Hi; we're planning to buy an apartment around Cascais in the near future and was wondering if now's the right time to do so? It seems there's a lots of sellers out there and only a few buyers. If an asking price is say 120,000€, how much should we offer? Thanxx.

Hi there. I´m Portuguese living in an area near Cascais and answering to your question I must say it depends much on the house of course.
Cascais is a big area and it has a large range of prices. You have from the most expensive condo´s in Portugal to regular apartments (some of them in not very recommended areas). Everyone that lives in this area refers to it just as Cascais, but they don´t really mention the exact place where they live.

I don´t know if i´m being explanatory.


What I mean is that this area is not easy to evaluate just by some information (price/photos/...). You must see for yourself or know someone in the area that can advice you well on how much to offer and even if the business worths.

If you go to areas far from the big cities (Lisbon and Porto) the prices/areas/conditions are more homogenious. I mean in Cascais, for instance, you can have an apartment that costs 150000€ and only 2kilometers away you can have one that is evaluated in 300000€. In the center of Portugal or Alentejo you don´t have this difficulty.


I hope I´ve helped. Sorry for the mistakes in my English






Greetings.

Oh but giving you a tip, on your particular question.

If the price asked is approximated from the real market value of the propriety, or else if the person is not being greedy our "robbing" you, you should try to low the price in 5000~10000€.


It´s just a tip in the dark. It´s depends on the house.

Thanks for your kind replies Vinte.
We're actually looking for a specific area in the Cascais area. We been quoted a price of around 120.000 € for an apartment. When we offered to pay cash, no mortgage necessary, the seller sounded very keen and was quick to point out, that yes, the price was definitely negotiable. It seems the apartment was bought by a company for the sole reason of doing place up and sell it for a profit. One of our Portuguese friends who live nearby went to take a look at the apartment and he says it way overpriced. Our friend himself bought a place with his wife and received 15% discount for paying in cash. We're not in a rush to buy a property or any other one for that matter, so let's see if it's still on the market in three months time. If it's still available, our friend told us not to offer more than 90.000 €. I'll let you know how our negotiations turn out if and when we purchase it.

That´s what I was talking about. Some properties are way overpriced indeed. Specially if it was bought to extract some money of it.
The 120000€ price is the price asked for public in general or to you in particular?
Some people tend to get the idea of selling everything for a higher price when dealing with foreign buyers.

Yet, I would be surprised if the owner lows the price to 90000€ but if your friends say that it´s very overpriced it´s possible.

I advise you to go to a Portuguese Real Estate site (with english versions) and try to find properties similar to the one you are interested a see if the prices is overrated or not.

One of the simplest ones is this

BCI Real Estate: Properties, Flats, Villas, Houses, Lands, Plots, Farms, Buildings, Offices, Shops and/or Warehouses for sale or rental in Portugal

Just choose Lisboa and then Cascais and off you go.
By the description and photos you should be able to have some arguments to negotiate.

Maybe you'll even find a better house for a better price!

Hi there. Thanks for the link mad zzzb. There's lots of interesting properties listed in Cascais area by the look of it. We've decided to wait until
October this year before buying anything, giving us ample time to look around.
Regards, Paul.

Hello.

I don't know about the deal you are willing to make. I don't know the area but what I can tell you if that right now in Portugal you will see lot's of Vende-se signs ( on sale). If it's a right time to buy, you never know the future but at least as a buyer you are on the dominant position so you can make some good deals.

To give you my personal experience, last year I was looking to buy 1 flat for myself in Aveiro ( 1h south from Porto ) and one for my father. I know I wanted to buy them in a very small area because I was going to rent them to University Students ( about 13 000 university students in Aveiro ). I took one month visiting flats in an area of 2 kilometers. I made about 40 visits to finally buy the two flats at very good prices. Regarding to all the flats I visited my flats where between 10 000 to 15 000 euros cheaper than the AVERAGE market prices. Regarding to the money invested, 95 000 euros and a 113 000 euros investment that's quit a good save of money. ( Enough to buy the furnitures, pay the taxes and still go for a ski trip :-)

So my ADVICE is don't visit only from one agency. If you can do it by yourself, take a bike, walk, take 1 month and visit, visit and visit. ( From agencies, from individual, and ask in bars, pubs, restaurants in case you really like one special place, street, building).

My friends and network here are now asking me to "work" for them so I am kind of an Independant real estate consultant. As they don't know the market, they don't have time, I do it for them as if it was again for me.

If you have any questions, send me and email.

Take care and enjoy portugal

Thanks for your detailed response Seb Lacroix.
The thing is; as the exchange rate for the GBP has dropped to a historic low against the EUR, we're definitely going to wait until the pound (hopefully) recovers somehow. As we speak, it's trading around 1.25 EUR to 1 GBP making an drop of around 15%+ since last year. We're definitely not going to look actively for a property in the Cascais area before the end of the year. If properties in Portugal falls and the pound rises meanwhile, it's a win-win situation for us, but that's a gamble we take.
Like I say; life's one big casino. Our fingers are crossed!

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.