Remote purchase · sequence, not law
Buying from abroad: what to ask, and when
Nothing in the reform is specific to foreign buyers. Its weight lands on them hardest because of when they receive the answer.
The sequencing problem
The statement appears inside the titling document. A buyer signing in person hears it read out. A buyer completing remotely, or through a representative holding a power of attorney (procuração), learns the position from a Portuguese-language document that arrives after the fact. By then the price is fixed and the deposit has been exposed since the promissory contract was signed.
1
Ask which procedure the property went through
And which documents make up its title under that procedure. A missing component is the first useful piece of information, and a single fee receipt is not a title.
Before the promissory contract
2
Ask which of the three statements the seller will make
A seller who already expects to declare that no title exists can say so months ahead. That turns a completion-day surprise into a negotiation.
Before the promissory contract
3
Do not let a translation stand in for the document
A summary describing "the licence" may mean the use licence, the urban-planning title, or a fee receipt. Ask for the documents, named.
Before the promissory contract
4
Separate the paperwork question from the building question
Different answers, given by different people. The lawyer verifies the documents. An engineer compares the building against the authorised project, and nothing in the transfer process does that on anyone's behalf.
Before the promissory contract
Why the assumption does not travel
Buyers arriving from the United Kingdom, the United States, France, Spain and the Netherlands usually assume some stage of the process performs the physical check, because in their home markets a stage does. In Portugal no stage does, and that has been true since 1 January 2024.