Hello! My husband Bill and I are exploring a move to Portugal and are grateful for this awesome expat community. We're from the US and had not seriously contemplated moving abroad until very recently but hope to make the move in about 3 years. We're very worried about the political situation in the US and are seeking a more peaceful, slower-paced life. If we can hold out in the US for 8.5 more years, we can come as retirees.
Although we have never traveled to Portugal, we've done enough extensive research online to determine that we're serious and our next step should be to visit in Spring 2022. So far, we're leaning toward Porto, but are planning to visit the greater Lisbon area, Aviero, and Porto to help us choose.
We're in our late 40s and will need to secure jobs. He has worked in manufacturing, and I'm a university lecturer and director of centers related to workforce development and entrepreneurship & innovation. Our children are adults and won't be joining us.
We'll be bringing our three cats, but I can't find any information on the real estate sites I frequent as to whether or not it's commonly acceptable to have pets--or a limit on the number--when renting flats. We need to know as soon as possible whether committing to bring our three cats will impact our ability to rent, as we would prefer not to have to buy a home in order to make the move.
Given that we have a lot of lead time, we'd welcome recommendations as how to approach planning. When should we start working with a professional company that manages this process? From the time that you started planning to move in earnest, how long did it take you and what were some of the surprising factors that took less/more time than anticipated?
Thank you so much!
