I am planning to come to West Algarve to buy an apartment.

How much time do I need to spend there, realistically, to select a decent apartment and to complete the sale? I have read some forum threads and understand that once I have selected the property, I can give power of attorney to a lawyer to complete the sale for me.

Also, what is an average rental return on investment on an apt. in Lagos?

Thanks

I think you should first select some key properties using some of the Portugal most used Real Estate Portals. As I am a new member I'm not allowed to pass any urls yet but if you search on Google*dot*pt instead of Google*dot*com and choose to get only pages form Portugal you will eventually locate those on the first or second page of results.

Try also the Listible site to check for existing sites on the matter.

In those portals operate several real estate brokers with whom you can deal by e-mail exchanging mails and photos. After you get a bundle of houses together just schedule the visits to see them with your own eyes.

After choosing your new house the time needed to complete the deal depends if theres a bank involved for financing or not. Local banks usually have to check the house on site and then run an internal approval process that may take 2 to 4 weeks. But if your broker as an agreement with them it may be speeded up.

After that for all the legal stuff I'd say at least one to two months. Some broker if given a good ?signal or entry? (money you advance to close the deal) may give you the keys before all the legal stuff is done.

Hope this information was usefull!