Should We Buy a Home in Portugal?

[Totoro]

Are you renting three bedrooms in the CBD or expat ground zero of Lisbon?

https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/country_result.jsp?country=Portugal

Asking because what you are paying seem to be expat prices for the luxury segment. The average net salary in Portugal is below $1000 USD.

Same thing for buying .. either you are buying lots of room for two people, or are in a very overpriced expat area.

Which translates obviously in lost of downside risk - I'd rent for sure. Most property markets in Europe are overpriced btw, as defined by rental yield.

Also, do you speak portuguese well? My family has some properties in Spain, and even with decent Spanish it is not easy to deal with legalities when they pop up.What I've heard from Portugal I have no reason to assume it's different.

 

[sunsnow]

Update on our Portugal Real Estate Decision

So after thoughtfully considering all the reasonable suggestions that we continue to rent, we bought a house

We found a place that was everything we had been wanting for many years -- great floorpan, neighborhood, yard, pool. It was more expensive than even the pricey condo I was considering previously, and it needed to be renovated. We completed the work in July, and have been living here very happily since then.

Everyday I wake up and feel so grateful and happy to be living in this house. I don't look at it as an investment. I know that property values here in Portugal, like many other places, are quite inflated. (Luckily we were able to sell a very over-priced property in the US to pay for it) I see our house as the prize at the end of decades of working hard and saving. I think this is what we were doing it all for.

 

[athena53]

Thanks for the update and congratulations on your purchase! Given the time since your OP, you certainly took the time to give it some thought. Buying property abroad is not something I'd consider but I hope you post often and let us know how it's going, for those considering this route.