I've walked a lot of people through this over the last few years — buyers from Germany, the UK, the Netherlands, France, elsewhere. The buying process in Portugal isn't complicated. It's just different. And most of the expensive mistakes happen because someone treats a step as "we'll do that later" when it actually needs to come first.
Here's the order that works. No bureaucratic jargon, no marketing talk — the same thing I'd tell you at the kitchen table.
1. Get a NIF — the Portuguese tax number
Without a NIF, nothing happens in Portugal. No bank account, no electricity, no contract, no purchase agreement. So it's the first step, before you even look at houses.
You can request a NIF yourself at the tax office (Autoridade Tributária), or through an accountant. As an EU citizen you don't need a so-called Fiscal Representative. A lot of providers still sell you one for €200 to €500 per year. Save that money.
Timeline: 1 to 3 weeks. Cost: €50 to €150 via an accountant, free if you go yourself.
2. Open a Portuguese bank account
Not strictly required, but you'll want it. Otherwise you're paying water, electricity, property tax and tradespeople by international transfer, and that's a drag. Millennium BCP and Novo Banco work with foreigners without any fuss. You need a NIF, ID, proof of address, and you have to be physically present in a branch or issue a power of attorney.
A Portuguese account is also the more credible route in front of the notary. Closing costs on the day of the Escritura are usually settled by a Portuguese banker's cheque. Without a local account, that gets tight.
3. Sort financing — unless you're paying cash
The honest sentence first: German, Austrian and Swiss banks barely finance property in Portugal. If the property sits here, you need a Portuguese bank. They give non-residents a maximum loan-to-value of 60 to 70 percent, in euros, at a variable or fixed rate.
The property has to be valued before loan approval. Budget 6 to 10 weeks from first enquiry to a binding offer. If your seller won't accept a delay, you lose the deal to the next person who comes in cash.
If you pay cash: skip this step and you're 6 weeks faster. In Aljezur that's often the difference between winning the deal and being turned down.
4. Search and viewings — with a local partner
Idealista and Imovirtual are good search platforms. But they're also the reason a lot of buyers pay 10 to 20 percent over market. Sellers test on those platforms. If you enquire from 2,000 km away, you're read as less informed and quoted a higher number.
A local partner sees the properties, knows the street, knows what's going on in the neighbourhood, often has access to properties that aren't online yet. In a tight market like Aljezur, that's the difference between "good property at a fair price" and "the pretty house that didn't work out in the end".
5. CPCV — the promissory contract with a 10 percent deposit
The Contrato-Promessa de Compra e Venda is the actual binding moment. You pay 10 percent of the purchase price. From here, backing out gets expensive: you lose your deposit if you walk. The seller has to double the deposit back to you if they walk.
The most common expensive mistake at this stage is easy to name: people sign the CPCV without having it reviewed by a Portuguese lawyer first. €1,500 to €3,000 in legal fees against a deposit of €30,000 to €80,000. There is no situation where that maths doesn't work out.
From the CPCV, you typically have a 30- to 90-day window to Escritura. That window is when step 6 happens.
6. Due diligence — land registry, planning, use rights
This is the step that kills more purchases in Aljezur than any other. Portugal has a long history of informal construction. You need three documents clean:
- Certidão Predial from the land registry. Who owns it, are there any charges, does the size match what you see.
- Caderneta Predial from the tax office. How is the property assessed for tax, what size is registered.
- Licença de Utilização from the town hall. Is the actual use of the house approved.
In Aljezur, discrepancies between the Caderneta and reality aren't the exception, they're the norm. A house registered at 120 sqm but built at 180 is a legalisation case. That might cost €500 and take three weeks. Or it might be impossible and kill the purchase. This is where a good lawyer earns their fee back.
If you plan to rent the property: check the AL licence too. Is it in place, is it transferable, is it still valid in that location. In Arrifana, for example, new AL licences have become hard to get.
7. Escritura — the notary appointment
Once due diligence is clean and financing is confirmed, comes the Escritura. You pay the remainder of the price, you pay the IMT (property transfer tax, effectively 5 to 8 percent for most prices in our region), you pay the stamp duty (0.8 percent), you get the keys.
The notary certifies and records. But the notary doesn't tell you whether the deal is a good one for you. That's what the lawyer from steps 5 and 6 is for.
Very practical point: all closing costs have to be paid BEFORE the notary appointment. Not on the day. Budget 8 to 12 percent in closing costs on top of the price. Anyone who doesn't tell you that isn't doing you a favour.
8. After the purchase — IMI, water, electricity, and (if renting) the AL licence
The purchase is complete with the Escritura, but the switchovers aren't. You have 30 days to register the property with the tax office for the IMI (annual property tax). You have to actively transfer water (Águas do Algarve), electricity (EDP) and refuse collection into your name. Otherwise old contracts stay with the previous owner, and the bill lands in your mailbox eventually.
If you rent: the AL licence has to be in your name. If you're moving here full-time and don't bring your own EU health cover, you register with the SNS (the Portuguese health system).
And then you're through. All in, if everything runs smoothly, it takes 3 to 5 months from the NIF application. With financing, more like 5 to 7.
If you're already looking at a specific property:
I do this walk with foreign buyers regularly. If you already have a property in mind or you're setting up your first viewing, just tell me briefly what you're looking at. I'll tell you where you actually are in the process, and where the typical breaking points sit for exactly your property.