Helen248

Bom dia,

We are planning to move to Portugal and purchase a property to live in permanently not just a holiday home. We have viewed lots of info re: purchasing a property in Portugal but feel our first steps are to go and view some houses. We have booked flights to Porto in Oct for 1 week and our plan is to view as many properties as we can. We currently are looking on Rightmove and estate agents websites and plan to contact estate agents directly 1 month in advance of our trip to book in viewings. We will book AirBNB's to stay in.

We have a budget of upto 100K and want a 3 bed property with garden/open space with views in the countryside with no direct neighbours. We also need property to be up together ready to move in to and don't want a DIY or renovation project. It would be good to be no longer than 1 1/2 hrs to an airport and beach/coast. We like the idea of being in a remote/rural area but require good internet access as husband planning to work ICT job remotely. We don't mind a 10-20 min drive to a town (supermarket, cafes, pharmacy, bank etc.).

Does anyone have any advice on maximising our week in Oct and how best to go about viewing properties? I understand that most estate agents actually drive you around for viewings so it may be good to find 2 or 3 properties with each estate agent. Are there recommended estate agents in Central Portugal? How many properties can we view in a day?

We have viewed on Rightmove some nice properties in Alvaiazere, Figueiro Dos Vinhos, Leiria, Gois, Castelo Branco.

Any help/advice welcome.

toots sweet

Hello,
We have just purchased our property in Portugal in Feb. We have been looking for 2 years,spending the last 2 winters in Portugal.
Choose yourself which properties you want to visit( you need to do a lot of work here looking at all available websites). Don't leave it to agents to choose what they will show you, supposedly based on your requirements,because they will invariably show you a lot of junk.
Properties might be advertised in a certain town,but could be miles away from where you might think.
Make use of google earth and street view. I doubt a week will be enough. You really need to spend time in Portugal to get the feel of both the country and area.
Best of luck in your search......................

Helen248

The week in Oct is mainly to view properties for the first time. We don't plan to purchase Oct and realistically looking to purchase around April 2020. We can only take 1 week off of work so have to make the most of our viewings and see as many properties as we can to get a feel of what we can get for our money. Do you know how far in advance we can book a viewing? We don't want to book too far in advance from the UK as properties might sale and then we have arranged accommodation around the viewings that may get cancelled.

I was thinking of contacting estate agents 1 month prior to flight. We will hire a car from Porto airport. Are there any bad areas in Portugal?

We have visited different areas of Portugal but only on holidays so need to view properties and areas to get a feel for areas.

It's scary but exciting times!

toots sweet

2-3 days in advance should be enough

dingg

don't be surprised to find the houses you have picked to view are already sold but the useless estate agents out here tend to forget to take them off their books and still have them listed as for sale.

'frustrated buyer'

8 houses we had screened and wanted to view and each one had already been sold

EMR

That's not the agents fault its owners who multi list and Don,t bother to tell the agents when on of the others sells..

MrBife

In my view you need to make a shortlist of areas and if possible actual villages in which you would like to live before you expend your (and your chosen real estate agent's) time viewing random properties in case one meets your needs. Do a list of features that are deal-breakers and another of list of features that you are able to compromise on. Then consider re thinking your budget as €100k is on the light side for the requirements you list. In better quality areas your choices may be limited to properties with some kind of negative element. You need to give the agents a detailed brief or they will go into autopilot mode and waste your time showing you things that are unsuitable - these people are not mind readers, Most unsuitable properties can be eliminated from a careful look at the photographs and seeing the exact location on google maps and doing some clear thinking. No need to tour round hundreds, only the ones that 1) are available 2) have correct documentation 3) have reasonable size and layout 4) are located somewhere its possible to live (not near a main road, next to commercial activities, with power lines across the view etc etc).

qianh

ouriquejan

Rightmove is just a portal - the estate agents use them to show their properties.

There are a couple of agents I know of, further up north. As we're not allowed to advertise, I'll pm you.

But not tonight, tomorrow. It's been a long day, working the garden and I'm knackered.

Rosemary

It is not advertising if you are recommending agents that you have no connection with apart from on a professional basis. PM's are also covered in the no advertising rule.

Rosemary

ouriquejan

Thanks Rosemary, but I'll still pm, had my hand slapped once and didn't like it.

Just a bloke I know who runs his own agency and building firm.

Rosemary

Put it on here, no hand slapping. The OP cannot receive PM's yet.

Rosemary

peterfc

ouriquejan

Thanks Rosemary.

Kevin at Propertyshopportugal.com

barlaventoexpert

I am as well hesitant to post links to recommendations here as the hand-slapping Gestapo are ever vigilant!