Well here we are, in our caravan, on our newly aquired land in the Tomar region of Portugal……. and it’s great!

We first saw the property at the end of June 2010 and completed the purchase at the beginning on February 2011. It could have been ours in December but with our plans to return to the UK for Christmas and New Year it seemed pointless to have the extra responsibility when we wouldn’t be around to look after it. January was out as our Estate agent was going to be in Germany, so February it was!

I loved the place as soon as I saw it. Ok it didn’t have the amount of land we were hoping for, we are originally looking for around 4 hectares. This was advertised as 2 hectares but the topographers report claimed 1½, but it did had plenty of buildings which is quite rare for the amount of money we were paying. There was a bit of guess work on some of the boundaries as they were a little difficult to get to due to part of the land being woodland overgrown with brambles.

We did quite a bit of research, mainly on forums, always the best place to start as whatever the problem someone else will have already experienced it and be able to point you in the right direction.

The one thing that everybody was agreed on in all the forums was ‘MAKE SURE THAT ANY BUILDINGS ARE REGISTERED FOR HABITATION’ which, of course, ours weren’t. The buildings had never been registered so on paper they didn’t actually exist! This was why the property was cheap because officially we were just buying land.
This didn’t actually cause us, as buyers, any major stress and it was all thanks to our excellent estate agent and solicitor.
They devised a plan between them where the buildings were made official on the day of the completion of the sale.
I don’t know the details but it worked and if there was any hassle we were not made aware of it.

So the lessons we had learnt so far . . . . .

When you find a property you want to view don’t take the location advertised too literally – as it could be quite  some distance away from the place stated.

If you’re looking for a rural property check out the access – handy if you can do this in the winter when there has been a lot of rain.

Check out the shooting regulations around your land – The hunting season runs from August to the end of February although some species like wild boar can be hunted year round. Most hunters have to be registered with a gun club but there are some areas that allow the general public to hunt during the season.

Assess the fire risks – summer fires are a big problem in Portugal. On one of our visits to the property we found our selves driving through the devastation of what must have been a huge fire a few kilometers from our new home. If you are buying land then it is your responsibility to keep it under control. Part of the woodland on our property is over grown with bracken which we will be attempting to clear before the summer sets in.

Find an estate agent and solicitor who speaks your language - You need to be able to communicate and understand the information otherwise there can be so many crossed wires and can make things very difficult.

Once you’ve found your estate agent and solicitor check them out in the forums - see if any body else has had dealings with them, if you are dealing with people you trust then it takes so much stress out of the situation.

Yes it is important to make sure that your buildings are registered for habitation – but it isn’t the end of the world so long as you have confidence in the people you are working with.

Check out if the property has utilities – water, electricity and phone.  If the property doesn’t have these things it’s not the end of the world but it will be an added expense.

These are just some general pointers to take in to consideration. Like I said forums are the best place to find answers. Here are links to some useful sites:

Pure Portugal – specialising in property for sale in Central Portugal. Pure Portugal is an advertising company who put prospective buyers in direct contact with owners/agents. They can also introduce you to local professionals – solicitors, architects, translators, etc., and help you find local accommodation for your property viewing trip:www.pureportugalholidays.com.

Chavetejo Imobiliaria – this is the estate agency that we bought our property through. They are based in Tomar, Central Portugal and run by British and Portuguese partners.

ExpatForum.com - With close to 60,000 members who have either moved abroad or wish to emigrate, this is the site that proved most useful to me, especially as one of the modertors in the Portugal forum is an British estate agent who can give you some very good advice.