# Moving to UK, I need to sell my house in Portugal



## Martins

I'm going to start working in UK in the next couple of weeks and I need to sell my house in Portugal.

As you know the real state market in Portugal is going through bad times.

So I was thinking in trying to sell my house to overseas buyers (UK, Sweden, Holland, etc.)

But since I have no idea what would be the best websites to post an ad to sell my house, I was wondering if someone here could give me some help.


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## silvers

You need to post 5 times before I can send you a pm, for me to tell you any info may be judged advertising.


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## canoeman

Spread your advertising, Portuguese Estate agents but make sure it's a non exclusive contract, non registered web agents that specialize in Portugal and there's a good UK one that will get you onto major UK sites, Germany and Holland, for any info though as Silvers says you'll need 5 posts to PM.

If you really need to sell then to get any interest you must really advertise at a "bargain" price, you should also remember that as your giving up your Residency? then you will be liable to CGT if you make a profit after allowable expenses.


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## silvers

But if you invest your profit in another house within the EU, then CGT is not applicable.


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## canoeman

Only if your a Resident and the property is your primary home, at the time of sale, as a Non Resident they would treat this as a second home probably and liable to CGT


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## Martins

I kinda lost hopes in the agents in Portugal, there's just so many houses for sale that I can't help thinking "Why would they care more about my house than the thousand others?"

Anyway, it is a very interesting house, because it has a panoramic view over Oporto and it's near the historic Douro area, which a lot of tourists visit everyday.
But yeah, I'll sell it for a bargain, I'm looking for a quick sale and I know I can sell it, the problem is that I can have the most amazing house at the most amazing price, but if no one knows about it, no one will buy me anything.

I'm very interested in that web agent you're talking about, I'll get those 5 posts, thank you for your help.


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## Algarve

Martins said:


> I'm going to start working in UK in the next couple of weeks and I need to sell my house in Portugal.
> 
> As you know the real state market in Portugal is going through bad times.
> 
> So I was thinking in trying to sell my house to overseas buyers (UK, Sweden, Holland, etc.)
> 
> But since I have no idea what would be the best websites to post an ad to sell my house, I was wondering if someone here could give me some help.


there is a company in the Algarve ////SNIP////// arrange and bring over buyer who are cash purchasers they pay for flights ect: a friend of mine has just sold a wooden house for just under €160,000 and i was not legal so I was very surprised, good luck


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## canoeman

Not a great recommendation if you mean they sold an illegal house to someone


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## Frank Wilson

The other presumption is that there are people in the Uk with money!


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## Denc

Martins said:


> I'm going to start working in UK in the next couple of weeks and I need to sell my house in Portugal.
> 
> As you know the real state market in Portugal is going through bad times.
> 
> So I was thinking in trying to sell my house to overseas buyers (UK, Sweden, Holland, etc.)
> 
> But since I have no idea what would be the best websites to post an ad to sell my house, I was wondering if someone here could give me some help.


Hello I am a new member also, about one minute, so forgive me if I get this wrong. I would suggest you google the property websites in the UK of which there are many, then look for their "overseas" section. many of them allow you to pay a fee to advertise as a private buyer.
By the way, where is your property? Perhaps you might consider rental. Generally there is a big differance in rental rates in the UK to Portugal.
Denc


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## Denc

Martins said:


> I kinda lost hopes in the agents in Portugal, there's just so many houses for sale that I can't help thinking "Why would they care more about my house than the thousand others?"
> 
> Anyway, it is a very interesting house, because it has a panoramic view over Oporto and it's near the historic Douro area, which a lot of tourists visit everyday.
> But yeah, I'll sell it for a bargain, I'm looking for a quick sale and I know I can sell it, the problem is that I can have the most amazing house at the most amazing price, but if no one knows about it, no one will buy me anything.
> 
> I'm very interested in that web agent you're talking about, I'll get those 5 posts, thank you for your help.


I was in Oporto for the first time a few weeks ago and it is an amazing city. good luck, I hope you find someone to buy your house.


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## paramonte

If your apartment in central in Porto I would be looking to PT costumers rather then overseas's. I would go for the local ERA, Remax estate agents or the likes, but not in an exclusivity contract.


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## Martins

You know, I'm wondering about the exclusivity...

If they got it, maybe they'll have more motivation to sell it faster.

Anyway, I believe it's a matter of the best "vendor" and not the best "agency", because today I've spoke with one vendor from Remax, and she told me that only sold one apartment since the beginning of 2012... how's that for motivation...

Tomorrow I'll speak with one vendor from Era, let's see if the statistics look better.


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## paramonte

Estate agents sometimes use this trick on non exclusive properties: they will ring you saying that have found a buyer to your property, so you should also stop to look elsewhere. Time goes and goes, turns out they were just stalling you. If they have found a buyer an immediate deposit or the promissory contract is in order.

It is true that if your property is in exclusivity mode the estate agent will pay more attention, but the risks, IMHO, are too high


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## canoeman

Forget exclusivity with a Portuguese agent, don't believe that much motivates agents here, they might promise a lot but I really have found very very few who deliver, and that isn't just due to current property market, yet they still charge an extremely high %, and very few are prepared to negotiate that %, from a sellers point exclusivity ties you into min 6 month contracts, stops you marketing your property in areas they don't even know about, and as I pointed out to you in PM will land you with a commission bill from your exclusive Portuguese agent should you sell privately.


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## saintstommy

*interested*

I maybe interested in buying, can you send me pics etc and price info at ///SNIP////thank you


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## Martins

saintstommy said:


> I maybe interested in buying, can you send me pics etc and price info at ///SNIP////thank you


Send me a PM with your e-mail and I'll send you the pics, price and GPS coordenates.


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## Tonyjo

Yet again, we are newbies to use of forums, but think we might have some info that might be useful. We have been touring Spain and Portugal looking for a house for the last ten months so we have gained a lot of info about agents. The main one, at least so far as Spain is concerned, is that a lot of UK based (and other) agents charge an extra percentage to the buyer -2%- is common, or advertise the property at an inflated price over that charged by the main agent (we've come across €50,000 difference). This of course, will reflect on the amount you get for your property. What we have found very good though is that most agents exchange info about client's needs, so if they don't have the type of property their client is looking for they will search for others that do. We have definitely decided to purchase in Portugal and have a couple of agents who are really good and trying to find the right property for us. As I can see I cannot make any recommendations on this post, but I would generally say that we prefer the agents based in Portugal, look for one with a good website with translations to several languages and you will spread your options


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## Algarve

canoeman said:


> Not a great recommendation if you mean they sold an illegal house to someone


it is not so much they arrange the selling of illegal houses, as it is near impossible to have a wooden house legalized , however they do allow them on non Eco land as long as they comply with certain rules, as there is a law for Portugal that if you have agricultural land you are allowed a building up to 30 square meters with 1 sleeping quarter and running water with loo,
the company I mention just arrange the buyers, it is for the buyer to arrange legal advice when purchasing any property


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## Tonyjo

Martins said:


> I'm going to start working in UK in the next couple of weeks and I need to sell my house in Portugal.
> 
> As you know the real state market in Portugal is going through bad times.
> 
> So I was thinking in trying to sell my house to overseas buyers (UK, Sweden, Holland, etc.)
> 
> But since I have no idea what would be the best websites to post an ad to sell my house, I was wondering if someone here could give me some help.


Newbies to forums yet again, but here is some info we think might be useful. We've been touring Spain and now Portugal for the last ten months and have picked up a lot of info on agents. Some (particularly overseas ones) act as "property finders" which might be good but they do charge an extra percentage over the main agents fee 2% is the minimum but almost certainly will reflect a lower profit to the seller. Here in Portugal we have found a few good agents who if they have not got a suitable property for a client, will interact with other agents to find the right one but only the normal fee will be charged. Our recommendation would be to find an agent with a good website with an option for translation into several languagres - most agents, even small local ones, are easily picked up by a search for "houses for sale in Portugal" so perhaps you should do just that and then ascertain which one would give you best coverage.


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## canoeman

Algarve said:


> it is not so much they arrange the selling of illegal houses, as it is near impossible to have a wooden house legalized , however they do allow them on non Eco land as long as they comply with certain rules, as there is a law for Portugal that if you have agricultural land you are allowed a building up to 30 square meters with 1 sleeping quarter and running water with loo,
> the company I mention just arrange the buyers, it is for the buyer to arrange legal advice when purchasing any property


A wooden house is no different to any other house you have to make a project and get planning permission, trying to legalize after a build is a recipe for disaster.

Maybe you can give a link to the law that allows a building up to 30 square meters with 1 sleeping quarter and running water with loo


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## eelliott

Hello, 
very interested in this thread. Our 2/3 bed townhouse in Vilamoura has been on the market with remax since feb 2011. We've had little to no interested and have dropped the price vastly to no avail. We are desperate to sell, so would really appreciate any help and advice you guys can offer, especially recommendations on good agents/companies that might be able to help.
Many thanks!


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## canoeman

Do or get a friend to call and e-mail Remax and say your interested in your property see their reaction & competence, if your unhappy check Contract on cancellation, spread it around a bit more with non exclusive contracts when you can PM, then contact me and I'll recommend a UK Site that will get it listed on other UK, Dutch & German sites for a fraction of cost of trying to do individually, but it's a waiting game


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## eelliott

Thanks canoeman. I will definitely try ringing remax to see how they are selling my house. Great idea!


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