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Retirement - Page 3

tsmith2456

Posted: Fri Feb 5, 2021 12:55pm

Posts: 14

2 helpful points

Location: Salir

Joined: 26 Nov 2020

Posted: Fri Feb 5, 2021 12:55pm

Ian28 wrote on Fri Feb 5, 2021 12:13pm:

Hi Jazz,

There are many similarities to the UK and NL (where I live) purchase processes, so negotiation is mostly possible but not always successful.

I found the majority of properties I was interested in were where a family were selling their parents old home.  In these cases you needed the agreement of many people if you wanted to put in a lower offer. 7 siblings was the most I came across and could not get them all to agree on a lower price (which is offered via the broker not by you to each).

The house I eventually bought, was being sold by 2 brothers and I got a reduction of 6,000 on a property up for 170,000 before the survey, but no more reduction after some minor issues were found in the survey.  I went ahead anyway knowing there were extra repairs needed.

The process:-

You put in an initial verbal offer and if accepted you organise a surveyor to check the building out, and get a lawyer's office to check out the paperwork at the town hall.

You can try to adjust your offer after a bad survey - but I found this was not accepted if the property has interest from other people.

Then you make a legally binding offer via your lawyer and detail the dates for purchase.

You are required to deposit 10% of the price, which you lose if you pull out.

You need to make the full funds available to the notary a few days before the purchase date.

I gave my lawyer Power of Attorney for the process as Covid travel restrictions were in place preventing me from easily going to the various document signings.

I hope this helps

Ian

Hi Jazz,

I would concur with Ian's comments. I bought a flat in Salir from a "developer", a small family owned building firm, and found they didn't want to negotiate much beyond a small reduction of a few thousand euros on a flat up for 125,000. People still remember the heady property prices of the pre 2008 bubble (when this flat was built/rebuilt) and dislike accepting those days are long gone, even when it had remained unsold for 10  years.

With regard to death taxes and estate law it is (or was pre-Brexit, not sure now) possible to draw up a will to have the UK's estate law's recognized and leave the property to a named person or people rather than the automatic requirement for a division between spouse and children. Any estate duty on death must be paid before inheritance can be actioned so if duties are likely to be substantial, or a problem for your heirs to raise quickly, it may be worth putting money aside, or taking out an insurance policy to cover this, as it gets messy if the duty is not paid pronto. Local advice from a Portuguese lawyer is definitely needed here.

I have visited Veronica Pesco to chat about taxes and she seemed very knowledgeable and professional. In the end I bit the bullet and got to grips with doing the taxation stuff myself including NHR tax status, through the internet portals, and only needed an hour's support from a small accountants' firm to successfully file my taxes. I also did my driving license application myself. Portugal is quite well set up for doing stuff electronically and Google translate works well where an English version is not available.

I use a solicitor in Sao Bras de Alportel, (Cristina Eusébio, Solicitadora C. P. 3052, Tel 917 855 377, Rua Gago Coutinho nº 71, 8150-151 São Brás de Alportel) for my property purchases, bank account set up etc. if you want to get a comparison quotation. I also used a power of attorney as this was all done before I moved to Portugal. Getting the power of attorney set up in the UK was non-trivial and needed visits to a Notary Public for an Apostille and translation for some UK documents.

Best regards,

Tony

Neil

Posted: Fri Feb 5, 2021 1:38pm

Neil

Original Poster

Posts: 11

1 helpful points

Location: Albufeira

Joined: 29 Jan 2021

Posted: Fri Feb 5, 2021 1:38pm

Ian28 wrote on Fri Feb 5, 2021 11:46am:

Hi Neil,

Here is the email for Veronica's office.  [email protected]

The whole team speak very good English, there are 2 offices, the main one is by Almancil (~20 minutes drive from Salir) and another in Tavira.

All the documents I needed to sign for Veronica's work came with both Portuguese and English next to each other in 2 columns, so there were no 'what exactly am I signing here' moments. Most of the documents that needed signing and only in Portuguese were explained in English (if needed) by the team (e.g. water contract with Loule council).

You first need your NIF - as it is needed to open the bank account.

I set Veronica up with Power of Attorney for the NIF and also for the signing of my house purchase documents.

The bank account was organised by Veronica's office at the Millennium Bank in Almancil (5 minute drive from the office), but I had to go in person with my passport to sign up. [ I also had to sign up for a bank card, which takes about 5 days to arrive at the branch - and after some phone calls to and from the Helpdesk in Portugal - I can do all my business from an App on my phone or on the computer via their website ]

Other banks are also available - but I am very happy with this one :-)

Costs:-

I would contact Veronica's office for a good quote for your requirements, but expect to pay around 500 Euro for Veronica's work plus some costs between 15 - 300 Euro for the various agencies that are involved.

I can not split it down further as I also had Veronica set me up as a non tax resident in PT - with her office as my registered address.

They also have some complete packages you can sign up for to cover all you need to get to the eventual house purchase.(which is what I went for)

Feel free to mention my name when you contact them.

Also feel free to get back to me if you need any more info or I have missed anything.

Ian

Hi Ian,

Thank you so much for the information. It will be most helpful.

Kind regards,

Neil.

Jazz

Posted: Fri Feb 5, 2021 1:45pm

Posts: 133

14 helpful points

Location: Lagos

Joined: 29 Sep 2020

Posted: Fri Feb 5, 2021 1:45pm

tsmith2456 wrote on Fri Feb 5, 2021 12:55pm:

Hi Jazz,

I would concur with Ian's comments. I bought a flat in Salir from a "developer", a small family owned building firm, and found they didn't want to negotiate much beyond a small reduction of a few thousand euros on a flat up for 125,000. People still remember the heady property prices of the pre 2...

...008 bubble (when this flat was built/rebuilt) and dislike accepting those days are long gone, even when it had remained unsold for 10  years.

With regard to death taxes and estate law it is (or was pre-Brexit, not sure now) possible to draw up a will to have the UK's estate law's recognized and leave the property to a named person or people rather than the automatic requirement for a division between spouse and children. Any estate duty on death must be paid before inheritance can be actioned so if duties are likely to be substantial, or a problem for your heirs to raise quickly, it may be worth putting money aside, or taking out an insurance policy to cover this, as it gets messy if the duty is not paid pronto. Local advice from a Portuguese lawyer is definitely needed here.

I have visited Veronica Pesco to chat about taxes and she seemed very knowledgeable and professional. In the end I bit the bullet and got to grips with doing the taxation stuff myself including NHR tax status, through the internet portals, and only needed an hour's support from a small accountants' firm to successfully file my taxes. I also did my driving license application myself. Portugal is quite well set up for doing stuff electronically and Google translate works well where an English version is not available.

I use a solicitor in Sao Bras de Alportel, (Cristina Eusébio, Solicitadora C. P. 3052, Tel 917 855 377, Rua Gago Coutinho nº 71, 8150-151 São Brás de Alportel) for my property purchases, bank account set up etc. if you want to get a comparison quotation. I also used a power of attorney as this was all done before I moved to Portugal. Getting the power of attorney set up in the UK was non-trivial and needed visits to a Notary Public for an Apostille and translation for some UK documents.

Best regards,

Tony

Thank, Tony. Very helpful.

Jazz

Neil

Posted: Sun Feb 7, 2021 10:12am

Neil

Original Poster

Posts: 11

1 helpful points

Location: Albufeira

Joined: 29 Jan 2021

Posted: Sun Feb 7, 2021 10:12am

when you drive to the beach in the Algarve, how difficult is it to find a parking space, and are there parking meters or car parks with time limits etc?

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tsmith2456

Posted: Sun Feb 7, 2021 3:22pm

Posts: 14

2 helpful points

Location: Salir

Joined: 26 Nov 2020

Posted: Sun Feb 7, 2021 3:22pm

Neil wrote on Sun Feb 7, 2021 10:12am:

when you drive to the beach in the Algarve, how difficult is it to find a parking space, and are there parking meters or car parks with time limits etc?

The Algarve is a big place with loads and loads of beaches so one cannot generalise but there is parking available in those I've visited, some car parks are busier and smaller than others, some you have to pay, some you don't. Given that the Algarve economy depends upon tourists and a large number of those come for the beaches and drive cars it is safe to assume there will generally be car parking available. It is also safe to assume that in the summer months the roads and car parks near the beaches will be busy.

Neil

Posted: Sun Feb 7, 2021 4:50pm

Neil

Original Poster

Posts: 11

1 helpful points

Location: Albufeira

Joined: 29 Jan 2021

Posted: Sun Feb 7, 2021 4:50pm

tsmith2456 wrote on Sun Feb 7, 2021 3:22pm:

The Algarve is a big place with loads and loads of beaches so one cannot generalise but there is parking available in those I've visited, some car parks are busier and smaller than others, some you have to pay, some you don't. Given that the Algarve economy depends upon tourists and a large numbe...

...r of those come for the beaches and drive cars it is safe to assume there will generally be car parking available. It is also safe to assume that in the summer months the roads and car parks near the beaches will be busy.

Thanks' for that. I will probably get answers to many of my questions when I can actually get there, post Covid.

Jazz

Posted: Sun Feb 7, 2021 9:39pm

Posts: 133

14 helpful points

Location: Lagos

Joined: 29 Sep 2020

Posted: Sun Feb 7, 2021 9:39pm

Neil wrote on Sun Feb 7, 2021 10:12am:

when you drive to the beach in the Algarve, how difficult is it to find a parking space, and are there parking meters or car parks with time limits etc?

In normal times there are free parking spaces and no meters. But, that's normally!  These days many beaches are locked down.

Neil

Posted: Mon Feb 8, 2021 9:39am

Neil

Original Poster

Posts: 11

1 helpful points

Location: Albufeira

Joined: 29 Jan 2021

Posted: Mon Feb 8, 2021 9:39am

I was thinking of opening a joint bank account with my daughter, and to have a joint credit/debit card. I should think this would be OK, but can anyone confirm this?

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