| Buying a property in a foreign country can be a daunting, difficult and risky business, especially if you are not familiar with the peculiarities of the domestic legal system. Here is a useful outline of the various stages and requirements for the purchase of a property in Portugal. |
| • FINDING THE RIGHT PROPERTY FOR YOU |
| Of course, there are many different ways of finding property for sale; local magazines, newspapers, "Vende Se" (For Sale) signs and word of mouth. But it is well worth a visit to a reputable estate agent or "Agente Immobiliário/a", especially if you already have a particular locality and type of property in mind. For example: you wish to purchase in the Lagos area, a two or three bedroom villa with a garden and possibly a swimming pool at around the € 150.000 mark. |
| A good estate agent will put together a file of six or seven properties more or less fitting your stipulated criteria and arrange a convenient date for a viewing tour. With a professional on hand to guide, advise and answer all your questions, this is an efficient and relatively swift way of finding out, at first hand, what is available and enables the novice to begin to get a feel for local housing market trends. |
| • A LEGAL PROFESSIONAL |
Having found your dream home, a number of important questions will arise, e.g.
1. What is the best method of purchase?
2. What is the best way to conduct my dealings with the seller?
3. Should I form an offshore company?
4. Is the property subject to any encumbrances?
5. What are the restrictions on the use of any accompanying land and what is the situation regarding planning permission?
6. Am I allowed to build on the accompanying land at all?
7. Is there a new motorway planned which will end up running through my garden?
Get the best professional advice you can. Find yourself a reputable lawyer at the outset and follow all procedures under his/her guiding hand. |
| • THE SURVEY |
| You will be strongly advised to commission a surveyor's report. A surveyor wil inspect the property with a cool professional eye and point up any defects, some of which may well be invisible to the layman. |
| Depending on the defects listed (if any), the surveyor's report, aside from giving you peace of mind, may well enable you to negotiate a reduction in the purchase price, require the seller to perform repairs or, perhaps, enable you to require that various guarantees be inserted into the contract of sale. |
Your Estate Agent should be able to
recommend a reputable surveyor. |
| • SEARCHING THE PROPERTY REGISTER |
This stage of the process is fundamental and must be performed by a lawyer experienced in property matters. A professional search of the Register will ensure that the property you purchase has "good clean title". In other words that the property
1. is correctly registered in the name of the seller, so that it is known that the seller actually does own the property in the first place;
2. is free from "encumbrances", in other words ensuring that the property is not subject to any mortgages or charges against it;
3. is not subject to debts owing to the Finance Department (e.g. "contribuição autárquica");
4. complies with Portuguese building regulations and planning permission under a Licença de Utilização (Habitation Licence). |
The following documents are required to show that a property has good clean title:
• Ceridão de teor da descrição de teor da descriçõa e inscrições em vigor - The search certificate from the Land Registry;
• Caderneta predial, Certidão de teor matricial or Certidão do Modelo 129 - The search certificate from the Finance Department;
• Licença de Utilização - The Habitation Licence. |
• PROMISSARY CONTRACT
(Contrato Promessa de Compra e Venda) |
| Having verified that the property has good clean title, you will be in a position to begin the written agreement stage of the process. For the sake of security you will be well advised to enter into a Promissory Contract of Purchase and Sale which will include all the terms of the contract of sale agreed with the seller and will stipulate a date of completion. |
| The Promissory Contract is not a necessary step, but it is highly advisable as it secures your purchasing rights as against a later prospective purchaser who makes a better offer to the seller. On signature of the Promissory Contract, you will pay over a deposit to the seller, usually 10% of the purchase price, although the amount may vary according to what is agreed between yourself and the seller. |
• DEED OF PURCHASE AND SALE
(Escritura Pública de Compra e Venda) |
| This is the "Completion" stage. All the property documents are now handed over to the Notary along with a certificate proving prior payment of Sisa, a tax on the transfer of property. The remainder of the purchase price is now paid over by you to the seller and the Notary issues the relevant Deed of Purchase and Sale (Escritura Pública de Compra e Venda). |
| Having obtained a certified copy of the Escritura you must then present this to the Land Registry Department (Conservatório do Registo Predial) who will then register you as the new owner of the property. This is an important step as it is not until you are registered as the new owner that the process is complete and your rights as owner are secure against third parties. |
| • ISSUE OF PROPERTY DOCUMENTS |
When the whole procedure is completed, a file is prepared for you containing copies of the relevant property documents showing you as the new owner.
Hidden Costs. |
| • FINAL NOTES |
| You must be aware when deciding how much you can afford to spend on the purchase of your new home that you will also have to pay an estate agent, a lawyer and almost certainly a surveyor, in addition you will have to pay Notarial and Registration fees at 2.5% of the purchase price of the property and Sisa which can be as much as 10% of the purchase price depending on the type of property concerned. |
| Of course further costs will be incurred if the property is to be bought though an offshore company or if you wish to form your own offshore company to make the purchase. Your lawyer will advise you according to your own individual circumstances on the advantages and disadvantages of the offshore options.Conclusion. |
Get good professional advice every step of the way. |
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