Buying Real Estate in Portugal: Choosing the Best Location and Property

[@georgepiteira7586]

Great vlog. We decided on Madeira for its excellent climate, culture, and island cuisine, plus it has everything we need and the locals are much kinder and friendlier IMHO.

[@TheUnretirees]

Thanks for watching @georgepiteira7586 and we almost ended up in Madeira we liked it so much. Glad you found your place!!

[@christobar]

We love Madeira, we spent 2 months on the island in 2022. Prices however have dramatically increased on the island in the last several years.

[@TheUnretirees]

Thanks for watching @christobar. Yes, that’s true. We have owned homes in California and Connecticut and prices there are up just shy of 12% year over year and Madeira is up about 20%! Time will tell if the old adage is still true - “the best time to buy real estate is ten years ago, and the second best time is today.”

[@ericyuan9718]

I'm also torn between Madeira, the Azores and the Silver coast and a few interior locations.

[@TheUnretirees]

Thank for watching @ericyuan9718…. We haven’t explored the Azores but you’ve got a lot of good options! Good luck!

[@tammyhengst8773]

Thanks for all the GREAT information~! We have gotten more iinformation from you than all the other videos combined with basic information on what to do and how to prepare to move to Portugal. Anyway, can we possibly see your home and rental? and find out pricing if that's not too personal for you? I'd love a video of this and details as to where you purchased your home furnishings and decor, prices and deliver fees? OR if these items were purchased by picking them up, especially small applicances and anything electrical. Do I need to be practical and sell them all/donate/or give to my daughter and start over? Thank YOU~! LOVE your outakes too so keep em' coming ;) hahahaha

[@TheUnretirees]

Thanks for watching @tammyhengst8773 and we appreciate your kind words. In terms of our rental, you can email us at [e-mail] for information. Most of our furnishings area from Area, Zara Home or Ikea with bits and pieces from other places. Delivery fees were generally less than €100 but were not “immediate” - sometimes 10-14 days out. For household electronic things, you can bring your items from the U.S. but then would need to pay to ship them and then buy adaptors here. For us, it wasn’t worth it to ship, so we gave away a lot of things and sold some things. Hope that helps!

[@rfotofolio8087]

Thank you for starting this channel. We have found it helpful. How bad are the flys in the Silver Coast ? Allergy propblems here. Thank you and we ;look forward to seeing all your post.

[@TheUnretirees]

Thanks for watching @rfotofolio8087. Can’t speak for all the Silver Coast but the flies are not bad where we are, but we also come from the northeast US where we had flies. We don’t have A/C so with window open and no screens we get some inside. It’s a small nuisance. As for allergies, you may have them here. Most things are green all year here but spring is a flowering season so you may not escape allergies here. It depends on what you’re allergic to.

[@patric5076]

Thanks for the video. It would have been helpful if you'd showed the houses as you were talking about them. Also give us some prices ie. what's the price range for the houses you were looking at? how much did the mortgage broker charge you? What are the interest rates for mortgage loans in Portugal right now? How do you qualify?

[@TheUnretirees]

Thanks for watching @patric5076! Thanks for the suggestion. We were trying to keep some privacy, especially since the houses we looked at are now sold with people living in them. Idealista.pt is a great way to get an idea of current prices for different areas and different sized homes. You can find homes for under €100k or for more than €5 million! Also, on Idealista, you can get an idea of the going rates for fixed and variable. Since we bought more than a year ago, I’m sure prices and rates are different today! Good luck!

[@TexasDoug393]

Thanks, good analysis! I'm currently leaning towards Greece, where I lived a few years growing up, in what seems like a fantasy view of retirement, but Madeira has popped in and out of the top spot over the last couple of years. I also have to say Im kind of intrigued by the idea of getting a live-aboard motor yacht and basing in the Puglia region of Italy, Albania, or maybe Montenegro, and spending some time circling the Adriatic. But I think Madeira will always be very high on my list. I have a couple of years to work it out. Good luck with the channel! You guys do a good job explaining things, and I think you'll gain some traction quickly.

[@TheUnretirees]

Thanks for the encouragement @TexasDoug393

[@BrightStar3862]

Okay. However, I do believe you would be more effective if you could get to the point much earlier. Be specific, what town did you take up residence in for permanent habitation. Use pics of your home to demonstrate how it met your criteria. Given all that you stated you may have been just as happy in Pensacola.

[@TheUnretirees]

Thanks @BrightStat3862 for watching and your point of view. I have no doubt we could be happy in Pensacola, but that isn’t the adventure we were looking to have. I think it’s ok that we maintain some sense of personal privacy about some of the specifics. Living in a small town, like Nazaré, if we were to show our house you never know who is going to just show up! Maybe we’ll do a peek of our home here and there. Thanks again.

[@futaogwj]

So which city / town you settled in?

[@TheUnretirees]

Thanks for watching @futagwj! We ended up in Nazaré, a great little town on the coast and home of the biggest waves ever surfed!

[@itp1100]

What is the name of the town where you bought the house?

[@TheUnretirees]

Thanks for watching @itp1100! There are a lot of great beach towns on the silver coast from Ericiera to Figueroa do Foz. Ours is pretty squarely in the middle. 😁