FAQ
Common Questions about International Real Estate
Buyer Advisory and Representation
A buyer-side real estate advisor represents the interests of the buyer exclusively, not the seller or the listing. The role involves analyzing whether a property is appropriate for the buyer's specific objectives before any emotional commitment to the property takes place.
This includes reviewing market conditions, identifying structural risks in the transaction, coordinating legal and tax counsel, and ensuring the buyer understands what they are acquiring and under what conditions.
In practice, this means the advisor's work begins before any property is viewed. The starting point is always context: why is the acquisition happening, under what timing, with what capital logic, and with what expectations for daily life or investment performance. Properties are evaluated only once that foundation is clear.
A real estate agent typically earns a commission on a transaction. This creates a structural incentive toward closing, regardless of whether the acquisition is optimal for the buyer. A real estate advisor, particularly one working exclusively on the buyer side, is compensated to protect the buyer's decision, not to accelerate it.
The practical difference shows up in sequencing. An agent usually begins with properties. An advisor begins with questions: what is driving this decision, what are the financial constraints, what is the realistic use case, and what would make this acquisition a mistake. Properties are introduced only after that context is established.
In a domestic transaction, buyers often have some familiarity with local market norms, legal structures, and cost benchmarks. In a cross-border acquisition, that baseline disappears. Buyers frequently do not know what questions to ask, which professionals to engage, what fees to expect, or how local market dynamics affect pricing.
This information asymmetry is precisely where unrepresented buyers absorb the most risk. Overpaying, acquiring properties with unresolved legal encumbrances, misunderstanding tax obligations, or purchasing in a location that does not match the intended use case are all significantly more common when buyers navigate an unfamiliar market without representation that is structurally aligned with their interests.
Fernanda Silva works exclusively on the buyer side. This is not a capacity limitation but a positioning choice. Representing sellers and buyers simultaneously, even in different transactions, creates divided institutional attention and can compromise the analytical independence that buyer-side advisory requires. Exclusive buyer-side focus means every system, every market relationship, and every advisory framework is built around protecting acquisition decisions, not facilitating sales volume.
Buying properties in Portugal
Foreign nationals can purchase property in Portugal without restriction. There is no requirement to hold residency, a visa, or Portuguese citizenship. The process typically involves the following stages: obtaining a Portuguese tax number (NIF), opening a Portuguese bank account for transaction purposes, engaging a lawyer to conduct due diligence on the title and legal status of the property, signing a promissory contract (CPCV) with a deposit, and completing the transaction at a notary through the final deed.
The process is legally structured but requires careful coordination, particularly at the due diligence stage. Title histories, urban licensing, condominium debts, and pending charges must all be reviewed before the CPCV is signed, not after. Buyers who skip or compress this stage carry risk forward into the transaction.
The total acquisition cost in Portugal typically ranges between 6% and 10% above the purchase price, depending on the property value and transaction specifics. The main components are:
- IMT (Imposto Municipal sobre Transmissoes): a property transfer tax calculated on a sliding scale based on price and use classification. Rates range from 0% to approximately 7.5% for residential properties.
- Stamp Duty (Imposto de Selo): currently 0.8% of the purchase price.
- Notary and land registry fees: typically between 1,000 and 2,000 euros depending on transaction complexity.
- Legal fees: typically 1% to 1.5% of the purchase price, though this varies by firm and transaction complexity.
Buyers should budget for these costs separately from the purchase price and confirm the exact figures with their legal counsel before signing any commitment.
Due diligence in Portugal covers three main areas. Legal due diligence verifies that the property has a clean title, no pending charges or mortgages, and that the seller has the legal right to sell. Urban due diligence checks that the property has valid licensing, that any construction or renovation was properly permitted, and that the current use matches the official classification. Financial due diligence reviews outstanding condominium fees, IMI (property tax) arrears, and any encumbrances registered against the title.
A buyer who skips due diligence to accelerate a transaction assumes any existing problems as their own from the moment the deed is signed.
Resolving inherited legal or licensing issues after acquisition is significantly more difficult and expensive than identifying them before commitment.
The most common mistakes follow a predictable pattern. Buyers commit emotionally to a property before establishing their actual acquisition criteria. They allow urgency, whether real or manufactured, to compress the due diligence timeline.
They engage a lawyer late in the process rather than before the promissory contract. They underestimate total acquisition costs and enter negotiations without understanding local pricing benchmarks.
A structural mistake, less visible but significant, is selecting a location based on lifestyle appeal alone without verifying that it matches the intended use case, whether long-term residency, seasonal use, capital preservation, or yield generation. These objectives have different implications for location, property type, and exit strategy.
Non-residents can access mortgage financing in Portugal, though the conditions differ from those available to residents. Portuguese banks typically offer non-residents a loan-to-value ratio of up to 60-70% of the appraised or purchase value, compared to higher ratios for primary residence buyers. Eligibility criteria, documentation requirements, and processing timelines vary significantly between banks.
Buyers who are considering mortgage financing should engage a mortgage broker or begin bank discussions early in the process, before property selection, to establish realistic financing parameters.
Lisbon vs Cascais: location decision
There is no universally correct answer. The right location depends on the buyer's specific objectives, life structure, and use case. Lisbon and Cascais serve different buyer profiles and generate different long-term satisfaction depending on how the property will be used.
Lisbon tends to suit buyers who prioritize urban access, diversity of inventory, walkability, and proximity to commercial, cultural, and professional infrastructure. Cascais tends to suit buyers seeking coastal lifestyle, lower density, family-oriented environments, and a different rhythm of daily life while remaining within reasonable distance of Lisbon.
The decision is rarely just geographic. It affects documentation flow, budget logic, resale dynamics, and daily quality of life. Buyers who select a location based on a single factor, typically lifestyle appeal or a specific property, often find that the location does not serve their broader needs over time.
Lisbon vs Cascais: Quick Reference for Buyer Profiles
Buyer profile or priority | Location that typically fits better |
Urban access and walkability | Lisbon |
Coastal lifestyle and lower density | Cascais |
Wide inventory range across price points | Lisbon |
Family environment and green space | Cascais |
Proximity to major business infrastructure | Lisbon |
Quieter daily pace with Lisbon within reach | Cascais |
Higher volume rental yield potential | Lisbon |
Second home or seasonal residence | Cascais |
The most frequently reported regret is selecting a location without clearly defining the intended use case first. Buyers who chose Lisbon for its energy sometimes find the density and pace less compatible with a family-oriented daily life. Buyers who chose Cascais for its lifestyle sometimes find the limited urban infrastructure less compatible with professional activity or social connectivity than they expected.
A secondary pattern: buyers who chose based on a specific property they loved rather than on location criteria. This typically results in a sound property in a location that does not serve the buyer's actual needs, which is a difficult position to resolve without a financially costly correction.
Cascais is well-suited for international buyers seeking long-term residency, particularly those with families, those transitioning from high-density urban environments, or those prioritizing quality of life over urban proximity. The municipality has a well-established international resident community, good international school options in the surrounding area, proximity to Lisbon via road and train, and a stable, high-quality real estate market.
Buyers considering long-term residency should verify that the specific area within Cascais, not just the municipality broadly, aligns with their daily logistics: distance to schools, healthcare, professional activity, and regular travel infrastructure.
Buying properties in Florida
Yes. Foreign nationals can purchase real estate in Florida without restriction, regardless of immigration status or country of origin. There is no requirement to hold a US visa, residency permit, or citizenship to complete a property purchase.
However, non-residents should be aware of specific considerations that differ from domestic transactions: the Foreign Investment in Real Property Tax Act (FIRPTA) governs withholding obligations on the eventual sale; ownership structure decisions, such as individual ownership versus a legal entity, carry different tax and estate planning implications; and mortgage financing as a foreign national operates under different eligibility criteria than for US residents.
The buyer-side closing costs in a Florida transaction typically range from 2% to 5% of the purchase price. Main components include title insurance, which protects the buyer against title defects and is standard practice in Florida transactions; escrow and settlement fees; documentary stamp taxes on the deed; and any applicable HOA transfer fees if the property is within a managed community.
International buyers should additionally account for currency conversion costs if purchasing in a currency other than US dollars, and should factor in the tax and structuring advice they will need before completing the transaction.
Orlando attracts significant international buyer interest across two distinct motivations: lifestyle-driven acquisition, typically vacation homes or eventual relocation property, and investment-driven acquisition, typically short-term rental properties in resort-adjacent communities.
These two objectives require different property types, different community structures, and different due diligence frameworks. A property that performs well as a short-term rental, for example, is typically in a community that permits short-term rentals, which is governed by HOA rules and local zoning.
Not all communities allow this, and buyers who purchase without verifying rental permissions can find themselves holding a property they cannot use as intended.
Understanding which objective is driving the acquisition, and confirming that the property and its governing rules align with that objective, is the foundational due diligence question in the Orlando market.
The structural differences are significant. The legal framework, transaction flow, professional roles, cost structure, and tax implications differ substantially between the two markets. In Portugal, the transaction is notary-based and governed by Portuguese civil law. In Florida, the transaction is contract-based, governed by US law, and typically managed through a title company with a separate real estate attorney engaged for international buyer-specific tax and structuring advice.
For buyers considering both markets, the critical point is not which market is better in the abstract, but which market aligns better with the specific acquisition objective, timing, and capital structure at hand. A cross-market perspective, understanding how both systems operate and where each creates more or less friction for a specific buyer profile, is what makes the comparison useful rather than misleading.
Working with Fernanda Silva Advisory
Fernanda Silva Advisory operates across two markets: Portugal, with active operational focus on Lisbon and Cascais, and Florida, with focus on the Orlando metropolitan area. The practice covers both markets not as a geographic expansion strategy but because the buyer profile the advisory serves frequently considers both regions as part of the same international acquisition decision.
The cross-market structure allows for context that single-market advisors cannot provide: comparative risk assessment, understanding how the acquisition logic holds or breaks differently depending on which market is selected, and clarity on what each market can and cannot deliver for a specific buyer's objectives.
The advisory serves international buyers making high-value residential decisions in Portugal and Florida. The typical client is not navigating their first property transaction, but they are navigating an unfamiliar market, either geographically or structurally, and they understand that the cost of a poorly advised decision in that context is significantly higher than the cost of professional representation.
Many clients are Brazilian investors or professionals with ties to Portugal or the United States. Others are European buyers considering relocation to Portugal or US-based buyers with investment interest in Florida communities. What they share is a decision that benefits from structured analysis before emotional commitment to a property.
The process begins with a private consultation. This is not a property viewing. It is a structured conversation designed to establish the context of the acquisition: why the decision is being considered now, what the realistic constraints are, what the buyer's actual objectives are, and whether the market being considered aligns with those objectives.
Properties are introduced only once that foundation is clear. This sequencing protects buyers from emotional commitment to a property before they have confirmed that the location, market, and acquisition structure are appropriate for their situation.
Properties are the answer to a question that most buyers have not yet fully formed. A buyer who begins by looking at properties is selecting from options before they have defined the criteria those options should satisfy. This creates a selection process driven by availability and emotion rather than by strategic fit.
Starting with context means establishing: what is the acquisition for, under what conditions does it make sense, what would make it the wrong decision, and what would a good outcome actually look like in practice. Once those questions are answered, the property evaluation process becomes a confirmation exercise rather than an emotional discovery process. This produces better acquisitions and fewer regrets.
Working with Property Owners
Yes. In addition to the primary buyer-side focus, Fernanda Silva Advisory works with property owners in Portugal and Florida who want to reach qualified international buyers. This is not a conventional listing service. It is an extension of the same cross-market advisory logic that defines the practice on the buyer side.
Working with international buyers every day provides a detailed understanding of that profile: what they are looking for, what documentation and presentation standards they expect, what makes them proceed and what makes them hesitate. That understanding is what informs how a property is positioned for this specific audience.
The process begins with a conversation about the property, the owner's timeline, and the intended outcome. From there, the property is assessed for fit with the international buyer profile the advisory serves. Presentation is prepared for a multilingual audience, documentation is coordinated to meet the standards that foreign buyers and their legal counsel will require, and the owner is accompanied through the process through to closing.
Owners interested in this type of representation are welcome to make contact through the private inquiry channel to discuss whether the property and its objectives are a suitable fit.
In many cases, international buyers operate with a different price reference than the local market. Buyers from markets where comparable properties carry significantly higher price points often evaluate acquisitions in Portugal and Florida against a different benchmark than domestic buyers. This does not mean international buyers will pay any price for any property. It means that a well-positioned property, presented correctly to the right buyer profile, can perform differently than it would in a purely domestic sales process.
Understanding how to navigate that dynamic, and when it applies and when it does not, is part of what the advisory provides to property owners it represents.
If you are evaluating Portugal or Florida and need clarity before moving further, a private consultation can help frame the decision properly