you soon!