For those looking for a home* in portugal
* or any kind of property
A special page
how I can help
You're very welcome to fill in the form on this page. If something new comes on the market through me, that roughly fits in with your criteria, I will send you an email before the advertisement goes online. I will not use your information for any other purpose or forward it to anyone else.
You can also hire me on an hourly basis for a longer process or for only a small step on your journey.
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I can help you to formulate the right questions and ask for the relevant papers towards a seller or a real estate agent.
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I can be present during meetings to translate and make enquiries on your behalf towards companies, institutions, local sellers, other real estate agents, etc.
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I can actively scout on your behalf for a property on-line and off-line.
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I love to make independent property reports! Next to my professional opinion, these reports are accompanied by pictures, videos and maps. I also take my drone to make images from the sky.
To enquire about my availability and my rates, please send me a message via email@else.pt
Free Tips and tricks! (based on seven years of experience)
Set-up a search on idealista.pt.
Most real estate agents and private sellers post their properties on this platform. Here are the steps to set up your specific search after which you will receive an email alert when something new comes on the platform that fits your criteria.
1. On the homepage, click on "draw your own area".
2. Zoom in on the map, click on "draw your area", click on the area on the map (double click to finish) and then click on "see .... properties".
3. In the left column, select property type, size, budget, amount of bedrooms, etc.
4. Go up again in this left column and click on "save search", now give your search a name and click on continue.
5. If you're not yet logged-in, the website will ask you to log-in or create an account.
Now you're all set up to receive email updates with new properties that fit your criteria.
Travel to Portugal (if you're not already here), drink coffee at the local café's, see where you feel at home and ask around if there is any abandoned land or houses around that might be up for sale.
Local café owners usually have a good idea of what's on the unofficial market. There are still a lot of people in rural Portugal that don't want to hire a real-estate agent, are not in a hurry to sell, but do own a plot of land somewhere that they are not cultivating any more and would sell if someone gives them a reasonably good offer.
Trust the kindness of people, but not their understanding of the legal/bureaucratic aspects of their own property.
Always ask for paperwork and if you're not familiar with the terms and details, ask someone independent to double check the paperwork with you. Ideally be sure of all the aspects of a property (including the land boundaries and the paperwork) before negotiating a price.
Adjust to a new pace of life and expect the unexpected (special tip for people coming from Nothern Europe, like me)
No matter how well prepared you are and how much assistance you get, know that there will be surprises along the way. In Portugal, things are not so much set in stone, the rules change, and sometimes different people in the same institution have contradictory interpretations of their job. Expect that things may go slightly differently than you would have thought, but also that everything always gets resolved in the end, with the right amount of patience and persistence. Rural Portugal can be as beautiful as it can be frustrating. Give yourself time to adjust to another pace of life and learn to surrender to a slower, more fluid way of dealing with things.
