With 2 weeks left to go until we signed our deed we tried to just be positive that nothing else would go wrong. I put up my Christmas tree and got into the Christmas spirit. I normally put up my tree in November, but since I thought we were moving I didn’t want to put it up, take it down to move it and put it up again, so I hadn’t. We had our annual Ugly Christmas Sweater Party, we went to a Christmas Market and saw the largest Nativity Scene in Portugal, (check out my blog post about it, it was really cool) and got ready to move.
The 2 weeks went by and everything seemed to be going as planned. We met with our lawyer again to prepare for the signing. At this point he informed us that the sellers wouldn’t be there, they were having their lawyer sign for them. I was PISSED! They had refused to let us sign before because they didn’t want to have the lawyer do it. At one point we even offered them extra money up front and told them they could stay in until they wanted just so we could get the paperwork done and they refused. All of the stress could have been avoided and they refused and were so difficult about the situation. And in the end, they weren’t even going to be there! Ugh I was so angry.
We went to the signing hesitant that something else would go wrong. Everything had up until this point so we expected more. I generally try to be a positive and optimistic person but with everything that had happened I was struggling with it. And of course, something did. We were putting down 50% of the price and getting a mortgage for the rest. When we were signing and the bank rep gave the check for the amount of the mortgage, it was less than what we had applied for. They never communicated that with me or gave me a reason as to why it was less. We had moved over enough money to cover what we had to pay for taxes plus a little extra for what we would need. Side note: when you buy a property here, you pay the taxes all at once at the signing. So since we had to put up more for the mortgage, after the taxes we only had €300 left in our bank account. I was livid! But ok, we signed and could deal with that later.
We got our keys!
Yay! We officially had our keys to our own apartment!!!! We left the signing and headed over to see our new home!
The contract of the apartment said it was sold furnished, however when we received the inventory list of what furniture was included we were a little confused. There was an itemized list with the quantity of what was included and there were only a few things that had numbers. The numbered items included some shelves, chairs, and random kitchen items. When we first questioned it, they basically told us if we didn’t like it there were people in line to buy it as it was. So we were prepared to have to furnish it.
We weren’t really sure what to expect. We kind of expected to walk into a giant mess. They had been so difficult and sometimes horrible throughout the whole process so we didn’t know if they would leave things in a bad state so I was mentally prepared for it.
We walked into the apartment and it was fine. In fact, it was a little more than fine. Everything was still there. It felt a little weird actually because it was as if they had just left on vacation. They left everything behind. There was even a computer and some clothes in the dresser. I was so confused. They said they didn’t want to leave until November because they needed to clear it out, but it didn’t seem like they cleared out much. But we did feel a huge amount of relief that we wouldn’t have to buy everything for a whole apartment.
The next day, we went back over and sorted things out. There was so much stuff. Even the garage was full of stuff, even some bikes. We separated what we wanted to get rid of and had to make space for our stuff that we would be bringing over. We donated a bunch to the charity shop and listed some on marketplace to get rid of it. It was a lot to deal with. But at least we finally had our place and could take our time to do what we needed.
Settling in:
Fast forward, it’s now February and we are still settling in. We have continued to have a couple challenges but we are making our place our own. We still have to swap out a few items but we are taking our time to find things we really like. But overall we really like our apartment and love that it is ours.
My Advice about buying in Portugal:
If you are interested in buying a property in Portugal be prepared to encounter some headaches. Number one thing is get a lawyer. Our lawyer was invaluable, we could not have done any of it without him. You absolutely need one. The paperwork process is actually a lot easier here compared to the U.S. Also remember, there is no escrow account and you will transfer money directly to the sellers. Use a funds broker to get better rates instead of something like Wise. Be prepared for a lot of waiting, a lot of waiting. Bureaucracy is a lot slower here. If you are getting a mortgage you can use a mortgage broker to find the best rates from different banks. Also you can ask for a translator at the bank. I didn’t know that and the woman at the bank didn’t speak a lot of English, so it was difficult to communicate with her. I should have asked for a translator to help with the whole process. Also be prepared for a lot of stress. Everyone that I know who has purchased property here has had a difficult time with it. I don’t know why, but everyone seems to encounter issues, but they have all worked out. In the end, the stress seems to be worth it. Good luck!
Check out my Instagram @vegas.to.portugal for some pics and videos of our apartment and more content of our life and journey of settling into living in Portugal.💙
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