Hello all
I have been spending time looking around the web for a little place to buy in central Portugal over the last few months and have been on a couple of viewing trips.

i have noticed a worrying trend.

There are companies advertising property that look like official estate agents, but on closer inspection are not legal and registered to be estate agents in Portugal, there are dozens of these companies on the web and even advertising in magazines.

The problem is that some of these companies are not legal and are not working within the government guide lines for estate agents, and have no one to answer to when things go wrong, they are more likely to just tell you anything to get a sale.then you want see them for dust!!
They are not registered with the governing body INCI and a lot of them dont even have a registered office they just operate from home. they will have no insurance should you need it if the sale goes wrong.

I am choosing to steer well clear of these companies when i come across them on the web. after a little probing they reluctantly tell me they are not legal agents but 'ADVERTISERS' whatever that means, Just think what would have happend if i had tried to buy a house through these guys. i did ring one up and asked what it would cost for them to sell my house they told me 2% commission. they also advertise properties for local estate agents, the agents charge up to 5% and then the ADVERTISERS charge you a further 2% makes it a expensive way to buy a house.

One other thing that i have noticed while surfing the Advertisers and estate agents sites is that on a lot of the uk based/run Advertisers websites i have found property that is advertised by a local agent, the same pictures, the same ref number, the same details. appear on both the advertisers website and on the estate agents own website, only one very big difference. THE PRICE!! it seems that some of these Portuguese agents or indeed the advertisers are increasing the price sometimes by tens of thousands of Euros when targeting the British market, i have kept links to some of these if anyone would like to see what i mean.

I find it disgusting that unscrupulous estate agents and English Advertisers will knowingly try to rip people off and overcharge buyers. especially anoying is that they think were all so stupid that we dont check around the web till we find thier website with the same house at a different price! or indeed look in the agents window!!

take my warning, only use INCI registered estate agents, check them out before you view property with them, via the Inci website. and ask around to see what sort of reputation they have. Be carefull.

I would advise people not to use ADVERTISERS it will only cost you more money, they are not legal registered estate agents, they dont have licenses, insurance, knowledge of the property laws, planning laws etc, would you trust your hard earned money to someone that has just set up in business to make quick money from people looking for a place in the sun. or to someone that has been trained and approved to handle your purchase,

To work out who is legal and who is not.

A fully lisenced and legal estate agency will have an AMI number displayed on all its marketing material, website, business cards etc. they also will have the full company name and address displayed evrywhere too, a lisenced agent will also carry a id card issued by INCI with them at all times, ask for this too.. if you cant find these on a "agents" website, chances are they are not legal, ask them for thier AMI numnber, they will of coarse also have an office, not just a pc and a website!

sorry for the rant but just like to warn others looking to buy in central Portugal, of course during the last few months i have come across some excellent (legal) Estate Agents who are completly honest and trustworthy and deal with customers in a honest and proffessional manner. I can recomened these proffessional companies completely.

Hello Jonw

That's great that you share your experience. And you're absolutely right. Buying from a certificated agent is much safer that from a curious.

there are some good trust worthy buy and sells companies about who take you through every process with care

There are many people trying to make easy money overpricing other peoples properties.

Buying in a foreign country only through certificate companies or directly to the owners.

Its true what you say, but that happens in lots of countries. One has to shop around. Ahh...and just because they are certified doesnt mean you can trust them. Ive seen some of the commisions those internacionally certified companies charge. I always suggest a nice long windows shopping through the local agencies.