# How Feasible / much money ?



## mark64 (Aug 19, 2015)

To buy up a small holding of arable land in Portugal With a ruin,for restoration while living in a tent or caravan . Planting fruit and veg for self sustaining life . Any suggestions .
Thanks


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## travelling-man (Jun 17, 2011)

Lots of people do it or more accurately lots of people try to do it but many, probably most fail. 

You can buy a piece of land with ruin for anything from about €15k-20k and maybe less but the renovation will be expensive if you do it right and even more expensive if you do it wrong and as for living in a tent or even a caravan, it's helluva hot in the summer and helluva cold & wet in the winter. - But it's not impossible.

Then you have the planning and pollution issues to deal with and they're many and varied and pretty much always a royal PITA.

As for growing your own: Sure you can do it but don't expect to be able to sell the surplus for much at all because the world and his dog are doing the same thing and veggie prices are as cheap as chips. 

(IMO) you'd be better off spending something in the region of €50k which will buy you a habitable house (albeit without mod cons such as central heating etc) and a biggish plot of land with established fruit trees and plenty of room for your veggies. 

My comments do not apply to the Algarve where (I reckon) it'd be even tougher and significantly more expensive.


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## BodgieMcBodge (Mar 8, 2013)

Before committing yourself spend as much time as possible in the area at different times of the year ie the forest fire season, the deluge season and the "wish I had some insulation + heating" season. Note that there are reasons why a place is deserted and derelict stone built houses with mud infill need constant maintenance or they collapse catastrophically, make sure the ruin has habitation status Remember that things need water to live but woodworm in the larvae stage need over 11% moisture in their food. Assuming you will be doing all the renovations which are not structural/electric/gas (ie regulated) yourself then you could do it on a budget 25,000 euro to buy somewhere and live there for a year if you pick area/building in Central Portugal carefully. I sort of managed to. Subsequent years could cost less it as it all depends on what you expect or will accept. Don't expect to be able to sell the place if you want to leave. You would probably not find any paid employment and would be car dependent.


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