Ask anything about buying or renting property in Portugal with Pieter Van Nuenen of The Portugal Company 13-10-2022

* CHAPTERS *

0:00 Intro

1:54 What does the Portugal Company do?

3:29 How is business for America?

4:16 Would you advocate renting before buying?

5:54 How easy is it to get a rental these days?

6:55 Are landlords asking for a whole year up front?

7:49 Can you help negotiate contracts?

8:54 How necessary is it to buy property with a habitation license?

11:28 Is it a good strategy to buy an apartment, rent it out, then convert to a long-term residence?

13:31 Is it possible to buy in northern Portugal for less than €100,000?

14:43 Will I have to show a one-year lease agreement when I renew my temporary residence?

15:03 Can a landlord raise the rent €200 from one year to the next?

16:52 What are squatters’ rights?

17:58 Can you rent a room and qualify for SEF?

22:16 How problematic are HOAs?

24:24 How expensive are HOAs?

26:10 Do Airbnb owners charge more for HOA fees?

27:21 Can you explain a large non-refundable deposit for a purchase to get financing?

30:10 What does the buyer stand to lose on a promissory note?

30:40 Do property developers have specific requirements?

32:10 Do you provide long-term rental services?

32:54 Should I buy and Airbnb or AL with long-term rental in Porto?

35:04 Does renovating a ruin provide tax benefits?

38:00 Kee receipts with your NIF and have a paper trail.

38:27 Is there a chance of apartment rental prices coming down?

40:40 Can you talk about permits and licenses for building?

44:46 What are your tips for great places to live?

You should be very careful when you are dealing with the Portugal company. They represented us as the buyers agent on the house we bought last year. But they also represented the seller, without disclosing to us that they were taking a commission from him. They made this arrangement after we expressed interest in the house. We did not find out about this from the Portugal company but from the seller of that house, months later.

If this is a normal practice, then they should disclose it to both the buyer and seller. They did not. We originally found the property, that we ultimately bought. In our opinion the 10k commission, they took from the seller, was money out of our pockets. It is clear now that the seller would have reduced the house price without this conflict of interest for the Portugal Company by at least this amount. It  is not clear because of the lack of transparency how much we over paid for our house, but it is clear we did. We cannot recommend Pieter and Alice or the Portugal company to anyone looking for real estate in Portugal.

Thanks for your reaction.  Clients are always right, and will have the last word.  Alice and myself are only surprised to learn this opinion via an online forum while having reached out to you/yours several times over the last months.

In this specific case there was more at stake - as mentioned in the earlier comment - to make this deal happen. That’s why we also supported the seller. We always act with integrity, and have been, and will be, always transparant to our clients.

You’re always welcome to call or visit us to clarify any questions or doubts.

Pieter and Alice, The Portugal Company.