According to information from the Association of Professionals and Real Estate Companies of Portugal (APEMIP), the estimated time to conclude the sale of a house is, on average, 6 months. For those in a hurry, 6 months is an eternity. In this sense, we present the steps and tips necessary to facilitate the process and get a potential buyer for your property in record time. Selling your house fast As it is natural, real estate transactions do not happen overnight. However, you can speed up the process. #1- Price It is extremely essential that the value of the house sale be adequate with the price practiced in the region. There is no point in wanting to profit a lot and placing a value above the square meter in the region. The opposite is also not recommended. If you lower the price to be able to sell quickly, you will only make losses. The ideal is to perform a market analysis to understand what the value is in the area. To help, you can still use our tool that compares information and extracts a complete report with data on the evolution of the market. This comparison will help you set a price based on the current market. #2- Documents You must keep organized all the documents that will be necessary to present at the conclusion of the sale, both of the property and of the owner. Remember that some documents, such as the Land Registry Certificate, must be issued at least six months in advance. #3- Expert An excellent way to speed up the sale of your apartment is to count on the support of a real estate specialist. After all, this professional will be able to guide you through the different stages of the buying and selling process, from publicizing the ad to negotiating with the buyer. In SUPERCASA we help you find real estate agents near you and beyond. You can search each of them in our site and check their portfolio of properties and the quality of the publication of the ads: from photos, to description, in order to get a better perception of the quality of service. Click here and find the real estate agencies nearest you. #4- Presentation The house should be well prepared to receive those interested in the property. Keep the house always tidy to make a good impression. Also, pay attention to odors. Do not drive away the potential client by the bad smell. #5- Photos Investing in good quality images taken by a professional photographer is a good way to find a potential buyer, because the property depends on the photos making a good impression on the interested party. On the day of the photo shoot, facilitate the work of the professional and prepare the property for the photos, without old furniture or other details that cause a bad impression. #6- Real estate portals Giving visibility to your property is essential to sell faster. In this sense, advertising the property in one of the main real estate portals such as SUPERCASA or CASA SAPO is a simple and effective way to sell your property fast. This is because, in addition to a high number of interested parties, you can still count on the help of experts. #7- Advertisement Just like the photos, the description of your property is extremely essential, since these are the two resources that will motivate a potential buyer to visit the house. Always indicate the dimensions of the property, the location, the condition of the kitchen, the energy certification, among others. The more details, the better. #8- Depersonalization It is fundamental to leave a neutral environment, since the interested party must visualize himself in the new house. In this sense, remove from sight family photos, pictures nailed in the living room, posters, refrigerator magnets, and any other very personal element that prevents the buyer from imagining himself as living in that house. Also keep an eye out for everyday elements, such as dishes in the kitchen and underwear on the clothesline, which should also be put away in order to neutralize the environment. #9- Empty house Since depersonalization is a key stage of the sale, take the opportunity to remove furniture and other objects from the house that you will be getting rid of anyway. In addition to speeding up the moving stage, it will leave the environment simpler and cleaner to receive potential buyers and will improve the feeling of spaciousness of the rooms. #10- Adjustments Adjustments do not imply that you need to remodel the entire house, however, small details help to make it more presentable and give a better impression about the conservation, which increases the chances of the property being sold quickly. On the list of small repairs, it is worth considering replacing defective tiles and doorknobs, or fixing an area with infiltration. It is also a good option to replace wood flooring if it is stained, or to paint the wall if the paint is worn. #11- Flexible schedule To sell your house quickly, you will have to make some concessions. One of them is to make your schedule flexible to receive interested parties, including during weekends, which is when most people are available to visit properties. Still, you should prioritize presenting your house at the best light hours, so it will be easier to charm visitors. #12- Information You should have on the tip of your tongue all the information about your property and the surrounding area. For example, for apartments, it is common for buyers to want to know the condominium fee, if it accepts pets, and also if there are parking options in the area (when there is no garage). For houses, the common thing is to ask about recent structural work, the land area, and if the neighborhood is quiet. Some usual questions are about commerce, services, and other facilities in the area. Anticipate, have in mind the answers to the main questions! #13- Positive points Take the time to list all the relevant points that are considered a differential of the house. The sun in the morning, the double-glazed windows, the whirlpool bath, among others. To the interested party, it will make a lot of difference to know all the details that make the property even more attractive. #14- No pressure Dont pressure the potential buyer or show that you are desperate to sell your house. During the visit, let the buyer feel at ease to get to know the property, without pressuring him about the proposals. #15- Counterproposals A good alternative in selling the house quickly is to consider counterproposals. In this regard, make what you expect from the deal more flexible by considering receiving different proposals. In other words, if your intention initially was only to receive cash offers, also consider other types of deals, such as a possible exchange, mortgage or lease-purchase.
Setting the right price for a property, is a key step in the process of selling your house successfully. Note that if you put a price below the real value, it may sell faster, however, the loss of money is guaranteed. On the other hand, if the price is too high, the property will take longer to sell and will also cease to be new on the market, which often attracts, potential buyers. In order to answer this problem, we present a complete guide to establish the best price for your home. Determining the price of a property Since it is an essential stage in the home selling process, the price of the property must be carefully studied and evaluated before it is announced to the market. There are numerous components and details that must be considered when determining the price. There are situations and characteristics that are quite particular to each property. In this sense, some of the essential basic characteristics and main points that should be considered in the price analysis performed are: Location This component is of extreme importance, and is also the starting point to have a base of what the value of the property will be. The price of the square meter can vary a lot, even within the same parish. It is necessary to observe if the property has easy access to public transportation, nearby shops, good schools nearby, proximity to the center, easy access to health services, among others. These are all important points that add value to the property. The fact that you dont need a car to access these facilities is a plus, since not all people have a car or intend to use one frequently. State of the Property: New, refurbished, or to be restored? The condition of the property is also important when it comes to pricing. The more renovations that are needed, the lower the value of the property will be. Therefore, new and refurbished properties are certainly valued more highly. Often it is even advisable for the owner to carry out some specific renovations before the sale, in order to have the possibility of getting a better value. Energy Certificate If the property has a good classification in the Energy Certificate, it will be more valued, since properties that are well classified are prepared to offer better thermal comfort to the residents. In this way, it will not be necessary to invest in renovations related to the thermal insulation of the property, which can cost a lot of money. In addition, there is also the factor of energy savings, since it will require less expenses from the owners for heating in the winter, and cooling in the summer. Size of the property The area of the property is also one of the essential characteristics, since the values are calculated based on the value of the available square meter. To calculate more accurately, it is also necessary to differentiate the gross area from the usable area of the property, since there are external areas that do not have the same value as the internal usable areas. Year of construction Generally speaking, the older the property is, the lower its value is. Very old properties require major renovation and maintenance more often. You need to take into account the year the property was buit and whether it has already undergone renovations or not. Solar exposure orientation This is a component that does not go unnoticed by the most attentive buyers. Sun exposure is a characteristic that can add value or devalue a property. Having a well-lit house with good sun exposure, besides being pleasant, also represents good savings on the energy bill. Market value of the area Finally, it is also essential to be aware of the real estate prices and sales that have recently been practiced in the region where the property is located. With the changes and instabilities in the market, it is necessary to be aware of the oscillations and trends of price increases or decreases.
For most people, selling a home is a very stressful experience, since it presents the concern of not selling your home quickly and at the desired price. In this sense, we present 7 tips to increase the chances of selling your house and make a deal faster and easier, and at a fair price. #1 Finding a real estate agent When you want to sell your house quickly, the first step is to hire a real estate agent. The ideal person will know the local market and have a sales history that proves they know how to sell. Remember that an agent will help with the entire process, from hiring a professional photographer who will take high-level photos of your home to negotiating the best price. They assist with scheduling, presentations, and marketing your property to be seen by a larger target audience. #2 Publicize in the main portals Giving visibility to your property is essential to sell faster. In this sense, advertising the property on one of the main real estate portals such as SUPERCASA or CASA SAPO is a simple and effective way to sell your property fast. This is because, besides a high number of interested parties, it is still possible to count on the help of experts. #3 Price to Sell One of the most effective ways to sell your house fast is to put a competitive price. If the price is too high, your house will spend more time on the market. Also, if it is too expensive, it will take longer before it is sold. The real estate agent will help here, as they will research comparable homes in the same area in order to set a realistic price. In case one needs to sell quickly, one should consider pricing the house a little lower to attract potential buyers. To find out how much your property is worth quickly and easily, consult our Property Valuation tool by Infocasa , which will compare your homes information with real market data, setting a final price based on the current market. #4 Clean, organize, and de-personalize Potential buyers have to be able to imagine themselves in the house, however, it will not be possible if it is dirty and untidy. In this regard, one should give it a thorough cleaning from top to bottom, organize and remove some family photos and other personal items. Also, rearrange the furniture so that it looks inviting and so that potential buyers can move around the rooms. One should also focus on the best assets of the home, to impress potential buyers and sell it quickly for the best possible price. #5 Attention to quick repairs In case there is no time for major renovations, you should focus on quick repairs to address aspects that may discourage potential buyers. Inspect the house and take care of easy fixes, such as: Fix loose tiles Tighten leaky faucets Touch up paint Tighten doorknobs Remove stains from carpet Depending on how much time and money you plan to spend to prepare the house. In addition, you can still buy new appliances, install new hardware in the cabinets, and give the interior a fresh coat of paint. #6 Offering business benefits Another way to make the home and business more attractive is to offer something to sweeten the purchase. In this way, you can offer, for example, to pay some or all of the costs. Buyers are looking for a deal, especially in a down market, so do what you can to make them feel they got one. Another tip is to offer a transferable home warranty, which offers discounted repair and replacement services for appliances and systems. A potential buyer may feel more comfortable knowing that the home is protected, which can make the deal more attractive than a competing home.
If you are considering putting your property on the market, to sell or rent, it is essential to make sure that all legal conditions are met to do so. One of these conditions is the energy certification of the property. In this sense, we present a guide to all the necessary information: Energy Certificate (CE): Concept Energy class Mandatory situations Requesting the energy certificate Required documentation Costs associated with the energy certificate Validity of the energy certificate Fines Energy Certificate (EC): Concept As its name indicates, it is a document that expresses the energy efficiency of a given building or unit on a scale from A+ (very efficient) to F (not very efficient), issued by qualified experts recognized by the Agência para a Energia (ADENE) - the entity that manages the energy certification system for buildings (SCE). The document indicates the energy consumption characteristics regarding the use of air conditioning and hot water. It also includes improvement measures to reduce consumption, such as installing double glazing, reinforcing insulation or installing more efficient equipment. The energy certificate is mandatory in new and old buildings from the moment they are put up for sale or rent by the owners (or real estate agents hired for that purpose). Energy class There are several factors that affect the evaluation of the energy performance of a building. In general, these are the main ones: Building type, location, floor, area and year of construction Materials used in the construction of the surrounding structures HVAC and domestic hot water production equipment Mandatory situations As mentioned, the energy certificate is mandatory in new and old buildings. Within these two sets, it fits: New buildings; Existing buildings that have been subject to rehabilitation whose cost exceeds 25% of the buildings value; Existing commercial and services buildings with a floor area of 1000m2 or more (or 500m2 in the case of shopping centers, hypermarkets, supermarkets, and indoor swimming pools); Buildings owned by the State, or occupied by a public entity and frequented by the public, with a useful floor area of more than 500m2. Properties that are offered for sale or rent for residential purposes; Exchanges, trespasses, or nominee contracts. In this sense, in all these situations, the document must be presented at the time of signing the rental contract, lease or purchase and sale. The energy certificate must contain information about the energy class of the property at the time of signing the contract. Requesting the energy certificate The certification of your propertys performance must be issued by qualified experts recognized by the Agency for Energy (ADENE). In ADENEs website you can consult the various experts and get quotes, the price of which may vary. Necessary documentation You will need the following documents: Copy of the propertys floor plan Caderneta predial urbana (print it from the Finance Portal) Ficha technique da habitação Certificate of registration in the conservatory After gathering the necessary documentation, the expert should proceed with the calculations to be introduced in the National System for Energy and Indoor Air Quality Certification of Buildings. You can (and should) ask to see a previous version. The energy certificate will be issued within 2 to 3 working days. Costs associated with the energy certificate The costs of the energy certificate are made up of two components: the fees of the qualified expert hired (always ask for several quotes, before choosing one expert) the registration fee for the issuance of the energy certificates (see ordinance in the Diário da República) For residential buildings, the rates in effect are 28€, for T0 and T1 40.50, for T2 and T3 55€, for T4 and T5 65€ for T6 or higher For commercial and services buildings, the rates in effect are 135€, for areas equal to or less than 250m2 350, for areas larger than 250m2 and equal to or less than 500m2 750, for areas larger than 500m2 and equal to or greater than 5,000 m² 950, for areas larger than 5,000m2 Dont forget that to these values must be added the VAT in force and the experts fees. Validity of the energy certificate The document is valid for 10 years for residential buildings and small commercial and service buildings. In the case of large commercial and services buildings, the validity is 6 and 8 years, for buildings certified until April 30, 2015 and after April 30, 2015, respectively. Fines Anyone who advertises the sale or rental of a property without an energy certificate is subject to a fine of between 250 euros and 3,740 euros in the case of individuals and 2,500 euros to 44,890 euros in the case of companies.
Real estate capital gains are one of the points you should pay attention to if you are thinking of selling your house. If the property is sold at a higher price than the purchase price, there may be payment of capital gains. The law changed in 2021 and some exemptions that were in force since 2015 ended. Even so, there are still situations of exemptions provided for in the law. Discover the rules and exceptions of the current tax regime. Real estate capital gains: what are they? Selling a house at a higher price than you bought it seems like a good deal. But you should bear in mind that not everything is guaranteed profit. Real estate capital gains are a tax obligation that diminishes that profit. But not always. For tax purposes, real estate capital gains are considered income and are therefore subject to IRS. They are income that results from the non-gratuitous transmission of real estate and, therefore, fall under a specific category. According to the IRS Code, capital gains are those gains that, not being considered business and professional, capital or real estate income, result from the disposal of real rights over real estate or the disposal of shares and other securities, therefore applying to the sale of a house. Regarding real estate, it is the result of the difference between the sale value of a property and the acquisition value, subtracting the expenses related to the purchase and sale, as well as those related to the valuation of the property. Payment of Real Estate Capital Gains As a general rule, taking into account the changes in the law brought about by the State Budget 2021, is that you do not pay real estate capital gains if you reinvest the value in the purchase of another home. However, there are certain conditions to be met, namely: The property sold is intended for the own and permanent residence of the person who acquired it or his household, and the house must be of the taxpayers tax residence. In this situation, the family has a period of 36 months (three years) to make the reinvestment. If you have bought a house before selling the old one, you have 24 months to communicate to the Tax Authority (AT). People over 65 years old or retired people benefit from the exemption even if they do not invest the sale value in a property. However, they will have to invest it in financial life insurance, in an open pension fund with regular periodic income, in retirement certificates or other contributions to a public capitalisation scheme. It should be noted that this reinvestment has to be made within six months after the sale and applies to the taxpayer and the spouse. And it is mandatory to maintain this application for 10 years. Properties acquired before the 1st of January 1989, date in which the IRS Code came into force. You must still declare this sale in the IRS (box 5 of Annex G1) and indicate the year of purchase as being prior to 1989. How to minimise the payment of capital gains? If you do not qualify for exemption, you can adopt strategies to reduce your tax bill. To do so, on your IRS declaration, you must deduct the invoices (up to 12 years) of the following expenses when calculating capital gains: Home improvement and maintenance works , such as painting, insulation, among others; Fixed appliances , such as exhaust fans, air conditioning, among others; Expenses inherent to the purchase and sale , such as IMT (or SISA), notary and land registry fees, expenses with energy certification and intermediation commission; Compensation proved to have been paid for the onerous waiver of contractual positions or other rights inherent to contracts relating to those assets. Do inheritances also pay capital gains? There is also provision for the payment of capital gains in the case of inheritances. At the time the property is inherited, the tax authorities will attribute a value to it which will be used to calculate capital gains, should the heirs decide to sell it. In the case of an inherited property, it is also important to know that the date of acquisition of the property will be the date of death of the owner and not the date on which the assets are divided, shares the CGD (Caixa Geral de Depósitos). But be careful, this will only be valid if you inherited the totality of the property on a single date. The situation will be different if parts of a property are inherited on different dates. Therefore, each of these dates corresponds to a different acquisition value and sale value, which must be detailed in the IRS declaration, in box 4 of annex G of model 3, and there may be parts that must be included in box 5 of annex G1.
The owners of real estate located in areas of urban pressure, delimited on the grounds of lack or inadequacy of supply, when advancing with the sale process have to consider the pre-emption right of the Municipalities, Autonomous Regions and the State , in addition to the prevalence of the pre-emption right of tenants and housing and construction cooperatives. Taking into account the new decree-law, regulated last November 4, 2021, in the scope of the Housing Framework Law, it aims at guaranteeing alternative housing, that is, a greater offer of houses in those areas. But there are also procedures that real estate professionals have to follow. What does the law on the right of pre-emption of a property consist of? The legal right of preference is the right that a certain person has to prefer to any other person in a purchase, or other business, provided by law. For instance, if you live in a rented house for more than two years, you will have priority in case the landlord wants to sell the property. But, the right of preference also has public implications. That is, in certain situations, a public entity has priority in the purchase and sale of a property, maintaining the value and the same conditions agreed with another buyer. Thus, the pre-emption right of public entities applies in the following cases: In an area of urbanistic pressure, delimited by the lack or inadequacy of supply (article 2-A of Decree-Law no. 159/2006, of 8 August); In territories identified in the National Housing Programme, based on the lack or inadequacy of supply. Among the entities that can exercise the right of preference are, in order of hierarchy, the municipal councils, the autonomous regions and the State. According to the Portal da Justiça , if you want to sell a property located in a protected area, or in an area of urban rehabilitation, you must place an online advertisement with the agreed conditions for the deal, in order to proceed with the exercise of the legal right of pre-emption. Be aware that this advertisement can also be placed by a collective entity , such as the real estate agency handling the purchase and sale of the property. The deadline for exercising the right of pre-emption is set at 10 days ; If there is no response from the public entities during this period, it is considered that they have not exercised the preference. The announcement is made through the Casa Pronta portal and costs 15 Euros. This service made available by the Ministry of Justice allows all the necessary formalities for the communication of the business conditions to be carried out immediately. To place the advertisement for the exercise of the legal right of preference, you should access the form available in the Casa Pronta website and fill in all the fields with the necessary information. Who makes the request Seller or sellers Buyer or buyers; Identification and location of the property; Value of the purchase and sale; Expected date of the deal. After placing the advertisement, the public entities have 10 working days to respond as to whether they wish to use their pre-emption right over the property. In case there is no reply to the announcement within the established period, you can proceed with the sale of the property. To find out if the property you wish to sell is on any preference list, you should consult the website of the municipality where the property is located or other entities, such as the Directorate-General of Cultural Heritage.
Sometimes it is enough to give a new refinement to the walls of a house to make it seem as if we have entered a totally new environment. In this sense, that it is not necessary to invest a lot of money in materials and skilled labor to leave the space looking renewed. There are certain improvements that can not only help sell a property faster, but can also influence the market price of the home. Thus, Apartment Therapy has listed three cheap and effective methods to raise the value of your home, according to experts in the real estate business. De-cluttering For real estate agents, winter cleaning is a surefire way to overhaul your space. Therefore, one should start by making a list of what you no longer care about. The first and most important steps are removing clutter, reveals Dana Bull, a real estate consultant with Sagan Harborside Sothebys. For those who have their home for sale, the consultant advises to minimize the furniture, since home staging experts tend to use less furniture to make the space lighter. Plants In addition to making the house more beautiful, real estate agent Alicia Arredondo reveals that having plants means there is light in the house and people tend to look for bright spaces. As for their placement, Arredondo suggests scattering them on shelves to create texture and, if the budget allows, invest in a large plant to bring life to a corner of the living room, for example. Spray paint? Heres a quick and inexpensive way to change the mood in a room, Platform emphasizes. The power of a can of spray paint is no secret, Arredondo points out. You can spray paint your kitchen appliances or other metal furniture, such as bed frames or tables. We live in a world where its more and more important to try to give items a new life, rather than throwing them away, and this is a really good way to do it, he maintains.
The potential customers are vast, ranging from homeowners who want to quickly sell their property to buy a new one to people who need to sell their asset due to divorce, inheritance or change of place of employment. The model appeared less than a decade ago in the United States, under the name iBuyer, which in Portuguese means instantaneous, and is identified as a quick and easy solution to the traditional process, which is usually time consuming, of selling a house. Sell and Go presents itself as the first iBuyer in the Portuguese real estate market and guarantees that between the first contact from the seller and the deed takes only 10 days. The director, Francisco Belard reveals that the company, which integrates the universe of the real estate investment manager in the Iberian Peninsula FS Capital Partners, started its activity in the middle of the pandemic and, since then, it has already analyzed more than a thousand purchase proposals, with an average value of 190 thousand euros. For now, it is still only active in the acquisition of properties in the metropolitan areas of Lisbon and Porto, however, on the horizon is the evolution to other locations, and, as the responsible says, the residential market in Portugal consists of a large number of owners, mostly ordinary citizens, and closing a deal in just over a week is often the goal of all those who find themselves in urgent situations. There seems to be no lack of capital to carry out these operations. According to him, between its own funds and external financing, Sell and Go has the financial capacity to act actively in the market and take advantage of all the opportunities that arise. The process of selling a house through these companies is easy and quick, and there are others operating in Portugal besides the ones mentioned above. You have to go onto the iBuyer website and fill out a form where information is requested, such as the location of the property, its characteristics (typology, area, if it has a garage, basement, elevator...), the land register, photographs and contact details. Within 24 to 48 hours, the owner receives in his email the amount that the company is willing to pay for the house. And thats where the power of technology comes in. According to Francisco Belard, Sell and Go combines sophisticated valuation models with a robust database of actual transactions to accurately determine the market value of the house.
The law that revises the horizontal property regime, altering the Civil Code, the Decree-Law n.º 268/94, of October 25, and the Notary Code, was published in the Official Gazette. The new measure, which was promulgated by the President of the Republic, in December, comes into force 90 days after its publication, that is, in April. It is the Parliaments diploma that changes the horizontal property regime, with the purpose of making life easier for condominium owners and administrators. The vice-president of the social-democratic bench Afonso Oliveira said, at the end of March 2021, when the bill was presented, that the objectives of this bill (are) to facilitate the administration of condominiums, to give more responsibility to the administration of condominiums and to facilitate the lives of people who live in condominiums. In this sense, the present law reveals that the necessary expenses for the maintenance and common parts of the building will now be the responsibility of the unit owners at the time of the respective resolutions, and will be paid by them in proportion to the value of their units. On the other hand, for expenses relating to the payment of common services to be borne by the owners in equal shares, the provision of the condominium regulations must be approved, without opposition, by a majority of the owners representing a majority of the total value of the building. It should be noted that the expenses relating to the common parts of the building that exclusively serve any of the condominium owners are borne by those who use them. However, in case their state of conservation affects the state of repair, the condominium owner in favor of whom their exclusive use is assigned only bears the value of the respective repair expenses in proportion to the value of his fraction. The document also indicates that among the changes, the period for holding condominium meetings was changed to the first quarter of each year, as opposed to the usual first fortnight in January. However, this possibility can only be contemplated if it is implicit in the condominiums regulations or result from a resolution, approved by a majority of the owners meeting. Regarding the notice to convene a meeting, this can now be done by email, for the unit-holders who expressed their wish to do so at a previous meeting of the unit-holders. Administrator of the condominium with more responsibility The functions of the administrator are also increased, and will now have to validate the existence of the common reserve fund, to inform the owners whenever the condominium is summoned or notified within the scope of legal proceedings. The administrator will also have to intervene in all emergency situations that require it, immediately convening an extraordinary meeting of the condominium owners for ratification of their actions. With regard to extraordinary or innovative conservation works, the administrator is obliged to present at least three budgets from different sources for their execution. The same document also points out that the administrator must also issue, within a maximum period of 10 days, a statement of the condominium owners debt, whenever requested by the same, namely for the purpose of alienation of the fraction.
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