Thinking of Buying Property in Portugal?

Where Things Blur and Why It Matters

This is usually where social media comes in.
 
You’ll come across property finders, relocation “experts”, and people offering to help you secure deals. Some of them are working properly within a licensed structure. Others are not.

The distinction is actually simple. If someone is showing you properties, advising you on a purchase, organizing viewings, or being compensated in any way tied to a transaction, they must be operating under an AMI licensed agency.

If they are not, then they are operating illegally.

There is another layer here that most expats do not realize at first. Even if someone says that they are “working with an agency” they still need to be legally allowed to work in Portugal. If they are acting as your point of contact on the ground, they need both the legal right to work and a formal connection to the brokerage they represent. Without that, they are not allowed to perform that role.

And we know that it can sound a bit technical but it has real consequences.

When you step outside of this system, you are also stepping outside of the protections put in place by IMPIC. That can mean a lack of accountability, gaps in contract handling, unnecessary exposure to issues that are very avoidable when everything is done properly.