Buying a Property in Portugal is a high standardized and well-established legal procedure, extremely simple and fair for all parties involved. Following safe rules, it is a very straightforward process that will surely be according to your wishes.

Are you still longing to find that place, where magic is possible and things work exactly as you expect?

Buying a Property in Portugal is the best investment you could ever make and the most efficient choice for your personal and corporate needs!

First, and foremost it is imperative that you find an experienced and knowledgeable licensed real estate agent who is deeply involved in the business and that you can trust with anything and everything.

The Portuguese government issues licenses to qualified companies to guarantee all customers are fully protected and dealing with the right professionals.

The Process

To start and in order to purchase any real estate property, you will have to obtain a Fiscal Number. This is the very first step and in Portugal you may get a NIF in 24h or less.

Once you’ve found your Dream Property in Portugal, you just have to sign a Letter of Intent.

Letter of Intent is used to outline the general terms of an agreement that has not yet been fully written up and is an integral part when finalizing a property trade deal.

After the letter of intent is signed, it is important to contract the services of a local lawyer. The normal procedure is that the lawyer, in cooperation with the seller’s lawyer, work out a Promissory Contract (contrato de promessa de compra e venda), which sets out the details of the contract.

The promissory contract is a legally binding document that formalizes the act of buying and selling a property. The purchaser is required to pay a deposit up to 20% of the property purchase price. The contract states that should a buyer drop out of the sale; the deposit will be lost; should a seller quit the deal, he is obliged to pay the buyer double the amount of the deposit.

Once all conditions are met, you are ready to move straight to the next stage: the Final Deed (or Escritura de Compra e Venda).

The deed of sale is recorded under the name of the buyer at the Public Land Registry.

The acquisition of properties in Portugal is subject to Property Transfer Tax, PTT (Imposto Municipal sobre Transmissões, IMT).

The whole process of buying the property of your dreams usually takes one to four weeks. However, if a mortgage is necessary, you might have to wait some extra time.

In terms of taxes & other costs, you can expect to pay an extra of 3% up to 9% on the value of purchase to cover all taxes, lawyer and notary expenses.