Homeseekers-Alentejo: Our Services

On this page you will find useful information about purchasing or building property in the Lower Alentejo region of Portugal. We have also detailed some of the homeseeker services that we are able to provide.

Properties For Sale

Prior to purchasing property or opening a bank account in Portugal it is necessary first to register with the Financas (tax office) who will issue you with a Fiscal Number. This has to be done either in person or by your lawyer.

If you do not yet have a lawyer, then we will be happy to accompany you, if you wish. You will require the services of a lawyer to complete your purchase. We can recommend an excellent Portuguese lawyer in Ourique, who also speaks excellent English.

We have details of various properties that are currently being offered for sale or development. Please use the Links below for details and further information about these properties:

Pre- purchase Investigation

If you are interested in purchasing a plot of land in order to build a house to your own specifications, then there are steps that now need to be taken before you agree to buy.

Firstly you need to ensure that the person offering to sell you the land actually owns it, or has the authority of the owners to sell it to you on their behalf.

Next you need to know that planning approval for what you have in mind, will be given. For this you need to know what is legal according to Portuguese Building Regulations and also what the PDM for the local area states.

Put simply, the PDM is the local area plan that states exactly what you can or cannot build in the locality. Fall foul of this and you may face serious problems obtaining a Habitation Licence enabling you to legally live in your house. Also it will be almost impossible to resell the house, should you wish to do so at a later date.
The owner of the land that you are interested in, may have already obtained outline planning permission stating what you can build. If not, then this must be applied for, first. Also, outline planning permission (when granted) is usually only valid for 1 year, so it is necessary to ensure that this is up to date.

Next you should check the boundaries of the land you hope to buy. Many plots of land are unfenced and old boundary markers can be unreliable or have totally disappeared. Employing a topographer who uses modern satellite technology to pinpoint the boundaries accurately will cost a few hundred euros. Discovering later that the idyllic spot where you had planned to build your house is actually on a neighbour’s land can be both devastating and costly.

Lastly it is worth checking out ‘rights of way’. There are many old cart tracks crossing the landscape that are identified on the old Military Maps and many councils still use these for reference. If the track across your plot shows up on one of these maps then it could be regarded as a public thoroughfare, even if it passes your front door. Having it re-routed can be time consuming and will have to be done at your expense.

Obtaining satisfactory answers to all these points may seem daunting. But it does not need to be. We have experience of dealing with all these matters and so can ensure that you get the correct answers from the correct people such that your money, when spent, is safe.

Services We Can Provide

Points to Remember

Gaining Full Planning Permission

If you have purchased a plot of land with outline planning permission to build, or a property for redevelopment, your first step is to ensure that the outline planning permission is up to date. Outline planning permission is usually granted for 1 year, after which, it must be renewed or it may be lost.

Your next step is to get plans drawn up and presented to the Camara (local council) to obtain full planning permission, followed by your licence to build.

If you have already drawn sketches of what you would like, we can arrange for these to be previewed by the County Architect before you have the full plans drawn. Your dream may be a 2 storey villa with roof terrace, but in an agricultural area or nature reserve, then the answer will be no .........regardless of what others may tell you.

If you have yet to put pen to paper then we can assist you to get your sketches hand drawn with approximate dimensions that can be shown to the County Architect for his comments and input.

Once you are satisfied that your project will be approved by the Camara, except for minor changes perhaps, then it is time to get the full set of plans prepared and submitted. Extra sets will be available for you to get building quotations.

You will also need to have a full topographical survey carried out, to accompany your application.

Planning approval can take some weeks but the more information you give beforehand the faster it will be. Eventually you will receive notification that your project is approved and you will be invited to submit a further set of engineers plans detailing all the technical information.

The last, and most important document that you will receive from the Camara will be the invitation to go to the office with your builder to collect your Building Licence.

Services We Can Provide

N.B. The preparation of full plans is charged separately by the engineer, per square metre of build size. The services of the topographer will also be charged separately.

Points to Remember

Project Monitoring and Liaison

While the cat’s away.............................As the saying goes

If you have a project approved and a builder chosen then the most important next step is to ensure that what is actually built agrees with the plans and your wishes. Any deviation can lead to disappointment for you and delay, should approval be needed from the authorities for the changes that have been made.
It can also lead to added unnecessary expense.

If you are unable to be on site permanently you have to rely on occasional visits and long distance phone calls. Small errors that could have been simply and quickly rectified remain undiscovered until much later when remedial work can be much more involved, time consuming and expensive.

We are permanently based in Portugal and therefore able to monitor your build on a day to day basis: giving you the reassurance that everything is progressing correctly in your absence.

Services We Can Provide:

If you wish to make any changes or additions after work has begun:

If there is anything further that you would like us to do for you in your absence, please ask.

Property Purchase, Planning and Project Management Tariff

Purchase and Planning

We charge a flat fee of €10 per hour for our services on your behalf. This can include:

N.B. You will be billed separately by the lawyer, topographer and engineer (who will draw the official and technical plans that will be needed for planning permission). There will also be a number of small payments to the Camara for licences etc.

We can advise on approximate costs of all the above. Please contact us for further details.

Project Management and Liaison

We charge a flat fee of 1.75% of the cost of the build.

The work will take approximately 8 to 12 months depending upon the size of the build and whether any changes are made once work has started.

Frequent Visitor Discount Scheme

Spring Flowers.

Paying for villa accommodation each time you need to visit can prove very costly. Our scheme allows you to make 3 visits per year for the price of only 2, with further visits charged pro-rata. This effectively guarantees you a discount in the region of 25% off our normal rates.

How the scheme works

Make your first booking in the normal way at the regular rate. Upon you departure, or as soon as possible afterwards, make your second booking as before. You will then be invited to make a further visit (free of charge) sometime between November and March (excluding Xmas and New Year).

A winter visit, of course, can prove very informative with regard to issues such as land drainage, prevailing winds, or how much and what type of heating you might require in your house; things that can be hard to envisage on a hot sunny summers day.

This scheme will also give you a ‘comfy’ home from home feeling as each time you return, you will already be familiar with your villa accommodation and the services we provide - so removing any worries as to where you might be staying.

Storage Facilities

We  have a large storage container in which furniture and boxed items may be stored.

Storage is charged per square metre. Insurance is the responsibility of the hirer.

Who are Homeseekers-Alentejo?

We are Greg and Penny Chapman and we came to Portugal in 2006 initially to start our tourism project. Homeseekers-Alentejo was born as a result of our experiences, the full details of which can be found on our About Us page.

As Homeseekers-Alentejo we work totally independently, on your behalf. We are neither estate agents nor lawyers.

We neither ask for, or expect any payment from the professionals that we recommend. Their names will be given to you purely as a result of the good service that they have given to us personally, or others known to us, in the past.

All information that we provide will be given in good faith. However, please be aware that the services of a lawyer will be required to conclude legally binding property deals.