Karmal123

westernliving

As long as you don't forget they are always working for the seller (no how friendly they come across). I find Mallory (and to a lesser extent Karen) at B&P very good.

barlaventoexpert

Don't trust any agent further than you can throw them.

We sold our house in Lagos through an agent & in the end had to deal directly with the seller to sort out certain problems.

Ditto when we bought our house up here near Lisbon.

We dealt with probably 20 agents and saw at least 60 properties before buying.

In the end, I ended up taking control of the legal process and just used a solicitor/notary just outside Lisbon to process the escritura.

The agents often were unable to provide all the documentation legally required when asked. The certidão da energia is a favourite one prior to purchase.

When they do some of the legal documentation (eg. the caderneta predial, certidão permanente ) can be found to be incorrect. We had this at a house we looked into buying. I found out that the legal size of the plot was incorrectly registered in the state registers and that there was a shared driveway which we would have been legally responsible for but had no access to AND for which the agent had NOT told us about!

In the first instance I suggest you have a look on the Portuguese web to identify possible properties of interest and then contact the respective agent.

Imovirtual.pt is a good one to start with!

e.g. Central Lagos Area - Houses for sale

https://www.imovirtual.com/en/compra..._id%5D=8395784

Karmal123

EMR

I would not suggest buying with the intention of letting it out later. ,
The PT property market is at or very close to one of its cyclical peaks, in two years time you could easily lose 20% or more as has happened in the recent past..
Thousands of unsold properties on the market with just as many owners chasing the rental market..

westernliving

That's quite a worrying statement given the IMF reviewed the Portuguese economy and real estate market in September 2018 and said it was not of concern for the near future. Will you post the link to where you obtained the information.

wellinever

I would echo these sentiments.....Germany and Italy in trouble for one reason or another, ECB stops monetary easing.(printed 60 billion euros a month for 18 months input into the EU)
Sterling liable to rise against euro. Prices have risen too sharply over last 12 months. Notice many now reduced price. NHR liable to be curtailed by local Governments (French).
All the hallmarks of a pending slowdown, maybe stable for 6 months but be careful. 11 years since recession in 2007/8, but EU was slow to resond, so lags about a year behind rest of world. My thoughts only of course

westernliving

Very interesting, do you have any thoughts on how regional the effect will be?

EMR

Experts probably said exactly the same thing before the banking crisis.
The OP wants to move after just two years to Lisbon.
So why buy in Lagos and risk a fall in property values , I suggest moving to Lisbon as their first choice .

MrBife

IMHO unless you can buy well under 'market rate' in Lagos so that by the time you wish to sell again you can do so well under market rate - the idea of 'flipping' property quickly does not work in Portugal. Indeed it can take two years to actually sell anything. Why not buy now in Lisbon and rent the property out, then rent something for yourself in Lagos so you have complete flexibility. Two years is not a long time period in property market terms.

GeniB

Please can we not 'bad mouth' ALL estate agents ( again ) My daughter is one and I can assure you she is a very hard working ,honest person.She has just completed on a very complicated sale of a large villa in Luz The negotiations started in Nov last year. The new owners were very nervous buyers ,she has had at leats three emails a day since Nov from them.plus numerous phone calls ( even at weekends ,her phone is never off ) I would like to see your average car salesman. or even your doctor take that much care over a client.
As to their 'loyalty' to either seller or buyer ? It is naturally to the one who has employed them. No surprise there I would have thought.
I do think that this mistrustful attitude has blown over from the very dubious UK market where a 'quick buck' was expected from all quarters. Flipping properties is not a Portuguese thing. Making money on properties is very much a UK thing.

If the PO is looking to make a profit ,rather than buy a home Then I would suggest he looks for a 'doer upper' This is where the profit lies at the moment. I would disagree about the prospect of the market collapsing. This isn't Spain. There is a much more cautious approach to buying and selling here , Villa prices particularly have not gone back to the high prices of pre- collapse .There is a shortage of properties on the market. My D is rushed off her feet at the moment which is very unusual in the winter. A lot of people still buying
Lagos is what's known as 'Hot' right now. The third most desirable place to live in Portugal according to the papers. Finding a villa there could be tricky. I would suggest that you visit and talk to some of the agents to get a feel for those you might get on with. If you go with a feeling of mistrust that will spoil your views. We never came across any agent we felt uncomfortable with .In fact it was the English owners of the villa we eventually bought who did the 'dirty' on us by dishonestly removing effects they had sold to us. Its all in the luck of the draw when you re dealing with people isn't it. Remain open minded .The Portuguese are lovely people

Rosemary'? Bit confused about the ' can't advertise' rule As there are adverts above for different companies

Rosemary

The paid for adverts are the way in which the owners keep this forum going hence the no advertising rule for members.

Members can recommend companies and individuals if someone asks for that information.

Members cannot offer their own services, advertise sale items or wanted items.

Members can however put something in their signature (about themselves) as this is not viewed as an advert by the owners.

I hope that this has helped to clarify the situation.

Rosemary

GeniB

To add to Barlevento's post.. Real Estate in Portugal is and can be a very complicated affair . The Portuguese are amongst the worlds biggest private home owners Be it a huge mansion.apartment ,or total ruin in a field . What's therefore common is that many members of a family can 'own' that property when it comes on the market for sale. The laws on registering property in the equivalent of Land Charges changed only a few years again. Prior to that it was common for homes and land not to be registered . Exact details not to be given of who owned what bit of the parcel. Depending on how old the property is that could be a problem today. Not at all the Estate Agents fault. Just a quirky fact of previous Portuguese law.
When my D bought her first apartment , she was horrified to discover that 27 family members owned it. Luckily for her one member organised the signatures of sale for her. It took three hours in the notary office to go through all the paper work though.
Buyers in Portugal have to be aware of this. You have to be the one to ask the questions and make sure you make it clear to the agent about anything you may have found normal in the UK,but may not be normal in Portugal .Something an agent can't 'know' unless you point it out.

Karmal123

Karmal123