Golden Visa – Real Estate

(Residential & Commercial)

Investment in the Portugal Golden Visa (GV) – Real Estate option entails an investment of between EUR 280,000 – 500,000, depending on the property’s age & location, and whether the property is residential or commercial.

Government fees, professional fees & taxes cannot be included in the calculation of whether you have met the minimum investment requirement.

Some of the costs & government fees payable at the time of purchase of the property are the Transfer Tax, Stamp duty, and notary & registration fees.

An investment in real estate may be made in any number of properties & anywhere in the Portuguese territory, whether as a single owner or a co-owner, provided the Main Applicant invests singly the minimum required amount.

Investment in real estate must be made before the Golden Visa application is filed. Given the need for physical presence of the main applicant at the time of submission of the application (for biometrics), an applicant will need to, at the minimum,  make at least 2 trips to Portugal, the first being to view properties, choose & purchase one, and have the required registration formalities completed. The process can be expedited if the investor chooses to rely on the choice of residential properties by a trusted third party, which is a rare occurrence. The process is faster in the case of commercial properties in the tourist sector since it does not involve time spent on choosing a property for investment.

Under the new rules in effect from 1 January 2022, residential real estate properties in Lisbon, Porto, Algarve & coastal areas are no longer eligible for the Portugal Golden Visa Program. However, commercial properties continue to qualify for the program in these areas.

There are a few guaranteed buyback options (especially for commercial properties) at both the EUR 280,000 and EUR 350,000 price points. These are offered by developers in the commercial tourist sector. Contact us to know more.

This is a very good Plan B option combining a flexible second residency & a second home (or commercial property asset) in the world’s 3rd safest country. It is a traditional asset class known & understood by a large percentage of applicants.

For those opting to purchase residential real estate, a golden visa investment can deliver potential yield, and/or afford property owners the lifestyle benefit of spending time staying in their own vacation property. It also provides the opportunity to achieve effective portfolio diversification & jurisdictional risk hedging.

The downside to this option is that there are significant costs associated with asset acquisition, maintenance, repairs, management & eventually exit. Also, most property buyers spend a significant amount of time shopping around for the right property, which slows the overall Golden Visa application process considerably. One must also consider the fact that the Portuguese property market has been overheating in 2022, which makes finding quality, value-for-money properties harder. Hence, one can expect to pay a premium or deal with delays in their buying process.

The current processing timeline for property-based GV applications is around 12 – 14 months.

After 5 years, the primary applicant and their family members can apply for Permanent Residency or Citizenship, provided they satisfy certain conditions.

Contact us to know which residential or commercial property is a safe investment for you.

 

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