We Bought Land in Portugal: Part 2

Outside of buying our home in Austin, we did not have experience in real estate, and certainly none in international real estate. We spent years as renters in Brooklyn before that, so navigating an international land purchase felt like uncharted territory on every level. While you can work directly with local realtors or search independently on sites like Idealista, we chose to work with a third-party broker.

We reached out in fall 2023. After an initial meeting, we felt confident in their process, their commission was fair, and the plots they shared met our criteria: near the beach, beautiful views, enough space to garden - to name a few.

We decided we wouldn’t buy sight unseen. It might seem obvious, but it’s more common than you think. Besides, visiting in person gave us a good reason to go to Portugal again.

To begin the process, we had to pick a part of the country to move to. We knew we wanted to be near the beach, so that helped, but Portugal has so many incredible beaches, so it didn’t help that much. We honeymooned in the Algarve and loved it, but when we looked at prices, we quickly realized it wouldn’t be within our budget to find something that fit our criteria in that region.

Reality and practicality drove our decision to the Silver Coast, but love drove us to our plot of land. We were originally sent a spreadsheet of 40 options. In early 2024, we clicked into each one and immediately knocked out over half of them (too expensive, too far from the beach, etc). We booked our trip for spring 2024.

We narrowed it down to 10 with one clear favorite. About one month before our trip, we were sent over about five more plots. We added two more to our list, not thinking much of them, we had our hearts set on our clear favorite. We were already mapping out our morning walks to the beach and finding restaurants to try when we lived there.

Here’s what the search taught us:

• Working with a third-party broker added a layer of guidance we were grateful for as first-time international buyers. Having someone who knew the market saved us significant time and uncertainty.

• Having clear criteria before you start makes the process more manageable than you'd think. Knowing our non-negotiables (proximity to the beach, a view, space to garden) helped us cut a list of 40 down to 10 without too much deliberation.

• Legal complications are more common than you'd expect. Family disputes and ownership issues on a plot can surface at any stage, so it's worth verifying the legal status of a property before you get too attached.

• The Silver Coast offers incredible value compared to the Algarve. If budget is a factor, it's worth consideration.

• Visiting in person can change everything, and so can losing a plot you were certain about. Try to go in with an open mind, because what looks perfect on paper might not feel that way on the ground. Ours was proof of that.

The day before we left, our favorite was out. The land was part of a family dispute. Our hearts sank. The only listing we were truly excited about, gone. It was a long flight. It stung at the time, but that door closing led us exactly where we were supposed to be. We ended up visiting our original favorite out of curiosity, but it didn’t hold a candle to the plot we ultimately chose.

The town we chose was the furthest north out of all the sites we visited, on the southern stretch of the Silver Coast. We understood that could mean slightly cooler weather and a longer distance from Lisbon than we had initially planned for, but it ended up being just right. We visited three sites that day.

The first plot was a no-go. The realtors were lovely, but the layout felt awkward and it lacked privacy. The drive to the second plot kept going up, up, up windy roads, and when we arrived we couldn’t believe it. Was that the ocean? It was… Sitting at a café in town later that day, we made our decision.

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