Latest investment in the Eastern Algarve

Good News for Property buyers in the eastern Algarve, Ria shopping has just opened in Olhão, it’s an investment of over 30 millions and occupies an area of 9 thousand square meters, and it’s about 15km from Tavira. The RIA Shopping is divided in 6 floors 3 under ground witch caters for parking for 1100 cars, and the 3 above. This centre has 80 stores that include a supermarket, food, fashion. It has 3 cinemas one of them it’s a 3D the first in the Algarve, to open 7 days a week.

The centres motto is “LET YOURSELF BE SEDUCED”

So! When you next visit Algarve and preferably, are visiting your property in the Eastern Algarve, you now have the comfort and convenience to shop in Olhão and do not have to go halfway across Algarve to Algarve Shopping Centre.

Finally to those thinking of purchasing in Tavira , Taviras own Shopping Centre is nearing completion and should be ready for you during this coming summer.

The bottom line is, Eastern Algarve is the place to be!!

Written by the Algarve Team

Stories from Silver Coast Portugal.

Being from South Africa you learn from a young age not to trust people. If someone asks for your hand they usually want your arm and if you don’t want to give it to them they will cut it off anyway.

One of my first amazing experiences of Portugal was at a little café right on the strip in Sao Martinho Do Porto. I ordered a roll with some cheese and a coffee. When it came time to pay the lady didn’t have change for my fifty euro note. She had an interesting expression on her face almost as if she was saying ‘what kind of idiot pays for a roll and coffee with a fifty euro note?’. So she gave me the receipt and said amanha, this means tomorrow. Then in broken English she said “you pay tomorrow, or the next day, whenever”. I’d like to believe it’s coz I’m incredibly good looking but it was because she trusted me, this is normal for these wonderful people an this amazing place.

Written by Dylan Herholdt

What to expect from a viewing trip to the Silver Coast of Portugal

A viewing trip is usually between 3 and 5 days. One of our Sales Representatives will meet you at the airport and take you to your hotel. This Sales rep. will be the person responsible to guide you throughout your tour.

Where to buy?

One of the first things that you need is knowledge on the different locations according to the type of property you intend to acquire. Your representative will take you to different locations giving you a guided tour of the city or village, taking you to the nearest beach and any other places of interests. He will show you 1 or 2 properties in every location that you like, usually the best ones available within your budget. It is essential you see these properties to enable you to familiarise yourself with the value of property in a specific location. The most important thing is for you to choose which location you like best and, consequently, where you would like to buy your house. So if we do our job well, at the end of the first or second day you will be able to tell us where you want to see more properties.

What to buy?

There are no 2 properties alike but since there are not two persons alike either, I seriously believe that there is a buyer for every property. What you might classify as a “no way” someone else will consider their perfect property.
There is always some give and take when choosing property. You can be close to everything but get less value for your money, or you can be reasonably close and get a better house. For lifestyle clients this is always a difficult decision. Investment-wise, and especially when you are buying to rent, it is clear that a central location becomes a must.
When viewing property in a specific location we aim to provide you with as much information on that location and surrounding area as we can to enable you to make a knowledgeable and wise decision.

How to buy?

There are two other important stages that we will cover.

We will advise you to use a bilingual law firm and, if you don’t have any contacts here in Portugal, we will suggest one that has worked with our clients for several years. They will be working on your behalf and we will take you to meet them so that they can explain the buying process to you, including the costs involved.

In the eventuality that you require a mortgage, we can take you to a branch of one of the biggest banks here in Portugal so that you can speak with them in person. We also work with a mortgage adviser that can do a simulation on the spot and get pre-approval from the bank.

By the end of your tour you will have all the required information in order to enable you to reach your decision. Since Portugal is a great unspoilt country with so many advantages, such as proximity, weather, food, friendly people and much much more, I’m sure you will agree it is a great place to live and visit more often.

Portugal leading Europe on “Green” and “Clean” energy

From dawn to sunset, 2,520 solar followers, with 104 photovoltaic panels each, "pursue" and "feed" from the sun that radiates in the town of Amareleja in Alentejo (Moura), to produce "clean" energy through the largest solar complex in the world.

With a total capacity of 46.41 megawatts (MW), the Photovoltaic Solar complex is owned by Spanish company Acciona, a world leader in renewable energy. They have chosen this location due to maximum temperature records reached here in summer.

The quality and quantity of solar radiation in this area, allied to the "availability” of land, led Acciona to "gamble" and invest 261 million euros in a project conceived six years ago by the "visionary" mayor of Moura.

It has now been working for four months, but over the next 25 years this plant will produce 93 giga watts / hour (GWh) of energy per year, an output sufficient to supply 35 thousand homes and save approximately 90 tons of greenhouse gas (CO2) emissions.

The factory plant, which during installation employed 220 temporary workers, will create about 15 permanent jobs, mostly in maintenance services.

The project includes a factory for production of photovoltaic panels, also owned by Acciona and running in Moura and should create 100 to 110 permanent jobs.

The factory plant, which has been well publicised throughout the world for being the largest, also has an "educational" interest and is a potential "showcase" of photovoltaic technology, which, despite not being fully mature, is very evolved.

São Martinho Bay–excellent location to invest on the Silver Coast

Sao Martinho do Porto is one of the best locations on the Silver Coast for several reasons:

Its beauty and unique shell-shaped bay make this village an attractive place for tourists and locals alike. Every time the sun shines on a winter’s day, the town immediately springs to life and people come out of nowhere to enjoy the scenario, take a walk on the promenade, or visit a coffee shop. Restaurants and the small shops get very busy. This is a prime location on the Silver Coast for the Portuguese.

Sao Martinho Bay has the most stable property growth on the Silver Coast. This magnificent location has a great combination for the foreign market. In the summer it is very busy, which is great in terms of rentals, and between March and the end of May owners can come out and enjoy a holiday. Throughout the rest of the year there are some holiday periods and long weekends that attract the Spanish tourist market and, since this location doesn’t offer reasonable hotel accommodation, renting apartments becomes the solution. Sao Martinho is actually known as a family destination and renting apartments is much more pleasant them a hotel room.

The village of Sao Martinho Bay has all amenities within walking distance and you will find that there is no need for a car. There have been noticeable improvements over the last 3 years, attracting more and more people to this village and, of course, that reflects on the property market. Some of the improvements were: The promenade, side walks, beach paths, cycle track, panoramic elevator (includes the tourism office in the building).

Sao Martinho Bay is one of the most central beach locations on the Silver Coast, enabling the tourist to explore the region, without spending hours behind the wheel. Heading north, Nazare is the nearest town (11 kilometres) but you can easily get to Fatima (well-known for religious pilgrimage), Alcobaca or Batalha which have beautiful monasteries well worth visting. Heading south there are another handful of wonders to discover: from the city of Caldas da Rainha, well-known for its street market, beautiful park and, if you are keen on shopping, this is one of the largest cities of the Silver Coast offering a variety of shopping choices. Obidos Castle is five minutes from Caldas and you shouldn’t miss it as it is a world heritage site protected by Unesco. Obidos offers a variety of festivals throughout the year, such as the Chocolate festival. Peniche is one of the oldest fisherman villages where you can get a boat trip to the Berlengas Islands. And don’t forget that Lisbon, Portugal’s capital, is only 50 minutes away!.

The west coast of Portugal faces the Atlantic Ocean. If you are a surfer then you will appreciate the strong currents but, otherwise, you should choose locations like Sao Martinho Bay where you can swim and children can play in the water. Sao Martinho Bay is the safest place in the Silver Coast and you won’t find many other places where you can swim freely.

You have probably heard all this before but property is all about location, location, location!

One of the many houses sold on the Silver Coast of Portugal

Today I want to share my last client experience.

This client came to Portugal looking to buy a second-hand house in the Silver Coast. His idea was to buy a resale detached villa, with some privacy, where he could do some improvements (not a lot - perhaps just some painting and improving the garden and maybe even putting in a swimming pool). His budget was 150.000€ including what he wanted to spend on improvements.

1st Day – On the first day we took some time to look at some of the areas in the Silver Coast , mainly the Lourinha area, where there are many properties of this type and which are good value for money. We had a look at the main beach (Praia da Areia Branca) in the town of Lourinha so that they had a reference point to the properties I was going to show. I showed 4 houses but 2 of them needed too much work to be done. They were impressed with what they could get for their money but it wasn’t really what they wanted. The houses were of course old, so some had small rooms or small windows, kitchens needed improvement and some even needed the tiles in the bathrooms to be changed.

2nd Day - On the second day I told him we would be looking at new properties to give him a better feel for what he could get and compare them with the properties he had seen the previous day. Again, showing him the surrounding areas as this is as important as the property itself. We went to Cadaval where we looked at 2 properties, then moved on to another property with views of the Monte Junto Mountain (spectacular views) and stopped for lunch in a really nice typical small restaurant. After lunch we went for a walk in Obidos castle and went to see the last property in Salgueirinha - a quiet location some 10 minutes from Obidos Castle and Caldas da Rainha, which was our next stop. Caldas is definitely worth visiting as it is a lovely town where you can find everything: from shopping malls to street markets, banks, rail and bus links to Lisbon and the north, cinemas, parks, etc. From there we went to Foz do Arelho, where the Obidos lagoon meets the sea, so that they could see how close they were from the beach. Last, but not least, we went to Sao Martinho do Porto for a before heading back to Lisbon, which took us 50 minutes.






3rd Day – The decision day! They were really keen on the last property that was for sale at 165.000€ and also in another one for 155.000€. They decided that they wouldn’t go over their initial budget of 150.000€ so they wanted me to make an offer for that amount on the 165.000€ property. If it was refused they would try the other one. I knew that 3 weeks ago the developer had turned down a similar offer, but still tried anyway explaining that if he didn’t accept the offer they were going to buy another one. It took the developer some 30 minutes to phone back accepting the offer, on condition that the client sign the deed within a maximum period of a month and a half. The clients were delighted and we when to the lawyer to reserve it.

These photos were taken a few month ago and the house is now ready and lovely.

Diferent Countries different measurements

Conversion factors
From Country to Country we have different measurements so here is a simple table to get the measurements right.

To convert Multiply by

Inches to centimetres 2,540
Centimetres to inches 0,394
Feet to meters 0,305
Meters to feet 3,281
Yards to meters 0,914
Meters to yards 1,094
Miles to Kilometres 1,609
Square feet in square meters 0,093
Square meters to square feet 10,760
Square yards in square meters 0,836
Square meters in square yards 1,196
Acres in hectares 0,405
Hectares in acres 2,471

Gallons in liters 4,546
Liters in Gallons 0,220

Oz in grams 28,350
Grams in oz 0,035
Pounds in kilograms 0,454
kilograms in Pounds 2,205
English tonnes in kilograms 1016
kilograms in English tonnes 0,000984

Useful information but if you are near to a PC the best way to know a conversion is by typing it in to google search. Ex: 3 miles in kilometres and google will give you the answer.

Buying and selling property, when is the best time?

People have always bought property when the market is growing, or even booming, but the reality is that markets are roller coasters and it is in times like these that you can make good money in the property market.

• When to sell
The best time in the market to sell property is, of course, when prices are high but how do you know if its not going to rise even further? This is what everyone wants to know and it pays to be realistic regarding the value of your property, what you paid for it and how fast it has appreciated in value (capital growth). Remember it is only a gain when you actually sell it - otherwise it is just a potential gain and it can fall fast! Waiting for signs of depreciation is never a good idea. Usually you will only know after a few months and by then the supply is growing fast and prices are dropping.
My advice is to set a target and sell once you have reached it. Remember, greed can lead you to miss the opportunity of a very good sale. Set a value target and a time frame.

• When to buy
The same logic is applied here – the time to sell is when there is a downward trend, like now. Markets have fallen, prices are low and it is impossible to lose money. Markets can still depreciate but not significantly and once the market starts picking up it can still take a few months to know whether you have benefited. If you wait for the market to start picking up you will miss the best and fastest growth.
In the current situation, market prices are incredible and developers are actually loosing money by selling but they need to keep working and for that they need cash flow.

• Silver Coast of Portugal Market
I work in the Silver Coast of Portugal and I have seen deals that were unthinkable three years ago. Properties that are being sold far below their real value in plots worth half of the selling price. Clients that came out wanting to buy second-hand houses because they thought they could get more for their money, have ended up with new properties far better than what they initially where looking for on the resale market.

In my honest opinion the market is already changing as there is less supply, with some developers already holding out for the asking prices, instead of selling for lower prices but this is something to confirm 3 months from now.
Portugal has a solid banking system and here you can still get a mortgage, as long as the property value is right and you have a steady income. Banks are lending up to 80% of the valuation on the property, subject to certain conditions and after assessing your financial situation.

All this to state that if you dreamed of a second home in Portugal and you didn’t buy two years ago, you belong to the lucky few that can now get a bargain and appreciate a great investment as well as a great country.

Why Silver Coast of Portugal great place to live and invest in property

1 The Silver Coast of Portugal is one of the most stable markets in Europe.
One of the reasons is that we are not as aggressive as other countries in terms of self-promotion. Our growth has come mainly from the national market where people have relocated to places nearer to the coast line and major cities.
Regarding the foreign market, there is a great demand from people who are retired or about to retire and want to live in a calm location with lots of sunshine, and where the cost of living is one of the lowest in Europe. Investors are attracted to the potential growth and rental income.

2 The Silver Coast offers Great Value for your money
Property prices did not suffer a marked increase or a sharp fall making the Silver Coast a stable growing location. Although we feel the area is worth a lot more, it is growing steadily in popularity and demand with prices following that flow.

3 Silver Coast Exceptional locations
The Silver Coast has it all; from some of the best golf courses in Europe to miles of white sandy beaches and sunshine all year. These are the main attractions for holiday makers but we have a lot more. The Silver Coast is where the main battles took place in the past and where history was made. There are a vast number of castles, monasteries, places of religious interest and historical monuments from Obidos Castle (world heritage), Fatima, Nazare, Batalha, to Mafra… so you see in Portugal we have lots more to offer - not just the beaches or Golf courses.

4 Portugal is One of the safest countries in Europe
Portugal has the 2nd lowest crime rate per capita, and as long as you take normal precautions, you can stroll freely during the day or night.

5 Portugal's Modern infrastructures
Since joining the European Community in 1996, Portugal has made huge strides in renewing and upgrading its infrastructures. Now we are proud to say that the quality of our roads, railway and buses compare favourably with other European destinations.

6 Portuguese Building regulations
By not being in the front line of tourism destinations, we have seen what others have done and learned from their mistakes. The Portuguese government has restricted construction, with several laws being introduced, so as not to spoil or over-develop the Silver Coast, as well as other areas in Portugal.

7 Cherish the Portuguese lifestyle and Traditions
The Silver Coast is not a holiday location that has forgotten about its population and traditions. They are just as busy during the low season and traditional fairs and festivals are held throughout the year. Prices generally tend to remain steady and there is not a marked difference between local and foreign tourism. We are known for being one of the friendliest people in the world.