The property is the visible part. Underneath it sit a handful of questions that decide whether your first year here feels like an adventure or a slog, and almost none of them involve square metres.
I ask my clients these on the first call.
1. What is prompting this?
Retirement, a remote job, a second home, a child's education, or a sense that life could be arranged better. Each answer points at a different town, a different budget and a different timeline. "Portugal" tells me nothing yet.
2. Where do the children need to be at eight in the morning?
If school forms part of the picture, the school picks your area. The well-regarded international schools cluster geographically and fill their places early. Settle this first and half the map disappears.
3. How often do you need to be in Lisbon?
Twice a week gives you a different life from twice a month. The coastal train line is good. The drive at rush hour is not.
4. What is your healthcare plan?
Portugal runs a public system alongside an extensive private one, and most international residents use both. Work out which combination suits you, and what it costs, before you are choosing between two houses.
5. How do you feel about not understanding things for a while?
You can live comfortably in Cascais on English. You cannot belong anywhere without the language. Most people sit somewhere in between for two years, and making peace with that changes the whole experience.
6. Would renting first cost you money or save it?
Six to twelve months in a rental in the area you think you want costs you a year of rent. It has also saved several of my clients from buying the right house in the wrong town, which costs a great deal more.
7. Who answers your questions in year two?
Most agents finish at the deed. The plumber, the accountant, the school waiting list and the neighbour with an opinion about your wall all turn up later. Decide now who you plan to call.
Talk any of these through with me on an introductory call. It costs nothing, and nobody expects you to be ready.
