# House offer accepted- now what??!!



## p9cbs (Jul 14, 2015)

Dear Readers,
My offer on a property in Central Portugal has just been accepted - now the fun begins!!! I have so, so many questions and concerns and wondered if anyone out there can offer me any advice. 

I now have to pay the deposit, that's fine, bank transfer - done! What happens about paying the balance though? What exchange rate will I get - I assume the rate on the day of completion - is this correct? I notice there are companies advertising who deal with the money transfer - is this a way to save money or will it cost me more? I do not yet have a bank account in Portugal- will I need one to complete the purchase?

Solicitors - a Portuguese friend of mine has suggested a Solicitor but they are 200km away from the town my house is in. The other option is to use the Solicitor the Estate Agent has suggested. I have read this is a big 'no, no'. They are a well established agents though so would this really be an issue? Does anyone have any experience or suggestions they are willing to share with me.

Thank-you so much for reading.


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## travelling-man (Jun 17, 2011)

I'll start by saying welcome to the forum. 

You should have engaged a lawyer BEFORE you paid a deposit or signed anything so you need to get one asap. 

Whatever you do, don't use one that's recommended by the agent or the seller but no need to use one that's 200 miles away........ no matter where you are in Portugal you should be able to fine a number of English speaking lawyers in any decent sized town. 

Good luck with the purchase and what part of the country are you in?


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## p9cbs (Jul 14, 2015)

Hi Travelling Man,
Thank-you so much for your reply.
I have not paid the deposit yet thankfully. The house is in the Tomar area. I am in the UK and will need to appoint a lawyer from here. I am not sure where to start with regards to finding an English speaking lawyer. Do you have any suggestions and do you think it would be a problem if I use the Lawyer my friend knows in Porto??


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## travelling-man (Jun 17, 2011)

OK....... I'm in Figueiro Dos Vinhos which is about 30 minutes from Tomar and can if you like, recommend a reliable English speaking lawyer who has his office in FdV. 

You need to make 5 posts before you can send/receive PMs so clock those up and then send me a PM with your email addess and I'll put you in touch with him if you want me to. 

I'd highly recommend that you DO NOT under any circumstances sign or pay anything until the lawyer has checked everything for you.

Using a lawyer in Porto would be obscenely and unnecessarily expensive because you'll have to pay his travelling expenses.


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## p9cbs (Jul 14, 2015)

Ok thank-you Travelling Man. I will message you asap.


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## oronero (Aug 24, 2012)

Welcome to the forum, congratulations on finding your house.

One more post and you have your five posts.

Are you bringing your car over when you move or are you buying one in Portugal?


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## p9cbs (Jul 14, 2015)

Hi Oronero,
Thanks for your message. We may eventually bring a car over but as we will not be permanent residents initially and I hear there are huge taxes we would need to pay we will probably hire a car from the airport for a while first.


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## robc (Jul 17, 2008)

p9cbs said:


> and I hear there are huge taxes we would need to pay.................................


Done properly then that is not true.
If you are not permanently resident initially then you have time.
Tell me to mind my own business but you have got your Fiscal Numbers?

Rob


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## BodgieMcBodge (Mar 8, 2013)

Try this thread for information written by a bloke who started and run an estate agency in Tomar. Ask one of the agencies in Tomar for a complete list of local Lawyers who deal with house purchace , they usually give a list without recommending any to prospective purchasers. I'd recommend the one I use in Tomar but that would be advertising.

http://www.expatforum.com/expats/po...s-living-portugal/17054-tips-home-buyers.html


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## Mattskii (Oct 28, 2009)

I used a broker to bring money over. Got a much better exchange rate than the banks give, and only paid €3 in charges!!! I use them all the time whenever I need to bring money here. PM Me for details


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## Humpty (Dec 6, 2014)

Hi when we bought our property I used one of the currency exchange companies in England and set the rate that way I knew exactly what we were paying. Good luck with your purchase hope it all works out for you.


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## p9cbs (Jul 14, 2015)

Hi Robc,
We do not have our fiscal numbers yet. We have not put much thought into taking a car over yet. Do you have some advice? I am interested.


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## christopherdouglas (Nov 13, 2008)

Hi, welcome to the Forum.
Are you sure that you have had an offer accepted?
Have you seen the house?
Have you been to Portugal?
If you have been in an agents office when an offer has been accepted they should have advised, or helped even, you to get a Fiscal number and a Bank Account.

The transfer for a deposit can be done from the UK. The signing of a contract to buy can't be. And, personally, I wouldn't instruct a Portuguese solicitor via email from the UK. I wand to see the guy. Or guyess (no that's not a real word)

There are a thousand other 'dont's to be found in the 'buying a property in Portugal' threads on the Forum. I'd read them all. Very sensible and based on lots of experience.

Otherwise, all the best with your proposed purchase,
Regards 
Chris


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## p9cbs (Jul 14, 2015)

Hi Christopher, Thanks for your reply.
In answer to your questions, yes our offer has been accepted, yes we have been to Portugal - there is no way I would purchase a house without actually seeing it!!!! The agent tells me that the Solicitor can get the Fiscal number for me and it sounds as though I will not need a bank account as I can get a currency transfer company to transfer the money into the Solicitors account for me. I have read pages and pages of the advice on here also. I just hope that I make the right decisions as a result of all of the research!!!!


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## BodgieMcBodge (Mar 8, 2013)

Does "offer accepted" mean you have a binding promissory contract with 10% deposited? If not then you are kidding yourself. Have you signed a notarised PoA for your Lawyer (not Solicitor) to do the paperwork in your name? Do you know there is a daily limit, due to anti-terrorist laws, on the xfer of funds? If full funds are not available in the right account on the date listed in your promissory then you forfeit the 10% and the contract is void? All the promissory contracts I have seen have the buyers ( and sellers) Portuguese fiscal numbers on them.

Good luck.


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## p9cbs (Jul 14, 2015)

Hi Bodgie, by 'offer accepted' I mean, I have negotiated the price for the property. The rest I am learning as I go- as many other Expat's needed to when purchasing their first property in Portugal. I am in the process now of finding out who can act as poa for me. The promissory contract is being drawn up now and I am in the process of finding the best way of transferring funds for the deposit. I did not know there was a daily limit - do you happen to know what that limit is? The Solicitor will acquire a Fiscal number for me.
Thanks for your post


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## Jericho Jo (Jul 13, 2015)

Our lawyer also opened a bank account for us.


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## BodgieMcBodge (Mar 8, 2013)

Different banks and different accounts have different limits, I use a Euro current account in Dublin which you can open with a UK address which has a 10k euro daily limit for international tansfer but they do speak English. This account has a prearranged link from an FX account which does not have a limit but any Stirling funds need to lodged in the FX account before an exchange can be requested. You can open a Portuguese euro bank account from one of their bank offices in London and request which branch you want. I just went to Millennium bcp's London office and opened an account in Tomar, again, it is all done in English and they do a fantastic cup of coffee. Lawyer can be given PoA which is restricted (or not ) to buying one specific property, last week mine cost about 5 minutes, one signature and 40 euro at the Notary office.

For Barclays in UK they say...

_*Are there limits to the amount I can pay in Online Banking?

This depends on what type of Barclays accounts you have - Personal, Premier or Business.

For Personal customers, the overall daily payment limit to other people is £10,000. For Premier customers, it's £30,000 and for Business customers it's £50,000.*_


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## christopherdouglas (Nov 13, 2008)

p9cbs said:


> Hi Christopher, Thanks for your reply.
> In answer to your questions, yes our offer has been accepted, yes we have been to Portugal - there is no way I would purchase a house without actually seeing it!!!! The agent tells me that the Solicitor can get the Fiscal number for me and it sounds as though I will not need a bank account as I can get a currency transfer company to transfer the money into the Solicitors account for me. I have read pages and pages of the advice on here also. I just hope that I make the right decisions as a result of all of the research!!!!


Hi pee-nine,
Brilliant. All good so far, hope it continues that way.
Which area are you buying in?
Regards,
Christopher


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## p9cbs (Jul 14, 2015)

Hi Christopher- yes all is going well so far thank-you. The property is in a village 10 minutes drive from Tomar centre. I think we are looking to complete the purchase in September but it could possibly be before.


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## Casa Das Nogueiras (Jul 3, 2014)

Hi,
We can recommend a brilliant English speaking solicitor in Ansiao
She did our house purchase for us.
Let me know if you need her details


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## wendyjf (Jun 27, 2015)

*Transfers and exchange*

Just in response to suggestion of using a broker to bring money from UK to POrtugal which sounds cheap and I'll be asking for more details from that poster...

I'm in the process of buying property in Central areas round Tomar so we could be neighbours!!

- the estate agents recommended an online co called Transferwise, I have tried them and definitely recommend -- started moving chunks of money on days the rates are good, so far its all gone very well, very low fees, very quick transfer, (1-2 days), all happens online, their online and phone support is brilliant (I completely messed up my first attempt) , and they gave me the best market rate advertised anywhere on the day.

This is a recommendation not an ad (I don't work for the company).

However, you definitely need a bank account to move the money into? 
If you don't have one, apparently you need a birth certificate, your passport, and your fiscal number, and using an UK address is ok initially 
- as I have an old account from linving in POrtugal before, I haven't tried opening a new one while resident in UK -anyone know how that works?


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## p9cbs (Jul 14, 2015)

Hi Wendy, I hope you do buy a property nearby. From what I have read there are not to many English speaking people around on the outskirts of Tomar! I have started to learn a little Portuguese in the meantime.

I will have a look at the brokers you recommend. I have just sent my deposit today now that I have the promissory contract with a different broker so I will see how that works out.


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## BodgieMcBodge (Mar 8, 2013)

p9cbs said:


> Hi Wendy, I hope you do buy a property nearby. From what I have read there are not to many English speaking people around on the outskirts of Tomar! I have started to learn a little Portuguese in the meantime.
> 
> I will have a look at the brokers you recommend. I have just sent my deposit today now that I have the promissory contract with a different broker so I will see how that works out.


Surprisingly there are quite a few English speaking people near Tomar. Tomar used to have very good British Estate Agency which sold almost exclusively local properties to British people and is still there by run by the Portuguese partner. Not far away is a popular British run bar/restaurant and even cricket team. Admittedly there's not many on this forum.


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## p9cbs (Jul 14, 2015)

Thanks for the info Bodgie, I was reading an old thread the other night about Tomar and surrounding areas and the lack of Brits around. Maybe it is more the case in other specific areas near Tomar. I think I am buying a house from the Estate Agent you are talking about. One of the agents (not sure if he was the manager of not) posted lots of useful info on here in the past - is that the one? Can you give me any more details about the British run bar - where it is etc?


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## BodgieMcBodge (Mar 8, 2013)

The estate agent, Derek, was on here with handle " omostra06 " their office in Tomar moved after he left and is now opposite Millenium BCP bank. I can't find a link for the bar which was a bit of a boozers place walking distance from the old town bridge in Tomar but here is the one about 20k North and is a better place to make contact with local Brit immigrants and recommendations of electricians, builders, advice, help etc, the owners John and Wendy have not been there long but know what they are doing except for website design.


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