Bought a house in Portugal

Hurray, Bought a house in Portugal

I know the feeling and remember when we bought a house here. and thoroughly recommend it.

Having bought a house in Portugal a long time ago I have met many people and heard their experience firsthand both good and bad.

house, portugal, house in portugal, castelo construction, edp, water, electricity, estate agent. water connection — is the water and electricity connected

I am often asked to help people with the language or just getting the important things done in the first couple of days after arrival.

The people who I have spoken to range from people who have never been to Portugal before and just bought a property to people who have been coming on holiday here for years and fell in love with the place to people who take things very gradually and rent a property in a couple of different locations before deciding to buy.

Oh yes, there was also a couple of guitar playing nudists who lived in a transit van but as they didn’t have a house perhaps they shouldn’t be included in this post.

The one thing that differentiates all of the people that I spoke too was their level of planning and preparedness in most cases lack of it!

I think it’s about misunderstanding the difference between here and their home country and also overestimating the role that your friendly estate agent is going to play after you are handed the keys.

One of the first problems people encounter having just arrived at the house in Portugal is that there will be no water.

I don’t mean the water has been turned off at the stopcock

I mean the water meter will not be there just an open space so no possibility of having a cup of tea, cleaning the house or using the toilet

I have seen many couples with young children in this situation.

Getting a water meter installed can take up to 5 working days.

Electricity in your house in Portugal is another problem area. Because of the monthly charge, the tendency is for families to have the electricity disconnected because no one wants to pay the charge.

This causes anyone who has just bought a house in Portugal a major problem and additional cost.

If you can find an old electricity bill in the house that will help but you will still have to go to the EDP office in my case 25 minutes away and fill in all the forms to get a new connection. This may take weeks to happen.

Your estate agent will no doubt not be available to help or will charge you for the time it takes.

Forewarned is Forearmed

Tags Bought a house in Portugal castelo construction Electricity water

About Castelo Construction Lda

Castelo Construction Lda are builders in Central Portugal. We have 12 years’ experience of working with and delighting clients in Portugal. Tel 00351 927168247 or kelvin@casteloconstruction.com If you need an English speaking builder for renovation or new build work we will provide free estimates, fixed prices and carry out your work to a very high standard. Many of our clients are not in the country full time so rely on our regular photographic updates and written reports. They are always surprised when they make inspection visits. New Construction and Refurbishment of Portuguese Property It’s exciting for both our team and of course our clients to mark out on the earth the site of a new home. We will have been with them during the design process and have spoken to the architect many times so we will be comfortable with what we are about to do. For many clients, this stage is a little daunting as it’s hard to see without experience just where the house is going to be in relation to other things on the property. Once the foundations are dug out the house normally looks smaller than they thought, As the pillars and foundation wall start to go you get a much better idea of scale. You can see with your mind’s eye the location of the kitchen, bedrooms and so on. Once the walls are up and the first floor is in place the rooms start to looks smaller again (something to do with the light absorbing properties of the bricks) once the walls are plastered the rooms look a lot larger and it starts to feel more like the home our clients imagined building. As the build progresses we are involved with many specialist subcontractors and it is our job the get them on site at the right time so that the trades do not overlap and time is not wasted. Once the roof is on and tiled it is traditional in this area to have a dinner on site. Everyone who is involved in the build is invited to share a suckling pig dinner with local bread, oranges and of course wine. This is a great way for the clients to enjoy some local hospitality and meet the craftsmen who are building their new home. We also invite the near neighbors so that they get a chance to see what’s going on (when the house is at a very basic stage) and it gives our clients a relaxed opportunity to make their acquaintance. As we always accompany our clients to choose, kitchens, tiles, bathroom fittings or whatever they want. We can help with translation and of course negotiation! As the house is coming to completion we always have them professionally cleaned so that when we hand over the keys it feels more like a home than a building site. 2 months after the house is finished we are back to check for any small faults that may need attention and of course we are available to help and advise should that be needed. Central Portugal builders