“Really, at this moment in time, it’s not so much a question of why you would buy in Portugal as why on earth you wouldn’t,” enthuses Chris White, founding director of boutique estate agency Ideal Homes Portugal.

“Portugal really does have everything going for it and the exchange rate is so favourable right now that the bargains buyers are picking up really have to be seen to be believed.”

Fresh from another highly successful A Place in the Sun Live event in Manchester, White and his team are full of the joys of life overseas, leaving the rain and wind of the UK behind and jetting back to the sunny Algarve, which has just enjoyed a stunningly hot burst of weather, with temperatures hitting 87F (30C) at the end of March according to Accuweather.

The sunshine is one of the key reasons that many second home owners and expats cite for purchasing property in Portugal. Here, the Ideal Homes Portugal provides their top 10 reasons to buy in Portugal right now.

Ideal Homes Portugal’s top 10 reasons to buy in Portugal:

1. Sunshine

Sunshine simply has to come first. The Algarve is reputed to enjoy 300 days of sunshine each year, making it the ideal location for a second home or a fulltime residence. Opt for an apartment with an impressive pool to make the most of the lovely climate.

2. Ease of access

The Algarve is less than three hours by plane from most UK airports. On a bad day, it can take longer than that to get around the M25. Opt for a peaceful countryside villa with pool to ensure that traffic jams are just a distant memory.

3. Low prices for high quality

A glut of properties and a tumble in prices over recent years (which now seems to have bottomed out) has meant that even for low prices, high quality properties are available across the Algarve. Modern, one bedroom apartments cost from as little as €72,000 in the eastern Algarve.

4. High rental returns

According to Ideal Homes Portugal, expected gross rental yields in Portugal are among the highest in Europe, with 14% achievable from the right property. Bed and breakfast and hostel accommodation properties offer some excellent deals, such as this 23 room hostel for €635k in the quaint central Algarve town of Alcantarilha.

5. Impressive tax breaks

The Non-habitual Resident tax scheme in Portugal can enable those moving there from overseas to essentially live tax-free for 10 years if they meet the legislation’s criteria. Why not push the boat out and spend the extra cash on a particularly majestic villa with pool, tennis court and Jacuzzi?

6. Beautiful beaches

The Algarve is known across the world for its stunning coastline, with crumbling formations of red and yellow rock standing like proud sentinels in the sea, or lining the backs of beaches with dramatic cliffs. Sea caves offer the perfect places for exploration by boat or with a snorkel, while hot, soft sand invites those of a less active nature to while away the hours soaking up the sun. Opt for an apartment within walking distance of the beach to enjoy the coast to the max.

7. Fabulous local cuisine

From freshly caught razor clams cooked simply with rice, wine and coriander, to huge bowls of intensely rich, acorn-fed wild boar stew, to unforgettably sticky carob cake, the Portuguese diet showcases how much can be achieved with so little when it comes to ingredients. Based on a history of hearty peasant food, the country’s cuisine squeezes every iota of flavour out of each ingredient to produce a unique gastronomic experience. Buying a traditional Algarvian farmhouse with land is the perfect way to create your own farm to table experience in the sunshine.

8. Award-winning golf courses

Golf is a great way to burn off all those extra calories piled on while feasting on Portuguese stews and cakes, and the Algarve boasts dozens of beautifully tended courses, many of which have won awards and/or hosted important championship tournaments. Opt for a luxury golf villa within easy reach of the world famous Quinta do Lago golf complex in order to enjoy the Algarve’s best courses.

9. Low cost of living

From dining out to deep sea fishing experiences, the low cost of living in Portugal means that living and playing in the Algarve can be an extremely wallet friendly. Good wine costs around €2 per bottle. An icy cold beer costs €1. Enough said! All that money saved on usual daily expenses can be channelled into a lovely family property

instead, such as this fabulous five bedroomed house with pool and pretty garden.

10. A safe place to buy

A far cry from the shocking tales heard from neighbouring Spain, Portugal is known for being a safe place to buy property, provided of course that the purchase is made through a reputable estate agency, such as Ideal Homes Portugal. Opt for a spacious and thoughtfully designed new home (with pool, naturally) that you can really make your mark on.

“As they say,” concludes Chris White, as he and his team head back to the Algarvian sunshine, “There’s no time like the present.”

For further details call Ideal Homes Portugal on 0800 133 7644 or +351 289 513 434, email enquiries@idealhomesportugal.com or visit www.idealhomesportugal.com.

• Non-habitual residents scheme offers 10 years tax free in Portugal
• 4 bedroom Algarve home with 3 rental apartments costs just €325k (Ideal Homes Portugal)
• UK pensions freedom day to bring ‘frankly unchartered territory’ (FCA)

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has spoken about how the UK is entering ‘frankly unchartered territory’ as pensions freedom day (6 April 2015) draws inexorably nearer. Nobody knows what the impact of suddenly granting those aged 55 and over the freedom to manage their own financial future will be, but a study published by Hargreaves Lansdown has indicated that around 16% of those who plan to withdraw their entire pension intend to put it into property.

A second or even first home overseas is a tempting choice for those who have worked hard their whole lives to save up for their retirement years and Portugal is an excellent choice, as Chris White, founding director of boutique estate agency Ideal Homes Portugal, reveals,

“There’s a really exciting vibe running through the Portuguese property market right now. Sellers here definitely feel that prices have bottomed out and are set to rise over the course of 2015. There’s a feeling of optimism about the market and we’re seeing buyer numbers pick up as both domestic and overseas purchasers look to buy before prices rise too far.

“Portugal is within easy reach of the UK, has a wonderful climate in the southern Algarve region and offers a low cost of living. It also benefits from the non-habitual residents taxation scheme, where those who live there for more than six months of every year can enjoy ten years of their income (from employment or a pension) tax free.”

For buyers in the UK, the exchange rate is also adding to the already considerable attractions of a life in Portugal, as well as other sun-kissed parts of Europe. With the best rate in years making headlines recently, many of those who were considering a property purchase are suddenly pushing forward their plans as they realise how much more they can get for their money with a well timed purchase. The soon-to-be available pension pots offer the ideal way forward for many buyers.

Ideal Homes Portugal’s villas with pools are particularly popular with British buyers who have had enough of the cold over the winter months and certainly offer excellent value for money at present. A three bedroom two bathroom traditional villa with pool, mature gardens and paddock costs just €385,000, including a fully refurbished designer kitchen and a sauna room by the pool.

Buyers looking for a more modern exterior can pick up a stunning contemporary four bedroom villa with pool in Pêra for €750,000. In addition to the garden, a spacious rooftop terrace provides 360 degree views of the surrounding area.

“We are definitely seeing a push of British buyers who have been encouraged by the exchange rate to purchase their dream home in the Algarve,” continues Chris White. “Many clients are seeing their purchase as an investment in terms of the potential for capital gains. Some are planning to reside permanently in Portugal and enjoy the taxation benefits of doing so, while others plan to use their property for part of the year and benefit from rental income at other times. It is definitely a buyers’ market at the moment.”

The wealth of properties available means that those looking to put their pension into an investment property such as a B&B or a cluster of self-contained rental apartments have some excellent options available to them. In Albufeira, this four bedroom villa with three attached rental apartments and good size swimming pool for €325,000 would make an ideal home for someone looking to live on site and manage their rental properties personally.

So far as Portuguese property is concerned, it really does look like the time to buy is now, with the exchange rate and pensions freedom day coming together to create the perfect storm.

For further details call Ideal Homes Portugal on 0800 133 7644 or +351 289 513 434, email enquiries@idealhomesportugal.com or visit www.idealhomesportugal.com.

• Ideal Homes Portugal and Jones Homes launch new partnership
• Algarve buyers set to benefit
• Townhouses just a few metres from the sea priced at only €225k

As a business owner, you often meet people that you enjoy working with. More rarely, you meet individuals that you genuinely enjoy getting to know, with a business relationship turning into a friendship.

This is precisely what happened when Chris White of boutique estate agency Ideal Homes Portugal and Peter Emerson Jones of The Emerson Group first ran across each other in the property sector.

Peter Jones has been in the trade for decades, having founded the Emerson Group in 1959. His company is now one of the biggest privately owned property development companies in the UK, specialising in leisure, residential and commercial developments. One of the company’s three main divisions is Jones Homes, which builds superior residential properties in the UK and in Portugal through Jones Homes Portugal. Reportedly worth over £700 million and approaching his 80^th birthday, Peter Emerson Jones really has seen it all after a career spanning seven decades in the property sector.

Chris White, Founding Director of Ideal Homes Portugal, is delighted to have forged a friendship with Jones and now the pair is seeking to use their combined talents to benefit those looking to purchase property in Portugal. Chris comments,

“I am thrilled to announce the new partnership between Jones Homes and Ideal Homes Portugal, which will see the Algarve opened up to UK buyers like never before. Finding and purchasing your dream second home in Portugal is now easier and swifter than it has ever been and I am delighted that Jones Homes and Ideal Homes Portugal are working together to make that happen.”

The duo exhibited together at A Place in the Sun in Manchester earlier this month, the city where Peter Jones was educated and an area where the Emerson Group has built some 4,000 homes over the years.

In Portugal, the focus is on the southernmost Algarve region, which is popular with holidaymakers, second home owners and expats looking for sea, sunshine and a relaxed pace of life. Golf properties are a speciality, with a delightful, four bedroom, south facing villa with pool in Quinta do Lago available for €850,000.

For those who prefer the beach to the golf course, the Algarve has some fabulous properties to offer. Smart townhouses just a few metres from the sea in Benagil cost just €225,000, including air conditioning and satellite dish.

Golf, beach or inland, whatever buyers prefer they can now turn to Ideal Homes Portugal and Jones Homes to make their Portuguese property dreams come true.

For further details call Ideal Homes Portugal on 0800 133 7644 or +351 289 513 434, email enquiries@idealhomesportugal.com or visit www.idealhomesportugal.com.

• Ideal Homes Portugal joins forces with Hamptons to bring the Portuguese dream closer to UK buyers
• Dream holiday homes available for as little as €75,000
• Or why not buy a whole lakeside village for €4 million!

A second home in the sunshine, or even a new life overseas in Portugal’s sunny Algarve has just been made even easier, thanks to a new corporate partnership from leading boutique estate agency Ideal Homes Portugal.

Fresh from being the premier company representing Algarve properties at A Place in the Sun live in Manchester earlier this month, the Ideal Homes Portugal team has now announced a new partnership that will help those in the UK looking to purchase a property in Portugal.

Founding Director Chris White reveals the details,

“Portugal has been our passion for a long time and I am delighted to announce that we are now teaming up with Hamptons in order to make the Algarve accessible to even more UK buyers. The purpose of the partnership is to help UK buyers to find their dream Portuguese property even more easily and ensure that a second home (or indeed a life overseas) is achievable for those who wish for it.”

Portugal is certainly working hard to push itself up the list of second home destinations for UK buyers, with generous tax incentives in place for those looking to purchase property there and/or make a permanent move.

Less than three hours from the UK by air, Portugal offers the sunshine and relaxed pace of life that many of those in Blighty daydream about during those long, grey, typically British winter days. A huge range of property is available in the popular Algarve region, from budget apartments to enormous villas.

House prices start from as little as €75,000, which is sufficient for a one bedroom house with a small plot of land in Portelas, near Lagos. There’s even enough room on the land to grow your own citrus fruit, with mature trees included in the sale. For and extra €5,000, you can pick up a one bedroom apartment just 300m from both the fairway and the sea. Or, for €85,000, you can opt for an apartment with communal pool in Albufeira.

At the other end of the scale, spending between €4m and €5m will ensure you have a huge choice of detached villas with their own pools. A stunning new five bedroom villa overlooking the famous Quinta do Lago south course can be had for €4.9m, complete with home cinema, pool and Jacuzzi.

And if one villa isn’t enough, €4m is enough to pick up an entire lakeside village. Funcho Village is located in a stunning rural setting and is ripe for development as a tourist resort by someone with the vision to pull it off. The village’s revitalisation has been approved by the Portuguese government, with permission granted (subject to approval) for the inclusion of an hotel, log cabins and a full range of support services including restaurants, water sports facilities, a dry ski slope and an observatory.

For those looking to sell up in the UK as part of buying into the Portuguese dream, Ideal Homes Portugal’s new partnership with Hamptons offers the perfect solution, providing continuity of service throughout the process of selling in the UK and buying in the Algarve.

For further details call Ideal Homes Portugal on 0800 133 7644 or +351 289 513 434, email enquiries@idealhomesportugal.com or visit www.idealhomesportugal.com.

• Yoga, horse riding, canoeing in mountain lakes – ‘hidden Algarve’ is in plain sight to those with vision
• Windmill and two miller cottages in hillside paradise just €159k (Ideal Homes Portugal)
• Sao Marcos da Serra reveals an Algarve untouched by modern tourism

The Algarve enjoys a well deserved reputation as a paradise for beach bunnies and wannabe pro golfers, but there is more to Portugal’s south coast than meets the eye.

Chris White, Founding Director of boutique real estate agency Ideal Homes Portugal, has come across some exciting and unusual properties during his years of operating in Portugal, but the star gazing yoga windmill in Sao Marcos da Serra has to be the most unique.

He comments,

“The Algarve is known to many for its beaches and first rate golf courses, but it has a huge range of lesser known attractions. It’s a brilliant area for star gazing once you move away from the large resorts, as the skies are so clear thanks to the lack of light pollution. It’s also a wonderfully peaceful place when you head up into the hills and mountains, making it ideal as a yoga retreat. The light in the Algarve also makes it a popular destination with painters, photographers and other artists.”

With these special attractions in mind, the team at Ideal Homes Portugal was pleasantly surprised to find a property that featured all of these opportunities in one place, but that is precisely what they discovered in Jerome Gay’s windmill and two attached miller cottages.

Jerome’s property is nestled in the hills of Sao Marcos da Serra, where he obtained a grant from the local council to turn it into a star gazing retreat, as part of a drive to show that there is more to the Algarve that sand and sea. The windmill features a raised gallery that provides stunning panoramic views, as well as retaining quirky original features such as the millstone, which is now a table in the main living area.

Jerome has overseen the renovation of the windmill and the two linked cottages and has been delighted with the potential of the property. The area is ideal for those who love horse riding or mountain biking and would make a wonderful setting for a yoga centre thus creating an exciting opportunity for someone with vision. The site is priced at €159,000.

As if star gazing, horse riding, mountain biking and yoga weren’t enough, the windmill also has a lake next door, making it a charming spot for canoeing and other water-based activities. The three dwellings each have one bed, one bath, a kitchen and a living area, though the large mezzanines in the cottages mean that they could flex to sleep four or five people in a dormitory style arrangement.

This unusual property certainly has the makings of one of the most interesting tourist destinations in the Algarve, once the individual with the vision to take it forward snaps it up. Drawing tourists away from the coast and into the ‘real’ Portugal is part of an initiative to show that the country is about more than just golf courses and beaches.

It is a land of stunning mountain scenery, rich vegetation and sparkling inland lakes. The people are peaceful and friendly. The air is clear, scented with orange blossom and tinged with the distant tinkle of goat bells, which make for a wonderful soundtrack to life beyond the beach. This is the Algarve as Portugal’s population has known it for centuries and which so many tourists are entirely oblivious to. Perhaps this unique property will be the means through which the ‘hidden Algarve is finally revealed?

For further details call Ideal Homes Portugal on 0800 133 7644 or +351 289 513 434, email enquiries@idealhomesportugal.com or visit www.idealhomesportugal.com.

• Up to 10% yields available on Algarve holiday rental properties (Ideal Homes Portugal)
• Overnight stays up 11.2% in the year to Oct 2014 (National Statistics Institute)
• Three bed holiday rental properties from as little as €129k (Ideal Homes Portugal)

Investing in a holiday rental property is a rather different undertaking than buying a second home. The searching, viewing and purchasing process requires a different mind-set, with a focus on how to maximise income rather than on the purchaser’s personal taste.

It’s not something that comes naturally to every buyer, explains Chris White, Founding Director of boutique real estate agency Ideal Homes Portugal,

“Many buyers set out to buy a holiday home as an investment property, then end up choosing one that they themselves would like to live in. Of course that’s fine if the plan is for the purchaser to one day move there, but those looking for holiday rentals purely as a means of income generation need to be a little more hard hearted in their outlook.”

To that end, Chris has provided his top five tips for helping buyers to profit from their holiday rental property.

Five simple steps to profiting from your holiday rental property

1. Lock in the location

Firstly, as with everything in the property world, it’s all about location. Holidaymakers want somewhere that is easy to reach from the airport, that has a swimming pool and that is near a beach. In the Algarve, a nearby golf course is also a must. Additionally, local facilities such as shops, restaurants and bars should be close, ideally within walking distance.

The Royal Cabanas Golf apartments in the eastern Algarve are a great example of such a property. Cabanas is the eastern Algarve’s rising star when it comes to hit holiday destinations and these apartments tick all of the location boxes perfectly.

2. Buy bonus features

Once you’ve found a good location, look for the properties that stand out from the crowd due to their bonus features. It could be a hot tub in the garden, a particularly attractive roof terrace or a stunning sea view. Whatever catches your eye will be sure to catch the attention of holidaymakers searching online for the perfect rental property.

These luxurious off plan apartments in the Porto de Mós area of Lagos are ideal, featuring wonderful sea views, easy access to the beach and a host of other bonus features, including two pools, a gym and a sauna.

3. Remember your returns

Think about the kind of yield you need from your rental property and keep that firmly in mind when viewing potential accommodation. The Algarve is a tourist mecca, with some 15.5 million overnight stays from January to October 2014 according to the National Statistics Institute (INE), up 11.2% on the year before.

Even in the most popular areas, two bedroom apartments can be found for as little as €120,000, with three bedrooms from around €130,000, such as this brand new three bedroom apartment with communal pool and views of Silves Castle, priced at €129,000.

Yields of up to 10% are possible with the right property, making the Algarve an exciting destination for those looking for a holiday rental investment property.

4. Perfect that paperwork

Every country has its own rules and regulations on rental properties. In Portugal, your income from the property is taxable even if you own and manage it from abroad. You also need to have certain licences in place before you can legally rent out the accommodation that you have invested in. Buying through a reputable agency such as Ideal Homes Portugal means that you can gain an understanding of your obligations as part of the purchase process, rather than discovering them late in the day.

5. Take a test drive

Perhaps the most enjoyable step in the process! Buyers should test out their new investment for themselves and view it through the eyes of holidaymakers. What are its outstanding features, how close are the best restaurants and what does the kitchen need to be equipped with? Discovering these items will help the buyer to ensure that he/she has relevant information to hand when it comes to promoting the property as a holiday destination and will ensure that those renting it are happy that their every convenience has been catered for, maximising their chances of returning there the following year.

For further details call Ideal Homes Portugal on 0800 133 7644 or +351 289 513 434, email enquiries@idealhomesportugal.com or visit www.idealhomesportugal.com.

• 60% of buyers opt for apartments
• Just 10% looking for a rustic home
• 80% of properties snapped up by Brits (all figures: Ideal Homes Portugal)

Portugal offers a whole host of attractions to holiday home owners. It is less than three hours’ flight from the UK, the popular Algarve region has more than 300 days of sunshine per year and property is excellent value, particularly given the current exchange rate.

It also offers a wide range of choice to second home owners, from modern, new build apartments and villas to vast, cut price plots of land covered with orange and olive trees and tumbledown cottages just crying out for sympathetic renovation.

But what is it that today’s second home purchasers are looking for? Has the restoration dream given way to the convenience of new build luxury? Not entirely, asserts Chris White, Founding Director of boutique real estate agency Ideal Homes Portugal,

“Although new build developments are very popular, we do still have clients who want more of a challenge and are looking for a rustic Portuguese home to make their own. And Portugal certainly has plenty of properties that fit the bill – the landscape is dotted with buildings in need of repair, with fantastically generous land plots around them.”

Buying a rustic property and doing it up can be a great personal project, but it can also have business potential. This beautifully renovated farmhouse near Silves, for example, is packed full of character and would make an excellent bed and breakfast for the Algarve’s rural tourism market. On the market for €595,000, it embodies the opportunities available for those with vision, coming complete with rental apartments, an owners’ cottage and a ruin that is ripe for restoration.

Only 10% of customers are looking for rustic homes though, according to Ideal Homes Portugal’s 2014 figures. The remaining 90% are seeking the conveniences of modern properties, with 30% looking to purchase villas and 60% apartments. Chris White comments,

“Around 65% of our buyers are holiday home owners and the majority want something fairly new rather than a more traditional property. They want a property that is easy to maintain, so that they don’t have to spend their holidays repairing ancient roof tiles or pruning an orchard full of carob trees. A modern apartment with a communal pool, located close to the beach and shops is a very popular option for our second home buyers.”

A two bedroom apartment on the popular Clube Albufeira resort can be purchased for as little as €158,000 and is precisely the kind of property that holiday home owners are looking for. A spacious living area, south facing balcony and fully fitted kitchen ensure the owners feel at home the moment they arrive and the resort is packed with features that mean the property also has great rental potential when not in use, including four swimming pools, snack bars, restaurants, crazy golf, a mini supermarket, a bakery, tennis courts, a cash point and internet facilities. It even benefits from a free shuttle bus to Albufeira Old Town and local beaches – clearly convenience is top of the list with such a property.

New build villas are also a popular choice, offering more privacy than resort properties. This luxury three bedroom villa in Galé is available for €390,000 and comprises accommodation split across three levels, plus large barbecue area with pizza oven, terrace, swimming pool and fountain outside.

In terms of those buying in Portugal, the holiday home market is still all about the Brits, according to the Ideal Homes Portugal data. 2014 saw 80% of the properties they sold snapped up by British buyers, with Irish, French and Chinese buyers making up the remaining 20%. As well as those looking to buy holiday homes, 20% of buyers specifically require golf properties, while 15% are looking to relocate to Portugal on a longer term basis.

For further details call Ideal Homes Portugal on 0800 133 7644 or +351 289 513 434, email enquiries@idealhomesportugal.com or visit www.idealhomesportugal.com.