Tag: International real estate

3 Things to Remember Re: R.E.

There are many things to know about buying and selling real estate no matter where you are doing it.
The first things, of course, are location, location, location! Sorry, I couldn´t resist. It is still a time-tested truth about real estate.
I sold real estate for decades in Denver, Colorado. The stories from those years are a book unto itself. I even taught real estate to aspiring brokers for a few years before we left the US. Buying, selling, and maintaining real estate is not for the faint of heart.

Denver, Colorado Victorian House


We had a saying in the biz, buyers are liars and sellers are worse. Sad but true. So, with location being the number one thing to remember, doing your research is a close second. And, no matter how much research you do or how prepared you think you are, everything is going to cost more than you planned. (Figure on twice as much as you think it will cost for everything.) And even with all the planning in the world, it can all still go horribly wrong. (2008 anyone?) Timing is everything, as they say.
And number three, always use a seasoned and knowledgeable real estate agent. This is especially important in a foreign country. The ins and outs of real estate are very different abroad. (They are no walk in the park in the states, for that matter.)
That being said, if you want to buy property in a foreign country, I recommend taking International Finance 101. Actually, Basic Finance 101 will help too.

Always scope out all the options and costs when buying or selling real estate! (Park de Virtudes, Porto.)


And this brings me to my latest deal from hell. We just closed on the sale of our first apartment in Porto. We knew we probably wouldn´t stay there forever. But, we really thought we would stay longer than three years. However, with a change for the worse of the neighborhood, we decided it was time to move on.
We listed the apartment for sale in August 2023. Signed a contract for it in December. Four months, a reasonable amount of time on the market to land the right sale. We did not finish the deal until the end of May 2024. Five months to close on the deal. While not unheard of, it is a long time. Nine months from start to finish. Ugh.
So, why did it take so long, you ask? Let me explain.


In the movie The Princess Bride, there is a line that goes something like, never get involved in a land war in Asia. I would add to that advice, never get involved in a real estate deal with a cash buyer from Mozambique in Portugal!
As a realtor, you think, cash deal, great. Should be a slam dunk. Right? Right. Not!
We received the deposit of 22,000 and another installment of 50,000 as spelled out in the contract, no problem. And then, crickets and nothing for months. Until we were out of contract with the delineated dates. Then we started getting deposits of 5,000, 6,000, 500, 50 randomly.
Suggestions were made that the government might be concerned about money laundering since it was coming from Africa. But our banker said that was doubtful, at least from the Portuguese side.
Finally, in April we gave the buyer(s) an ultimatum. Cough up the rest of the money due by the end of May, or we will keep what we have and find another buyer. That finally got results. We closed on May 29th.
Come to find out that the buyer was a general in Mozambique and that money laundering could be a real concern. You can´t make this shite up! In the meantime, we moved to Aveiro in February, thinking it would all be over within a few weeks. Silly us. The apartment stood empty for four months. At least the deal finally went through. And thank God for our agent who got us through it all. Rule number four is to always expect the unexpected when it comes to real estate. Because anything can and will happen.

Bye Porto! We will still visit 😉

Onward and upward, as they say.

On the Road Again…

After a year and a half of living in Portugal, we are finally buying a place in Porto. Talk about an ordeal. Buying real estate is a big deal under any circumstances. But doing it in a foreign country and during the biggest pandemic since 1918 adds a whole new level of stress to the process. And I should know, I sold and taught real estate for 20 plus years in the states.

I have owned many properties, but never have I had such a hard time finding the right one. We must have seen 15 or more apartments before we said, this is the one! Of course, our parameters made it a challenge. We needed more space than our bank account could really afford. Oh, and wanting to be centrally located and preferably in Porto added to the challenge.

So True.

We have been in Vila Nova de Gaia for the past 1.5 years, and it is nice enough, but it is as expensive as Porto and a lot more rustica, shall we say. We are talking farm animals here. And excessively barking dogs everywhere. I guess if you don´t mind roosters, chickens, and geese, incessant dog barking shouldn’t bother you.
When people think of cities in Europe, they generally think of old buildings. And there are certainly plenty of those. However, new construction is booming in Portugal. So, our pad is all new inside, completely remodeled, and the outside of the building is being resurfaced as well.
It quite a bit smaller than we are used to, but being in the city is worth it. And we lucked out and got a great deal on it. So, it’s good bye Gaia and hello Porto. And, there will be some delicious local bubbles in our future.

Sparkling Rosé from Piano Wines, Portugal

We just have to survive a week or so in an Airbnb that is a fourth-floor walk-up since our psychotic land-lady won´t give us two more days, and the movers couldn´t accommodate us on the day we should be moving out. Bugger. No problem. At least, we will be in Porto away from the constantly barking dogs. With fresh territory to explore, it will be nice to be back in the city.
So, onward and upward, Porto, here we come.