Thinking of selling property in Portugal privately online? A real estate agent in Portugal will normally collect a 5% fee plus VAT on the sale price. Many international residents in Portugal, and a rising number of locals, find that price tag completely unaffordable.
In this case, 5% of €250,000 equals €12,750. A charge of €37,500 is possible if your house is more expensive than €750,000.
It is possible to negotiate a commission rate of 3% or lower with some real estate brokers. It might be difficult to bring them below 5%.
However, if a commission isn’t required, why pay for one? You don’t need an estate agent to sell your home.
Should I use a real estate agent?
Is it worth it to hire an estate agent? You should ask yourself that question before we go any further. While it has always been possible to sell a home privately, it has become much more challenging to attract purchasers in recent years.
However, real estate brokers had a physical location in the nearby city, as well as newspaper and radio ads. They also gained (and still get) an advertising edge by using property websites that (sadly) do not accept ads from individual sellers.
Do you really need an estate agent in this day and age when you can easily find potential buyers online? Have you thought about how you could improve it? Both, actually.
To sell oneself is to:
- Some Portuguese real estate agencies don’t hire professional photographers, so you may be able to find better shots elsewhere.
- Because real estate brokers have to divide their time between promoting several different properties, you’ll have more time to promote yours.
- Since you have intimate knowledge of the property, you can confidently respond to any and all queries that may arise from potential purchasers.
However, many visitors still pause to read the signs outside real estate offices, and this is a major advantage for the businesses there.
Using an estate agent is advantageous since they are skilled at completing transactions (i.e., convincing people to buy), whereas the average person is not. Without this expertise, you will have a hard time selling your home, no matter how well you promote it or how well you think you can handle the buyer’s inquiries.
It’s important to note that many real estate brokers in Portugal operate on a non-exclusive basis (although they always try to get exclusivity). This implies you have the option of selling the property on your own or hiring a real estate agent (or several).
When and Where to Advertise Your Home
How and where you advertise your home will vary greatly depending on whether you’re trying to attract buyers from Portugal or elsewhere.
Buyers from other countries tend to have greater disposable income, plain and simple. Although both Portuguese and foreign purchasers might be interested in a one-bedroom apartment in Lisbon, the Algarve’s six-bedroom mansion would likely be purchased by expats rather than locals (generally speaking, of course).
Expats who are selling a home typically target other expats as buyers (or future expats). This is why it’s crucial to promote your business on sites aimed at an international audience.
Websites from Around the World
For the best results, advertise your home on sites like Rightmove and esalesinternational in the United Kingdom, Zillow and Realtor in the United States, and ImmobilienScout24 and Immowelt in Germany. Many of these sites do not allow private sellers to post their properties.
To get around this, you may use services like Esales International, which will spread your listing to other sites like KYERO and a few other expat websites and foreign publications (although not all of the ones mentioned above).
Sites that host classified ads
Classifieds websites such as Idealista and OLX are also worth advertising on since they are visited by both local Portuguese buyers and knowledgeable foreigners.
Idealista \sOLX
The Cost of Using Imovirtual and NetAnuncio
Tip from Justo: There may be tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of listings for Portuguese real estate on websites like Idealista; if you want yours to stand out, it may be worth the cost to upgrade to a premium listing.
Foreigner News and Ads
Classifieds sections in two English-language expat newspapers in Portugal (The Portugal News and the Portugal Resident) might help you connect with foreign residents already in Portugal.
the act of displaying a “for sale” sign
Even if putting a “for sale” sign in the yard is so last century, it may be a good idea if you live on a busy street.
eCommerce Platforms
You should consider advertising your bed and breakfast for sale on websites that specialise in selling companies, such as businessesforsale.com.
The Reasons You May Still Owe a Commission
Property websites like Green Acres and RightMove can help you reach potential buyers who may be interested in purchasing your home. If they are interested in purchasing the house, they will likely do so without the need for an estate agent.
Nonetheless, a real estate agent may contact you if they believe they have prospective buyers for your home. Typically, these clients had visited another home of said estate agency and determined it wasn’t right for them, at which point the estate agent begins searching for further properties that meet their needs.
Without payment, they have little incentive to refer you to those customers. They can’t possibly expect 5% when they know better. They will generally contact other real estate agents and bargain for a commission of 2.5% or less.
They won’t do it for free, but a cost of 2%, 2.5%, or 3% (or whatever you agree with) is far more reasonable than 5%.
Buyer’s agents are a niche market segment within the real estate industry. On the other hand, they represent the interests of the purchaser by assisting them in locating the ideal home (and avoiding any problems that may arise throughout the purchasing process).
If you’re willing to provide a buyer’s agent a commission of 2.5 percent and they have customers who could be interested in your home, it’s worth reaching out to them to see if they have any leads.
Costs to consider
The time and emotional ups and downs are the largest expense, whether you sell with an agency or on your own. In Portugal, it is not unusual for the sale of a home to take place over the course of several years.
This means spending many hours cleaning and sprucing up the place, only to have potential buyers show little interest or worse, not show up at all for the scheduled showing.
The emotional consequences of selling a home are universal, but there are also financial considerations.
Photographer
Even though most current smartphones have great cameras, experienced photographers know how to position photographs so that they attract more attention to your listing.
Many photographers now offer packages that include video, which is a great option to think about. Including a video of the property will help your listing stand out from the crowd.
Copywriter
While many won’t skimp on a professional photographer, many choose to pen their own advertisements or hire an anglowriters. A solid description that not only includes the necessary facts but is also captivating is crucial, just as outstanding photographs are for your item to stand out.
Market Expenditures for Promotion
Listing your home on most websites will cost you money, and even if it doesn’t, you may have to pay for a higher placement on the websites that don’t.
This is the sales procedure.
This is a generalised description of the steps involved in closing a deal in Portugal.
First, organise your documents.
A property sale in Portugal necessitates the following paperwork:
To obtain a Certificate of Energy (Certificado Energético) – This certificate, which is required by law and valid for 10 years, rates the energy efficiency of your home on a scale from A (best) to F (worst).
Permanent Certificate of Completion – Certidao
Pool, septic tank, and borehole paperwork (this mainly applies to people in the countryside)
Certification of Indebtedness Architectural Plans Approved by the Town Council
Furthermore, having:
- The most recent utility bills
- Taxes on the property you own each year (IMI) have been paid in the past.
- It’s a map of the floor
- Taking stock (if selling furniture together with the house)
- You will need a Habitation Licensing (Licença De Utilizaço) or Declaration only if the structure was constructed before 1951.
- All homes constructed after 2004 require a Ficha Técnica.
Valuation
The sales process relies heavily on settling on a fair price. If the price is too high, no one will buy the property, but if it’s too cheap, money is being left on the table.
One approach to receive a valuation is to simply ask an estate agent to do it for you, as it’s part of their business and it doesn’t cost you anything. An average may be derived from a collection of viewpoints, therefore it’s usually a good idea to solicit a few.
One other option is to hire a professional surveyor.
Listing
As a further step, you should post your home for sale on the aforementioned websites. Hiring a professional photographer that focuses on real estate photography will help your listing stand out. It is also recommended that you hire a skilled copywriter and have a layout designed.
A good listing is one that not only reads well but also provides the buyer with all the relevant details about the property. All of the following are included under this category:
- Amount of money Year it was constructed
- Quantity of Beds
- Acreage Size (in square metres)
- Pictures of ALL the rooms with their energy ratings
- The Way to Get in Touch With Us
You may add more colour to your description of the house by discussing things like the neighbourhood, your favourite parts of the house, the neighbouring facilities, and the accessibility of the property by public transportation.
You might expect to receive several inquiries after your property becomes up
Dealing with all the showings might be the most challenging aspect of selling a home. The viewings themselves seldom occur on the same day, week, or month, and rarely last more than an hour.
This means you’ll have to keep your home in show-ready condition at all times during the listing period. Hours, or even days, may be spent cleaning and preparing the house, depending on its size.
If you have a lot of unwanted items lying around the house that you’ve been meaning to get rid of anyhow, now would be a great time to make a few journeys to the local thrift store.
Everyone watching your presentation probably has questions, so it’s wise to anticipate their concerns.
Common inquiries include:
Just exactly what is driving this sale?
So, how are the neighbours?
Do you know of any issues I ought to be aware of?
How flexible are you on price?
Please let me access prior years’ worth of tax and utilities bills for this home.
Because of the unconventional nature of the sale, it is crucial that you inspire the utmost confidence in the buyer. Provide the information requested, or at least commit to find out the answers.
Making a little print out, even if it’s only a single page, with all the facts of the property is a fantastic idea. Even if you have access to this data electronically, physical copies are always appreciated.
Financial institution assessment
If a mortgage is needed for the purchase, the bank will send out their own surveyor to evaluate the property. There will be no out-of-pocket expenses, but you will need to schedule some time for showing and cleaning.
Offer
The purchaser will make an offer, which may or may not be acceptable to you. Others will provide a price along with an explanation of why they think it’s a better deal than the one being offered. They may be concerned about the amount of maintenance they’ll have to perform, the presence of any known issues, the cost of comparable houses in the neighbourhood, etc.
When evaluating bids, try to have an open mind. Setting a floor price in advance helps you maintain objectivity once you reach this point.
You have three options after receiving an offer: accept it, decline it, or make a counteroffer.
A Legally Binding Agreement to Do Something
If the buyer backs out after signing the promissory contract (Contrato-Promessa Compra e Venda), you get to keep the deposit (minus any legal or estate agent fees). It’s important to remember that if you withdraw, you’ll be held responsible, too.
The CPCV can be drafted by a lawyer, but you should review it to ensure there are no errors. It’s possible that your solicitor misinterpreted something during the property transaction,
We must read this carefully, line by line.
To Begin With, No (rural Portugal)
After signing a promissory contract in many rural areas of Portugal, your neighbours have 30 days to make a better offer (Exercito de Direito de Preferência). And if they want to buy it, they get first dibs, thanks to a Portuguese rule meant to safeguard rural residents.
If your neighbours genuinely wanted to buy your house, they probably knew about the sale before it was ever listed. The most significant problem here is the potential delay of many weeks, which is the major concern for most patients.
Closing Documents Signed
A final deed is usually completed 30-60 days after a promissory note is signed.
You’ll require the following paperwork on that day:
The vendor’s NIF or citizenship card (s)
Certified copy of the deed
Is this the best route for you to take?
Even while selling your home on your own might save you a lot of money, it isn’t the best choice for everyone. Consider hiring an estate agent if you need to sell your home quickly, are located out of the country, or both. If you are unable to sell your home on your own or are currently out of the country, this option may be appealing.
You shouldn’t think of it as a yes/no question. You may either hire a real estate agent to help you sell the house, or you can try to sell property in Portugal fast through online marketing.
