Service · 01 of 02
Buying property in Portugal.
Most Australians buying in Portugal sign a binding contract before they have taken any legal advice. By then the deposit is at risk and the terms are set.
We act for you from before the offer through to registration of your title — in Portuguese, on the ground, and answerable to you in Australia.
Book a consultationWhat's included
Six things we do, on every purchase.
Not a menu. All six are included in the fixed fee, because leaving any one of them out is where transactions go wrong.
- 01
Title & encumbrances
Certidão permanente and caderneta predial checked against each other. Mortgages, easements, usufructs and pre-emption rights identified before you commit.
- 02
Your NIF
The Portuguese tax number you cannot buy, bank or contract without. Obtained for you, before it becomes urgent.
- 03
Fiscal representation
Required of every non-resident owner. We act as your representative so notices from the tax authority reach someone who can read them.
- 04
The promissory contract
The CPCV is where the deal is actually decided. We negotiate it, set the conditions precedent, and hold your deposit correctly.
- 05
The deed
Escritura signed before a notary, taxes settled, keys handed over. By power of attorney if you would rather not fly.
- 06
Registration
Title registered in your name at the Conservatória. Until this is done and confirmed, the purchase is not finished.
The sequence
Four stages, and roughly what each one takes.
Timings assume a straightforward title and a seller who responds. We will tell you early if yours is not that.
- 01 30 min
Consultation
What you are buying, where, and through which structure. Before any money moves.
- 02 2–4 weeks
Due diligence & NIF
Title, encumbrances, licensing and planning checked on the ground. NIF obtained, fiscal representation in place.
- 03 1–2 weeks
Promissory contract
CPCV negotiated and signed. Deposit paid into a controlled account, not to the agent.
- 04 4–8 weeks
Deed & registration
Escritura signed, IMT and stamp duty settled, title registered at the Conservatória.
What it costs
The costs nobody quotes you up front.
Agents quote the price. These are the costs on top of it, and they are the reason a purchase that looked affordable stops being so.
- IMT
- Municipal property transfer tax. Progressive, and it changes with price, location and whether the property is your permanent home.
- 0 – 7.5%
- Imposto do Selo
- Stamp duty on the purchase, and again on any mortgage you take out in Portugal.
- 0.8%
- Notary & registration
- Fixed public fees for the deed and for registering your title. Largely independent of price.
- €500 – 1,200
- Our fee
- Fixed, agreed in writing before we start, and covering all six items above. No hourly billing on a standard purchase.
- Fixed quote
- Annual, thereafter
- IMI municipal rates, and fiscal representation while you remain non-resident.
- 0.3 – 0.45%
Where we work
Six regions, six very different markets.
What separates these markets is title history and licensing regime, not price.
-
Cascais
Lisbon coast
Established coastal prestige within thirty minutes of Lisbon. Deep rental demand against genuinely tight supply, and the strongest resale market outside the capital.
-
Douro
North
Quintas and terraced vineyards inside a demarcated region. Appellation rights travel with the land, which makes the title work more consequential than the building survey.
-
Sintra
Greater Lisbon
Heritage estates inside a UNESCO cultural landscape. Whether you can restore what you have bought is decided by the consent regime, not by your budget.
-
Algarve
South
The most liquid resort market in the country, and the one where construction licensing and coastal setback rules most often decide what a plot is actually worth.
-
Porto
North
Urban rehabilitation with real rental yield. Works in the historic centre carry their own permitting regime and their own timelines, both longer than sellers suggest.
-
Alentejo
Interior
Land, cork and agritourism at scale. Rural title and boundary history are the diligence that matters — parcels here are often older than the register that describes them.
Questions
What clients ask before they commit.
Do I need to travel to Portugal to buy?
No. Most of our clients complete by power of attorney. We prepare it, have it notarised and apostilled in Australia, and sign the deed on your behalf in Portugal. You are welcome to attend, but the purchase does not depend on it.
Can I get a mortgage in Portugal as a non-resident?
Portuguese banks do lend to non-residents, though usually at a lower loan-to-value than they offer residents, and the assessment takes longer. You will need your NIF and a Portuguese bank account before an application can start, which is one reason we deal with both early. We will tell you at the consultation whether financing is realistic for your purchase.
What happens to the deposit if the sale falls through?
That depends on what the promissory contract says and on which side failed to perform. Portuguese law treats the sinal as a real remedy, not a formality — the consequences are asymmetric and they are set by the CPCV. This is precisely why the contract is negotiated rather than signed as presented, and why the deposit is held in a controlled account.
Should I buy personally or through a company?
Usually personally. A company adds annual accounting and filing obligations, and companies registered in certain jurisdictions attract materially worse tax treatment on Portuguese property. There are cases where a structure makes sense — several buyers, an intended resale, or an existing business — and we work through it at the consultation, before anything is committed.
Does buying property give me residency?
Not by itself. The routes into Portuguese residency and the role property plays in them have changed in recent years, and buying a home has never been an automatic entitlement. If residency is part of why you are buying, tell us at the outset — it can change what you should buy and how you should hold it.
Send us the listing. We'll tell you what's wrong with it.
A first consultation costs nothing and usually takes thirty minutes. If the purchase isn't worth making, we will say so.