How do you sort out the reputable estate agencies from the rest, is there some Governmental control over standards in Portugal?

there is a governing body called INCI, all estate agencies in Portugal must be registered with INCI, if they are not registered and have a valid AMI number then they are not legal. you should only use proper legal INCI agencies, much safer.
this is the link to INCI.
Consulta

you can check out an agent on the INCI website to see if they are legal and registered, watch out as there are a lot of people out there on the web pretending to be estate agents.


By clicking on an individual agent's name you can find out the validity dates of their AMI Nº and insurance cover.

give it a try with our AMI number 7856

just put the number in where it says No Licenca then hit the button that says pesquisar
then click on the Estate Agents name or AMI number to see details of them, if you are checking someone out and they are not listed, then they are not a proper INCI licensed agent, also check that the license, insurance dates are still valid.

you can also check details by putting in the company name or look under the town you are interested in, under councelho this will bring up all the agents listed.try putting in Tomar for our estate agency chavetejo

give it a try, you will find there are a lot of illegal agents out there that wont come up on the inci site.

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www.gekkoportugal.com A guide to living, working and buying property in Central Portugal
www.chavetejo.com Central Portugal Registered Estate Agents AMI 7856

Hello Ady,
Sorry i´m( Ami-7084)
Have you thought about steel frame,
Basically same price per m2 many differences on standards,guarenteed 25 years sound/damp proofed,from scratch key ready in 4 months.
Compared to 10 months -15 months,
Plus you can make any changes through out the build.
We work with an American company also based in Lisbon,
If you need any advise on this can pass on their contacts.
Good luck

Thanks, I'll do that.

Care is still needed - even with registered agents. There are so many horror stories and broken dreams over here. Good recommendations, estate agents which have been in business for a long time and don't assume your own countrymen are honest or trustworthy - they are often the worst. Do I sound cynical? I am and I've only been over here for 5 years.

Hi omostra is correct that is the best way to check that they are legal and reputable and covered by insurance you can also try the experiment with Ami8051 and look us up at Properties in Perfect Portugal.
Sarah

Hi Sarah,
yes, people are much safer using licensed inci registered agencies, gives people peace of mind that they will be looked after properly and that everything will be dealt with legally and correctly. much safer than taking a chance with someone illegal operating from thier back bedroom.

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www.gekkoportugal.com A guide to living, working and buying property in Central Portugal
www.chavetejo.com Central Portugal Registered Estate Agents AMI 7856

While I admit there are some rotten apples in the barrel I dont believe that ripping people off etc is indemic at least not in the central region, most of the agents I know are trying to do an honest job. One of the problems are that wildly different prices show up for the same property on different web-sites, this happens to me also and I have to be constantly vigilant that another web-site isn't showing a property with a massively different price even though the commision is similar its simply that the owner has given two different prices for whatever reason but people jump to the conclusion that the agent with the higher price is a crook and its not usualy the case if you look at my site and compare the price of others and find large differences do let me know.
Investment property overseas
sarah