What are the steps before I buy a ruin and renovate it?

XmoveX New member

3POSTS

last year

Hey everyone,

I emigrated to Portugal a year ago and live in Matosinhos in Porto.

City life is great, but my big dream is to find a farm / Quinta / Finca away from Porto in the next few years.

However, I have to be at the airport in at least 1 hour - that is one criterion.

I find these old stone ruins totally fascinating and have been collecting all kinds of Idealista offers for months to get an overview of the market.

I would be most interested in buying an old ruin, a Quinta, and modernizing it. So ideally it should look like an old ruin from the outside but be modernized on the inside.

I have to say that I have never bought a house, let alone built or converted one.

I already understand a little about the registrations, architect, etc.

But the big question for me is: If I have found a plot of land with a ruin that I like, what are the next steps?

Talk to my bank, if they give me a loan and how much of my own capital I need to put into the project.

2. Find out from the city and the land registry whether and how you can build there. Whether a "habitation" is even allowed.

3. It's best to talk to a local architect about how best to expand it.

4. Find a contractor... and that's the biggest question here: How do you find such contractors? Do the architects know about it? Can I find such companies locally via Google Maps? If so - what are the exact search terms?

I would be very happy if someone here could give me some information about the best steps to take in such a project before I actually make the decision to buy such an old ruin.

Thank you very much in advance - I really appreciate any help!

Merlin

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Strontium Serial expat

431POSTS

last year

If you are actually serious about this then you need to spend quite some time viewing peoperties yourself - in person.聽 The methods of construction of traditional stone built habitation, field stones to make "solid" walls and a roof space vented from outside with sealed cielings do not make obvious modern living spaces with cavity walls, insulation, efficient heating etc.聽聽As for any bank lending money to an amateur property developer with no knoledge or experience buying a something with no resale value should it need to be repossesd - no comment.

JohnnyPT Portugal Expert

5270POSTS

last year

@XmoveX,

You need to be careful. The first thing is to check with the town hall to see if there are any restrictions on increasing the construction area on the plot of land you wish. If the work is limited to the existing building on the ground there should be no problem.

Seeking advice from an architect is a good solution, and he may also be able to suggest a contractor. However, there's nothing better than looking for work going on in neighbouring towns, seeing how the contractor works, finding out about him and asking for contacts. There are a lot of fraudsters in the construction industry, and good references are a good way to avoid problems.聽 Always use contractor who have a building licence. In Portuguese, this is called an "ALVAR脕". Normally when they have this, they put up a number plate in the places where they are doing work with "Alvar谩 nr. xxxx"

You have some support here:

Documents to be aware of when buying a Property in Portugal

/forum/viewtopic.php?id=910754

XmoveX New member

3POSTS

last year

@JohnnyPT Thanks Johnny - this is some really helpful advice. I am not in a hurry and I did already start to look a some plots.....I will collect as much as information as possible and maybe one day - I will find my project

donn25 Serial expat

273POSTS

last year

Start saving money for it.聽 The site you're talking about probably will have a fairly low/negotiable price, and you'll be paying for the rest as you go.聽 I think Strontium is right about getting any funding.

SimCityAT Expert

13798POSTS

last year

@XmoveX

Go to your bank first to make sure you can get a loan. If they say yes then you can move on.

XmoveX New member

3POSTS

last year

@SimCityAT I have an account at the millenium bank and did already asked them for a loan. They were super easy going and just told me, that I need to show the 3 Month of a steady income that is enough to finance the property + 20 % of my own capital

Sounds good to me!