Hi everyone,

After a few years in the Middle East we are looking for a radical change of life and decided to come to Portugal, and most likely around Lisbon area. Our budget will not stretch to Lisbon itself but we have been looking around Torres Vedras. We are looking for a 3/4 bedroom detached house with a decent garden, ideally walking distance from some facilities and shops, with a nice view and some greenery around. Ideally within 15/20 mins drive from a bigger town. Not further than 45 mins from the airport as we will need to travel for work. A little work on the house is fine and preferable so we can make it to our taste but not a ruin. We have one 7 year old daughter who has always been in international schools (british curriculum).
I have a few questions I would love your help with :-)
- What kind of budget should we think off if we want to buy a house taking into account the above criteria
- Ideally we would like an international school for our daugther but I don't think there are many options, if we would make this a hard criteria, what options would be there?
- How big is the international community in and around Torres Vedras? One of the things we liked most about living in the ME is the international community and having friends with different nationalities. Is this something that is available in and around TV?
- We might chose to put our daughter in a local school (Portugese would be her 4th language ) , has anyone had experience with this and the adjustment from British curriculum to portugese curriculum. We might move again after 1 year depending on the work sitatuon and I am concerned she might fall behind in the British curriculum but then given her age maybe it doesnt matter so much?

Many thanks in advance for your help, we are taking this time of confinement to do our research so we can be ready when things return to (a new) normal.

I leave to others for info re the house prices and so on.

However, for what it's worth, my thoughts on the daughter is that SHE would benefit hugely from being integrated NOW, at her v young age, into a local Portuguese, school, especially if it is a good quality one [ as advised by persons who have reasons to know ].

Of course at the start she will likely be lost, but some schools do provide additional language etc. lessons for non native speakers of Portuguese, plus you can pay for a good quality individual Tutor in the language if the school does not make such provision.

Portuguese is one of the hardest languages to learn as an adult, and if she starts now she can easily approach bilingual status / ability : this alone would give her substantial advantages in many future careers, not to mention the cultural benefits.

You would be mad ( in my humble view ) to not see this as an opportunity to provide your daughter with a huge educational and cultural advantage, rather than its being a negative.

Once you make that decision ( to educate her in a Portuguese state primary ) then that also entirely frees up your choices as to where to acquire your residence in the not too far from Lisbon area. Don't confine yourself to North of Lisbon just because that's the side the airport is on : the airport is only a short, cheap, bus ride from the centre of Lisbon ( totally unlike Heathrow or Gatwick or JFK / Newark ) so even if you are South of the Capital it is going to be within easy access.

Sintra, Mafra, and Óbidos might be worth looking at.

Good advice there on the opportunity to acquire bilingual competence in Portuguese and English. Go for it.

I speak as one who has been involve din learning and teaching languages for many years. And as the father of 2 bilingual; daughters.

Most would probably question why you want to buy and renovate a house, if you are already planning to move again after 1 year. Unless money is no issue, would it bother you that you can't sell.

Many thanks for the replies! I agree with the bilingual point, we are both Dutch and bilingual, our daughter is as well. She has also taken French and Arabic from the age of 2, I therefore think she will be ok adding a new language and I agree it would free us up for more choices re where we live. My main concern is if we need to move after a year she would go back into the international system. Not knowing the Portugese curriculum I have no idea if she would be behind, ahead or just right on.

Re Sintra and area around there, I know its beautiful but prices seem to be higher?

Re the move after one year, this is a year out for us to re-energize and create a home base in a country we have loved for years. Work might take us away again for a few years (or not given the new flexibility on working from home and proximity to an airport) but we would keep the house, it would be our base.

Is there any particular reason you have lighted on Torres Vedras in the first place ? I know nothing about it but presumably you have your reasons. It might be useful to know what they are.

If the daughter has French at some level then that just reinforces my earlier suggestion : because obviously there are lots of connections between French and Portuguese, both being Latin based.

You ask if Sintra might not be too expensive : well you would have to indicate what you were looking to spend for anyone to answer that one.

But the general advice ( and precisely because I didn't follow it myself I know only too keenly how wise that advice is ) is to rent for at least six months in your preferred area, rather than buy the first place you see that looks right for you. The many possible hidden problems will come to light only after you have moved in.
If they ( the problems ) are at such a level that you want to move then from a rental base that is easy peasy........you just move. Nothing to stop you. If you have bought it's a whole other story.

There are massive , one off, costs in purchasing ( and selling ) houses in Portugal ~ lawyer's fees, state taxes, furniture purchase and whatever. You risk losing all of these if after purchasing somewhere you realize you made a mistake.

You say Sintra may be too expensive : I have not researched it ( easy enough to do ) but my guess is that you could rent a decent two bed ( you have just the one child ? ) house there for maybe less than twice the annual school fees of an International School ?

So if you like the idea of Sintra ( with its v easy access to Lisbon and beaches , not to mention its own charm, and cool of the summer ) then just check out if there is a good state primary there. If so go for it this summer so she can be enrolled for back to school in September. Maybe if you move quickly enough she could get a trial week or two in before the summer term ends, just to familiarize herself with the school / teachers and so on.

I have not researched Sintra, but I have recently been looking at rentals in Lisbon, specifically Campo de Ourique which is my favoured area of the Capital , and what I have noticed is that some landlords are now reducing their rental prices. If that is starting to happen elsewhere you may find yourself in a good position to negotiate a good deal on a rental.

And then whilst none of us know how this is all going to pan out, there is at least a good chance that not only rentals but also house purchase prices may well take a BIG dip over the coming year. This would be a reinforcing reason for the proposition that rather than purchase now ~summer 2020 ~you would be better off renting for six months or a year, and seeing what happens to the market, as well as exploring more locations on the ground.

Plus if you base yourselves somewhere like Sintra, and start a movin' an' a schmoozin' around the international community in Lisbon and surrounds, then you may well hear of a suitable place up for sale via word of mouth ( if so there are big savings to be made for the seller on estate agents' fees, hence the incentive to deal between private parties ). But you would need time taking it easy for that kind of opportunity to present itself.

PS: if you move soon, as soon as the Covid restrictions are eased ( this month as I understand it ) then you have a very decent amount of time to get intensive tuition in Portuguese going throughout the summer period, for your daughter for sure and why not you also ? A good way to spend the summer.

[ If it is not cancelled there is also a good Summer School in Portuguese at the Univ. of Lisbon, for very few pennies. ]