BUILDING PLOTS ARE GETTING HOT ITEMS
(in Algarveweb)

The last two years have seen a dramatic increase of foreign investors seeking good building plots. This is whether the plots are situated inside developments or out in the "hills".
A good portion of these plots are bought for pure speculation and a quick re-sale in mind but the majority of the sold plots go to investors who actually build houses on them. The finished villa will then be put on the market for sale or used by the investor himself for family use and/or as a rental property.
How come that more and more people dare starting a building project in a foreign country?
We believe the threes major reasons are:
1) The demand for quality villas has increased. Before buyers were looking for a mere summerhouse and did not have very high demands with regards to building materials and finishes. Today, the majority of house buyers are looking for a good (to superb) quality villa, which they compare with villas at home. The fact is, that there are very few quality villas on the market, so people decide to build one themselves. Most villas here a 10-25 years old.
2) Because there are so few quality villas on the market, the ones you can find will often be quite expensive. Demand exceeds the supply by far. Mark-ups can exceed 100% - this makes it interesting for the builder/investor to build and sell, and it makes it interesting/very worthwhile for the home buyer to "do it yourself"
3) Today one can almost get/source/buy any building materials one would need being doors, windows, tiles, wood work, bricks, kitchens etc. etc. Germany, Scandinavia, U.K., Holland etc are exporting all their goodies to Portugal today, which was not the case some years ago, where one had to deal with the local supplies. It has become possible to build a home "like home".
Buying a plot however, it not always an easy task!
Firstly, the good plots are getting fewer and fewer already, so again we will soon have a supply problem.

Secondly, the Portuguese restrictions on what you can build where are (luckily) quite hard.

Thirdly, especially when you are buying plots outside the developments it is often cumbersome/difficult to secure all the necessary paperwork on the plot, which is needed.

Use reputable professionals (estate Agent, lawyer, architect and builder) to guide you through the journey from finding the right plot to seeing your finished project.