Do you want to know how to find a house in Portugal, the easy and quick method? You need a crash course in Portuguese real-estate and the best websites for house hunting to start.
Crash course in real-estate market in Portugal
If you are new to the Portugal real-estate market and more so, if you are new to the EU real estate market, you need to know these 2 things before starting to search for a property in Portugal!
The first thing you need to know is that Portugal doesn’t have a nationwide database with all the houses that are for sale.
Instead has several real estate sites that are used by private individual as well as realtors to list properties for sale and rent.
The second thing you need to know about the Portugal real-estate market is that the average realtor doesn’t work for you it works for the seller.
He is only going to show you the properties that are listed with his agency or with other agencies that are willing to split the commission.
And there you have it a crash course on Portugal real-estate market!
Now let’s see how you can find a house in Portugal and what are the best websites for house hunting in Portugal. I split them up in 2 categories: where to start searching and where to go in depth with your search.
Top 3 real-estate websites – start here
Idealista.pt – https://www.idealista.pt/en/
The good
Idealista is my go to site when I am researching a larger area, especially for rural properties or out of town properties because they have a customizable map that you can draw yourself selecting the exact spots where you want to look for properties. So you don’t need to know the names of the towns and little communities, you just have to go to the map and select a chunk of Portugal and it will show you properties available in that area.
Also here you find ads from physical persons not only the big real estate companies. I love this site and I think is one of the best websites for house hunting in Portugal.
The bad
Mainly for cheap properties, you will not find many quality ads for luxury properties here.
Olx.pt – https://www.olx.pt/
The good
The only positive thing on OLX is the fact that here you find many gems posted by locals, ads that you will not find anywhere else. Good luck navigating the site, but if you have patience or a very low budget, this is where you need to start the search.
The bad
OLX it’s my least favorite site! It’s almost nerve racking when comes of navigating it, it’s only in Portuguese (you don’t have automatic translation) and the pictures are horrible! This is a side effect of the fact that if a real estate company is not in charge of the posting, the description and visuals of the properties are… hell.
Imovirtual.pt – https://www.imovirtual.com/en/
The good
Great pictures, lots of filter to choose from, good description of the properties
The bad
It’s only in Portuguese, but it’s manageable, it’s intuitive and you will manage to make a search. You will not understand the text but is not as bad as OLX.
Other websites – go in depth with your research
Rightmove – http://www.rightmove.co.uk
The good
This site is mainly for UK expats who are looking to buy properties in Portugal. This means a very good quality of picture, very easy and intuitive flow of search, and English used all over the platform. Also English speaking realtors that provide a start to finish service, just like you are used to. This start to finish service might seem like the most normal thing in the world to you, but after getting acquainted with how thing are done in Portugal, you will not mind paying extra to these people. They know that, and soon you will know it too! 🙂
Also on these type of sites aimed at foreigner buyers you will find all sorts of helpful information, blog post and mortgage tips.
The bad
The prices of the properties are “adjusted” for the buying power of the customers. Meaning just because the target audience has more money they will receive an inflated prices, because… why not?
Also here you will not find ads from physical persons, and the agent you get in touch with will show you only the properties that he has on his list.
Era – https://www.era.pt
The good
Really nice site thought as a blog more than an ads site. You have the search bar in the right (very handy) and a ton of filters. The picture slide is very big, like a parallax blog theme. Also under the description (everything is in English) you get a rating of the area, for example:
The bad
Being the site of an agency you will only get the properties listed with this agency. If for some reason you don’t like working with them, you will have to start over the search with another site.
CasaSapo.pt – https://casa.sapo.pt/en_GB/
The good
Besides the obvious that is true for all sites agency (the things you find above) what I like on this site is the fact that if you know the name of the area where you want to search for a house, you just choose it by a simple click. Also they show the different names in Portuguese, so you get acquainted with that too. I think this is one of the best websites that will help you find a house in Portugal.
The bad
As with all agency sites, this will not act like a marketplace, and here you will find only ads from this specific agency.
Sothebysrealty.com https://www.sothebysrealty.com/eng/sales/pr-prt
The good
This will be one of your go to sites for for luxury properties. Even the layout of the site is luxurious! In terms of information you can find here, you have blog posts, podcasts and videos about real-estate and they are quite interesting!
Some of the listings contain videos, and the listing itself is made like a blog post, a story to be immersed in. The search criteria are adapted to the “target audience” meaning, you can forget your average search and start looking properties after, let’s say… lifestyle! 🙂
The bad
Even if this is a very cool site to search property in Portugal, you have to have the budget for this!
Read also this! – Pinherios Altos Resort in Portugal
If you are hooked on these websites and you want to know more about pros and cons about how to find a house in Portugal, watch also this YouTube video I made on this topic. And while you are there don’t forget to subscribe!