Buying a house in Madeira | €139,000 mistake

[@Itsallwrongbutthatsallright]

Sound is a bit low, but I gather you bought a lemon. You should ask a local architect for advice reg.scope of construction before you get multiple quotes from builders. Hire the architect to manage the renovation if you can afford it. You should test for mould as well and don't live in rooms which is infected by it. Unless you can move the property without losing too much money and buy another in proper condition, you are stuck with this one until you have completed the renovations. Then you can sell and move on to something better. You have now learned the valuable lesson about due diligence, i.e. getting a construction expert to review the property before you buy. Best of luck to you ! Madeira is a beautiful island with lovely people, you'll be just fine !

[@MariDorot]

This was very helpful. Thanks so much for sharing your experience. Sorry you're dealing with some issues in your house. There's always something that you don't notice unfortunately, especially if you go alone. There's too much to take in. Make sure to "shop around" and get at least 3 estimates from different builders and then choose the best one. Sounds like your real estate agent is quite a genuine guy - very rare when it comes to real estate agents :-)

[@Livinginmadeira]

Thank you for the advice and kind words :)

[@martinoldham7566]

Hi, regarding the penetrating damp. Have you explored Bonda products. They were originally developed for marine applications; however, it can be applied to many substrates including brick. it is a moisture curing resin, which soaks in and uses the moisture to carry out the curing process. It isn't cheap, and you need to ventilate well, but it does perform well. You need to go back to bare brick, use three coats and then you can line the wall with a water resistant board

[@Livinginmadeira]

Looking now - thank you Martin!

[@jamescalifornia2964]

MADEIRA is a nice place 👌

[@CodingAbroad]

A few questions: 1) Could you get a 2 bed detached house for 200k euros? 2) Do you have to pay council tax?

[@Livinginmadeira]

Yes and yes :)

[@luisv8431]

The price was a bargain, so is natural that's exist many issues, but you can still fix it, so will not be a problem anymore.

[@ruinunes8251]

Sorry to hear you had a bad experience. At least you learned something and now you know a bit more for the next house purchase.

[@odl21]

You made me feel much better about my house purchase. Can’t believe the condition it was delivered in.

[@Livinginmadeira]

Happy to help :)

[@ruinunes8251]

I just came across your Channel when you were on the local news. You have some interesting videos I want to watch.

[@Livinginmadeira]

Lol! are you sure it was me!?

[@ruinunes8251]

@@Livinginmadeira Pretty sure. Don’t tell me you don’t know about it? 😀

[@bandcrazyadventure]

Thanks for the videos. We keep Hoping a agent in Madeira would start videoing their listings like they do on Mainland Portugal.

[@mrmrmrcaf7801]

You didn't buy a new house, when the owners leave it is very common for them to leave everything they don't need behind and you have to hire a team to clean and renovate if necessary... you buy as it is....the entitlement LOL "satisfactory" how do you define satisfactory in a court of law??? Stop winning , you got something good for your money.

[@Zepherian]

I mean, you might get something better here in the local market (I live in Madeira also), but from what I saw in some of your other videos and more or less the location, it seems like a normal ask for a fixer-upper in the current market. A good T3 apartment in funchal is 500k. So yeah, you did ok, I imagine the price is not that much higher than the land value although I don't know how much land you actually have on the plot, but it seems ok. If the house is structurally sound and you just need the usual doors and windows and tiles thing, you can probably get in and out of that property with no loss. You're fine. For 140k the only thing you could get new is a T1 apartment these days, and probably not in the nicest of places. Madeira has always been relatively expensive.

[@Livinginmadeira]

Thanks for the reassurance! 😊 It’s good to hear from someone who understands the market.

[@GD-Personal]

That’s a disgrace they left garbage…however…you have a house in madeira now! Myself and my wife are looking to move there from the U.K. too 👍 well done!

[@Livinginmadeira]

yes that's what I think too - rough with the smooth :)

[@jamescalifornia2964]

​/ 👍Good attitude

[@teodoro1007]

Hi: I was terribly intrigued about your vid. I will go through the same process for 2024 or 2025 in Ribeira Brava I think, after travel to Argentina to solve things. Idealista reunites a lot of agencies (Remax for you), and I think one of their best features is the area search. I´m starting to laugh. You only got Brian and some wasps. In Argentina, I got bats, and believe me, they are quite nice, but terribly smelly. There are a lot of KZbinrs around Madeira, with more or less money. Great construction efforts (and great money) are from the Brits of "Our Bright Journey" in Ponta Delgada. But the best KZbin channel for ppl who work themselves on old houses is IMO from a pair of Brits. They bring an ancient quinta again to its glory days. They are excellent IMO. "Make do grow" (Portugal) is their channel, and they really solved well all the problems you have plus a big garden. They are going solar and off grid now.

[@Livinginmadeira]

looking at them now - thanks for the tip Teodoro, super helpful!

[@pweedidee]

Hey.. Wow! Sorry to hear how they left the property. Ungrateful people. These days it's hard to sell properties, the fact you bought their property. They should have been grateful and ensured your transition to the property was as smooth as possible. Obviously they we're unscrupulous in knowing they we're selling a property with so many faults. I guess you could not expect better of them. The wall where the water runs into, probably needs somekind of french drainage to direct it away from the building. Sharing your experiences, is great advise to others who are looking to purchase a property in Portugal. 👍🏽🙂 Best of luck in your repairs..

[@Livinginmadeira]

Thank you for your kind words!

[@dugfriendly]

Important video! Thank you ❤

[@Livinginmadeira]

Glad it was helpful!

[@rafaelbettencourt1328]

This is an experience, there are many many beautiful houses in Madeira for reasonable good prices. In the near future you can always sell your property and buy one with way better conditions. I have good connections with some real estate agents in Madeira that I can recommend, they will take care of you and find the best quality properties for your budget.

[@Livinginmadeira]

Might take you up on that offer soon!

[@antoniodasilva1230]

Lmaof that's cheap if you find better than go that price is around two cars 😂

[@killepitch85]

Thanks for sharing your experiences! We just a bought a property on the island! Let's keep in touch :) are you also on Insta?

[@Livinginmadeira]

Amazing! welcome :) please email me [e-mail]

[@killepitch85]

@@Livinginmadeira Done :)

[@antoniodasilva1230]

Lmaof that's cheap if you find better than go that price is around two cars 😂