Hi, I also live very close to Cascais, Infact going down there for a walk tonight as it's a beautifull night. Being involved in property to a certain extent Cascais is an interesting one. People who work in Lisbon are actually moving out of cascais in big numbers due to the traffic ont he marginal and the A5 in peak hours. They are moving closer to Lisbon, areas like Oeiras and onwards. Infact Lisbon city has seen the highest rate in price increases due to this fact. A lot of afluent young professionals are buying up property in the most desireable areas of Lisbon. Anyway back to Cascais the mind set there as with much of the Lisbon coast in my experience is to stick to or very, very close to the asking price, even if it takes a year or two to sell. I recently made a cash offer on a property which has been on the market for a year and a half for €135,000. I offered €110,000 and was told no way. They would only reduce by €500, I nearly Peed myself with laughter. Speaking to a lot of agents this is the done thing, people just hold out for what they want regardless if it's the market price or not. What you also have to remember having a real estate agent to market your property is a relatively new concept here. For many years property was bought and sold from word of mouth. There are a LOT of properties for sale but as I've found out not many "deals" to be had. All I'm saying if that your friend got a 15% discount, he one was very lucky or two maybe some under declaration was going on. However there always exceptions to the rule.