not2old

don't be fooled by + 5C to +10C. damp winters without insulation & heating it can be cold, especially after living a couple of years in the Portugal summers, your blood will begin to thin

detracting slightly ....

http://www.settlement.org/sys/faqs_d...faq_id=4001236

you'd like Southern Ontario Canada where I live... in the summer its+30C (40+ with the humidity/heat index) but that's only in July/August & winter can get to -30C (-40 with the chill wind factor) from mid December to End February.

The rest of the year is mixed bag

Our utilities of gas, electric & water average across 12 months at ~€250/mth. Municipal tax even worse for our moderate by Canadian standards house the tax is €3800/yr.

mfesharne

Stuff that for a lark...... I can understand why you're considering a move to Portugal!

I'd imagine property prices here will be significantly lower here than there though?

kelliebrian

Well we live near Castelo branco on the outside of a lovely village, we haven't been here long so can't say about the winters yet but we are getting our house all sorted for it (just in case) it's the coldest one on record lol, but anyway we love it here we are very slowly trying to learn the language but the locals are really so nice and want to try there English on us, but we really have not had any problems things do take time but you get there in the end. Our bank has been fantastic I would even go to say better than the one we had back in the UK as they just have more time for us. I have to say one of the locals up in the village was so worried about us getting lost going to the vet he got us to follow him in the car and then came back just to make sure we had no problems with the language. I'm sorry I can't give you much help but in our experience we love it here and the people are some of the most friendly and helpful we have met.

not2old

one final question which went unanswered previously if someone could please help on it.

Services: from personal experience, how would you rate the following based on available level of service, quality & price/cost?

Electrician

Plumber

Builder/construction

Car mechanic

Lawyer

Accountant

Real Estate agents

Local moving company

Phone/Internet service providers

EMR

I am not sure where you got you link, but here is a direct comparison.

A UK 1 bed apartment we pay £1200/year council tax. ( this is in a gated development with high security which given the time we spend away was an essential pre requisite ).
A 2 bed in Albufeira we pay E600./year ( £520 ).equivalent

Uk management costs etc £1700/year
Albufeira Costs E1450 ( £1200 ) this is expensive but we are on a very well equipped and managed complex.

Electricity and water not so easy to compare as we spend a large part of the winter outside of the UK so do not have the high heating costs.
We spend around 200 euros ( £170 ) on wood in PT which is our main heating and more than adequate.
Use of aircon in the summer can boost your bills .
We certainly do not have bars across windows and doors.
Good shutters that lock infact no more than you would sensibly have in the UK.
Cannot see the need for a gated community.

Have had no need for any medical etc costs and or credit card travel insurance and the EHIC would cover us if there was a need ( still non resident ).

Generally cost of living food etc at least 20% less than the UK and that is in the Algarve.

mfesharne

"Services: from personal experience, how would you rate the following based on available level of service, quality & price/cost?

Electrician

Plumber

Builder/construction

Car mechanic

Lawyer

Accountant

Real Estate agents

Local moving company

Phone/Internet service providers"

All except the last are all readily available in my area at least and all at reasonable cost but of course, you get what you pay for as with all things in life and sometimes cheapest isn't best.

As for phone and internet: That depends on location and company but as a guide, we have a deal with MEO where we get unlimited (VERY fast) fibre optic internet, landline phone with free international calls to umpteen countries between 2100-0900, and free local calls, 2 SIM cards for cellphones with 600 minutes of free calls and 600 free SMS messages per month, per phone and cable TV which is mostly Portuguese but has some decent channels and of course, the high speed F/O connection also allows us to view online TV and that lot costs us just under €60 per month.

Other areas might not have such good internet connections though.

not2old

Thank you for the really helpful responsive information provided by everyone.

Having received super help to the tricky questions that I needed to know & understand.

I shall move on from this thread now to start a new thread about the economics of 'rocking back & forth between the UK & PT', in why own two places (one in each country) the carrying costs, over simply renting for three to four month stretches - excluding the all-in return travel cost to & from the UK.

The thread wont be about buying in PT, or places or locations to rent - just the economics of it all

EMR

We do fall in the catergory of those who spend weeks at a time in one location or the other.
This is only possible because we are able to work remotely in one or the other locations.
As for the economics it probably does not make sense in simple black and white terms but it is more about quality of life plus of course staying UK tax resident benefits us at the moment.
Renting certainly in a area with a an influx of tourists in the summer could be a challange as rental income can go up dramatically during that period.
The long term rental season in the Algarve generally runs from Oct/March.