Hi, everyone,
Does anyone have experience (good or bad) with a company called Ideal Homes. We are looking for a property in the Algarve. This co. say they will show us properties and put us up in a hotel whilst looking and subsidise our flights !
Any comments gratefully received.
Chris and Linda

Where did you find them? Or did they find you?

We had screen test for A Place in the Sun TV programme then gotta call from Ideal Homes with their offer. Also came through Right move.

I would do your own thing, look on Rightmove where you will see more than enough properties from a wide range of agents.
There is no such thing as a free lunch.

As far as I can recall Ideal Homes is a company based in Vilamoura ! One of their Partners/spokespeople is the Scottish guy from Dragon's Den. A Mr Ballantine. So a connection with a TV programme could be possible. Otherwise haven't heard anything else about them

They are a licensed real estate firm; but you should check the offers from multiple agencies.
I found our property only after extensive research; I looked at dozens of agencies.
At the very least, check the big 2;
era.pt and remax.pt

I'm immediately suspicious of anyone who wants to organize your flights and offers you a hotel room or other perks. It's a classic opening for high pressure sales techniques. Compared to the price of a property, flights and hotels cost peanuts.
Do it yourself.

I have to aggree, I smell shite! Just clicked on their site... over 20 employees with more cheifs than indians!

I agree with the above comments. Initially it sounds like a good idea, but you will not have the freedom to choose which properties you see, and will effectively be stuck with a timetabled conducted tour.

No reason you shouldn't see the homes they have on their books though - just do it on your terms and not theirs!

on another forum:
Re: Ideal Homes Portugal

agree with these comments. There were many of these property companies in the UK prior to the Spanish property collapse and they all use high pressure selling techniques. We went on one trip in the mid nineties and encountered a very hard sell at the end of the three days and some very bad tempers when we refused to sign anything. We just told them to give us the documents they wanted us to sign and we'd ask our UK solicitor to check them out, at which point they lost interest in us and moved on to the next prospects.

Remember the adage - Buyer Beware

Chrisds I would check out if a certain Duncan Ballantine appears anywhere in the blurb.?
I would be more than a little wary of a revival of a scheme from way back that got a terrible reputation for hard sell.

There are more than enough excellent English speaking Estate Agents here who can give you real professional help in finding a property, Being free to make up your own mind and have time to think and check it out is worth it's weight in gold.As many have said 'there's no such thing as a free lunch' they want your signature on the dotted line and will 'pester' you until they get it.If your strong enough to resist that,your strong enough to do the whole process yourself...

Thanks for the advise guys, think I'll pass on this option. Hoping to get over late Aug to look for a rental whilst house searching.
Not sure that sentence makes sense, but guess you know what I mean, lol
Chris

Have had p/m to me but can't reply. I have 15 posts so surely I should be able to. Can administration help with this please.
Chris

Hi there.

I will PM to you so we can work out what the problem is.

I had cause to meet Mr B. in the Algarve not so long ago and found the encounter memorable (not in a good way). Since he is not a real estate agent it has to be assumed that he is there to provide hype and try to boost credibility?? It didn't work for me and my view is that an agency that needs to use those kind of methods is screaming out to be avoided by anyone who is not unpleasant, over bearing and objectionable.