ABOUT US
RICOLA ALGARVIA - Mediação Imobiliária Unipessoal Ldª, which uses REALESTATE ALGARVE as their trading name is a fully licensed estate agency with its head office in Lagos. The present director is Robert M.L. Snapper who has been active as a qualified real estate agent for many years. He was first officially licensed in Portugal on May 22nd 1989, although having been active and working in Real Estate before, at that time there was no legislation in place stating that agents should have a license.
We are a well established agency in the Algarve and you will hopefully be able to benefit from our long experience in the Algarve and our multi-lingual staff - English, Portuguese, Dutch and German.
The company’s aim is to provide a good and personal service for a selective group of buyers and sellers, dealing with the middle and top end of the market.
WHERE ARE WE BASED?
Our new office, which opened at the beginning on 2004, is located in one of the fast growing areas of Lagos, not far from the historic centre.
With the long awaited new motorway (Via do Infante or A22) now completed and open all the way to Lagos, it has good access from all directions – less than 1 hour from Faro airport.
Our office is an area called Cerro do Convento, and street address is Rua Dr. Paulo J. Godinho, Lote 5 – Loja C.
WHICH AREAS DO WE COVER?
During the period Mr. Snapper was working as an individual estate agent he only covered the Western Algarve. But since he was often sought for advice in other areas of the Algarve and Portugal we have now decided to expand and are now willing to promote properties even outside the Algarve, in the Alentejo and even further North. The rapidly improving road system in Portugal have made this also easier.
We have the intention to develop a special website in the foreseeable future for properties outside the Algarve. We would use our registered domain www.portugal-forsale.com for that purpose.
OUR TEAM:
Besides Mr. Snapper we have Filipa Amodaor, who is our office assiastant and in charge with day to day running of the office. Besides Portuguese she is fluent in English and German. This year we were joined by, Sergio Coelho, also Portuguese, and he is responsible for sales and acquisition of properties in the Western Algarve and Lagos. Besides Portuguese, he speaks English, Spanish and French, has a good knowledge of the local market, and has international sales experience in England and the States.
ESTATE AGENTS AND WHO TO DEAL WITH:
For many years, estate agents did not have a good reputation in Portugal. There are many reasons for this. The main one that in the seventies and eighties there was no legislation in place dealing with this profession and anybody could call themselves an estate agent, without having the qualifications. During the eighties new legislation was introduced for the very first time. This legislation was revised March 16th 1999 with stricter new rules to protect the buyer and seller.
This one was replaced this year by new legislation which came into effect on Septrember the 20th. (2004). Do not deal with non-licensed estate agents, as it could become an expensive experience.
HOW TO RECOGNIZE A QUALIFIED ESTATE AGENT:
Real Estate agents are licensed by the state. This means that they should be capable of running a business a meeting the standards set by the new law. Each agent gets a registration number from the Ministry issuing the licenses. This Department is called IMOPPI and the license carries their stamp and the number of the agent, which in our case is 1206-AMI. The license is valid for 3 years and has to be renewed prior to expiring however the license holder should prove that he is still capabale and up to date with the latest developments. From 2003 onwards, all estate agents were only allowed to have a license in the name of a limited company in order to further protect client’s interest. As from 1-1-2004 , even all estate agents who were licensed before March 1998 had to go back to school. In fact that was the majority of the approx. 5,500 licenses been issued to agents. In the Algarve some 450 licensed agents operate, the majority situated in the centre of the Algarve. You as buyers and sellers are now protected by law and each agent has to take out a liability insurance. Lagos has according to the latest figures 37 licensed agents.
Each agent should have a complaint book available. Do not deal with non-licensed agents!
TASKS OF THE AGENT AND THEIR FEES:
As in many other countries estate agents are involved in selling properties on behalf of the property owners, and therefore finding a potential buyer or tenant. When acting for the buyer the agent’s duties is to find the ideal property.
However, the commission is normally paid by the seller although the potential buyer is his client as well. In other countries, this is considered as a conflict of interest but that is the way things are now.
The buyer will only pay in case the agent acts exclusively on his behalf in finding a property if he does not have something suitable on his books.
The majority of the agents in the Algarve charge 5% + VAT and that is our normal fee as well for properties in the lower price bracket. In case of higher values we are willing to negotiate individual terms with buyers and sellers. Sometimes exclusivity is given for a certain period.
Commissions in Portugal are in general higher compared to other countries in Northern Europe, this is due to the fact that normally one does not have exclusivity, which means means no cure no pay. In general all marketing expenses are for the account of the agent, unless agreed otherwise. It therefore is common practise that you see the same property advertised with different agents. They all should of course have the same selling price although that is not always the case. due
Besides assisting you in purchasing or selling a property we will be able to carry out professional valuations Price list on request.
EXPENSES FOR THE BUYER:
Like anywhere else, there are costs involved in the purchase of a property for the buyer. See the special info sheet of Cost of Buying and Selling on my web site.
• Transfer tax now called I.M.T. but previously known as SISA
• Notary cost
• Registration cost
• Legal expenses
• Some costs to connect Utilities
REAL ESTATE ORGANISATIONS:
The biggest National organisation is called the APEMI and has over 3,000 members. They are based in Lisbon as 80% of the national estate agents operate in the Greater Lisbon and Porto area.
There is a second organization which is called AMIP, which are also based in North of Portugal of which we are a member.
Both organisations decided to merge this ywar 2004 and will now continue as APEMIP (Professional Organisation of Estate Agents in Portugal)
The Algarve had their own regional organisation, which was called the AMA. One can only become a member of one of these organisations when you are fully licensed..
WHY USE US?
THE SELLERS:
One would expect that a seller is interested to work with a reliable and knowledgeable agent who can protect and defend his interests. Besides looking at the object owners want to sell, one of the first tasks of the agent is to establish if the property is in the possession of all legal documentation, and also to see if the registered details are in fact in line with reality. This is often not the case, especially not with older properties. This is essential for a sale to proceed smoothly.
The seller has to provide the agent the following documents:
- Caderneta Predial Urbana and/or Rustico (these are documents issued by the local tax department describing the object and the rateable value it has in their books)
- Certidão de Teor, which is the registration obtained from the Conservatório.
- Licença de Habitação or Utilização (Habitation License)
- If possible, a floor plan of the house and location plan of the property~
- A copy of your fiscal nymber
- A copy of your passpoirt or ID
- A copy of the Escritura – title deed when the seller bought or became owner.
- Other documents in case necessary for the sale.
MARKETING:
The seller obviously wants to know how the agent is going to promote his property, in other words what his marketing strategy is.
Mainly it is our aim to reach a worldwide audience in buying property in Portugal although we have to say that the majority of our clients come from the following countries:
• United Kingdom (has always been the greatest interest group)
• Holland (most likely the third biggest due to the fact that Dutch is also spoken in our office)
• Portugal (we generally work with more with Portuguese sellers than buyers but we hope to change that)
We’ve put them in this order as this is the reality in our case. We always have been dealing mostly with British and Dutch potential buyers, although we hope that the Portuguese market will be growing rapidly now mortgages are available and the average Portuguese person will have more money to spend as salaries and wages are hoped to be in line with the rest of Europe in the future.
HOW DO WE REACH POTENTIAL BUYERS FOR THE SELLERS.
What many people (buyers and sellers) nowadays have in common is that most of them have access to the world of Internet or know of its existence. Through this medium, one can sit back wherever you are and get free info by browsing the web sites. In fact, most of our marketing strategy is based towards Internet exposure and great thoughts have been given to this subject. We have always spent a considerable amount of money in this direction to become and stay a front runner in this aspect. We were the first estate agency in the Algarve with internet access followed by a website soon after, and we still have a good and stable net presence. This is also due to our in-house knowledge and interest on the technological front.
To be known and to be found is not as easy as many people expect. It is a highly professional and rather complicated and competitive business if you want it to work for you.
Below is a list of our exposure on the internet:
- www.realestate-algarve.com is our international domain name (web site), which is registered with many search engines and has great exposure.
- www.portugal-forsale.com, which is a new web site combining properties of strategially located colleagues. They will also be able to promote the sale of our ptoperties.
- www.realestate-algarve.eu was launched in 2006 and aims at Portuguese and British market.
Our other domain name www.ra-lda.com
This is a data base driven website with a search engine and has the advantage that it can be seen in several more languages; besides English and Dutch in Portuguese, French, Spanish, and German.
This will be our major tool to reach potential Portuguese buyers and sellers and this site will be linked to nearly all major Portuguese property portals like:
Besides the extensive Internet presence, we also use of course the more known marketing tools:
• Sign publicity on your property
• Window display and info sheets in our office
• Name advertisement in local, national or international newspapers and or magazines like:
• My Imo International
• World of Property
• Casas de Portugal
• De Telegraaf (Dutch)
• Algarve News
• Also we advertise in handbooks written about Portugal
THE BUYERS:
Why should buyers use us? Firstly, they come from all over the world, and as we are multi-lingual team we are able to deal with people in their native language. It has to be said however that the majority of them have been the British, many of them so called ex-pats. They discovered the Algarve some 30 years ago as the happy medium between living in the tropics and the different home climate in UK. We also attract a great number of Dutch clients due to our spoken Dutch. Besides that Portuguese and German are also spoken, and so we are being able to deal with the Portuguese red tape.
WHO ARE THE BUYERS?
Many people can afford to go into early or semi-retirement before reaching the still magic age of 65.
They may consider buying a holiday place or a home for permanent living in the sun. It can be expected that many baby boomers will come in the market as potential buyers as well. The property market we are dealing with is greatly dependent on foreigners especially the buyers are over 90% come from abroad. In addition to that, the sellers we deal with are in general 80% foreigners. Prices of properties in the Algarve are influenced by what property prices are doing in other countries.
IMPORTANT INFO:
Besides buying and selling, we feel that there is a great need to have initial information about everything related to buying; selling and living in Portugal and for that reason, I have developed a special web site www.realestate-algarve.info on which potential buyers will find many articles and topics in English and Dutch. These topics include Building, Health, Taxations, Off shores & Mortgages and many more.
OTHER ACTIVITIES:
On another website www.realestate-activities.com you will find info on other services I can provide as an independent consultant, for example project management which includes leading you through the whole process of buying a plot of land, selecting a suitable architect to design your house, selecting a builder, overseeing the construction and dealing with all the red tape. We can advise you on the best structure to set up the purchase of your property in individual or company name, do consultancy, valuations, administration, translations and representation just to mention a few aspects.
VILLA MANAGEMENT AND RENTALS:
Once being the owner of a property and maybe not living here permanently you still may need help with the many aspects of living and having a property in Portugal. In that case our sister company Previsão – Administração de Propriedades Ldª may assist you with management and rentals.
Info on the following services:
• The rental of your property
• Weekly inspection of your property
• Regular reports to clients
• All dealings with your staff
• Accounts paid on your behalf
• Monthly statements
• Organizing of repairs
• Furnishings
• Extensions of your property
• Assistance with building approvals if required
• Garden design and irrigation
• Maid and garden services
• Pool maintenance
• Obtaining of license from Ministry of Tourism
• Obtaining of Gas Certificate
• Tax returns
• Translations
• Car hire
www.portugal-algarve-car-rental.com
www.portugal-algarve-car-hire.com
Other information can be found on their informative website: www.previsao.info
Some people use their property just as a holiday place, others for permanent living. However in both cases you may intend to achieve some return on your investment by letting your property. We have all the tools to expose your property on the web and find potential tenants. In that case your property can be seen on the following domain names:
• www.previsao.biz
• www.royol.com
• www.algarve-property-rentals.com
• www.holidays-algarve.com
• www.holidays-portugal.com
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