April 30, 2006
Portimao set for huge development
The city of Portimao on the Algarve is set to enjoy a €100 million (£68 million) residential and commercial development after the city authorities launched a public tender last week. A 27-acre site owned by the city in Barranco do Rodrigo will be the location for a new sports complex, mall, football stadium, and large-scale residential development, according to reports in the local press.
The tender proposes that the winning consortium be given the land in question for free, on a condition that the afore-mentioned facilities should be built. The developers will then be able to recoup their costs and gain profits from the sale of residential property. Local English-language newspaper The Resident announced that three companies are currently competing for the contract, including Portuguese and Brazilian firms. Construction is expected to begin next spring.
Posted on: Portugal
March 11, 2006
Portuguese Golf Resorts Driving Investments
Two 18-hole golf courses designed by Nick Faldo and Christy O’Connor Jnr is the principal destination for golf enthusiasts here in Portugal. Located in the new Oceanico Developments’ new five-star Amendoeira resort in the Algrave, this resort will be managed by Troon Golf. The new 64-acre site is scheduled to be finished for Phase One in 2007 and is expected to be completely done by 2008.
The golf resort is located 25 minutes from Faro Airport and serves as the backdrop for the country’s Monchique Mountains and the resort will also include a Portuguese PGA Golf Academy, golf and sports lounge, pro-shop, banquet facilities, newly-developed hi-tech golf stimulator, and even a bar and restaurant.
Posted on: Portugal
September 18, 2005
Turn to the Algarve for inspiration
The Algarve is a popular holiday destination with the British but it is also a place to buy a second home. It has great, wide sandy beaches splashed by Atlantic waves and depicted by strong sandstone cliffs, hours and hours of sunshine and a lot of light and warmth when Britain is cold during Winter. Most of the coast has been developed. The communities are quite metropolitan which has advantages particularly good transport infrastructure, facilities and shops. But this does not mean that rocky graves and grottoes or traditional villages around the region can no longer be found. In the far southwest is Sagres where Henry the Navigator’s school was located, now a patron of the great Portuguese voyages of discovery which began in the 15th century.
Posted on: Portugal
July 16, 2005
Buying property in Portugal
After making a verbal agreement to buy a Portugal property, the property lawyer should run thorough checks to ensure the title deeds and other documentation like the caderneta urbana (like an ID card for the property, defining its size, boundaries and rateable value) and the habitation license complies with all relevant building regulations, are in order.
Property buyers will need to obtain a fiscal number, and the buyer and the seller must then agree a promissory contract (contrato promessa de conipra e venda), which sets out the terms of the sale, including get-out clauses; agrees on how much is being paid and for what; and confirms purchaser’s commitment via a deposit - normally 10% of the purchase price. If a buyer break this contract the deposit is forfeited. If the seller reneges, he/she must pay the buying party twice the amount. When all the conditions set out in the promissory contract have been met, the sale can be completed, with the final deed (escritura) being signed by both parties in the presence of a notary.
Posted on: Portugal
Case study – Portugal
Pauline Willis and soon-to-be husband David King from Hertfordshire decided bricks and mortar in the sun are their retirement fund. Fed up with the prospect of a poor pension return and feeling the UK property market has peaked, they invested in a two-bedroom apartment at Praia D’El Ray, on Portugal’s Silver Coast, one hour north of the country’s capital, Lisbon.
“We’ve bought primarily for investment purposes, both for ongoing rental income and for capital growth,” says Pauline. “Over the past five years, property in Portugal has risen by 20 per cent per year, and our reason for buying now is we don’t believe the market has peaked.” The couple, who are marrying in June, plan to keep the apartment, that will be completed in 2006, in the mid- to long-term to maximise the capital potential, let it out to family, friends and colleagues, and use it themselves during the UK winter months - to escape the worst of British weather.
Posted on: Portugal
Portuguese Property market
Property in parts of Portugal rose in value by as much as 20% (annually) for the last five years, although more generally the market has been relatively sluggish. Queues of northern European buyers have ensured the Algarve remains a ‘hotspot’: with properties to suit most budgets depending on where one locates oneself and golfing facilities that ensure a lengthy tourist rental season. More recently the country’s Silver Coast and Costa Verde, north of Lisbon, started to take off too. read more
Posted on: Portugal
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