So just to catch up, now that I have added RSS and blog functionality to the website, here follow the story so far.

2017, October
I am looking for a destination for the yearly autum vacation with my best friends (my grown up children). My partner – not able to join us, asked if I had ever been to the Algarve. I had not, but was looking for an area where the kids and I could do some fun on the water sports – so luke warm in October and both waves and shallow water was in demand. By search engine and local travel agency I found the bay in Alvor and booked a stay at Praia Do Vau in Portimao.

2018-2021
This first encounter and subsequent visits gave me nurture to a life long idea that “one day I could live under the sun”. I started looking for a second home on the Algerian coastline. Throughout this period I find myself on the coast at least twice a year. I travelled from west to east to explore the coast and eventually I ended up, where I started out. My second home should be in the rectangle formed by the coast on the south, the N120 highway to the west, the A22 motorway to the north and the Arade River to the east.
This original idea of mine was unfortunately nowhere near reality as the pricing and demand for Portuguese housing kept increasing. I started looking closer to the A22, rather than at the coast. The process of looking, was great as I became an expert of navigating the Algarve via the internet and friends and family was happy to travel with me to scout in different seasons.

2020-2021
Pure online search during the lockdown and general Covid area. I spend no money during this period and I am able to save an additional bit of money, but Portuguese house prices keeps rising.

2021, May
I find and close a deal with the seller on a townhouse in Portimao, including a large garden. During the legal ratification process seller backs out of the deal, and informs me that the house is being sold to someone else.
Further more – inflation is getting on my nerves – having savings cash ready to commit on a house in a bank account gave some problems. Pricing rises and my money becomg less worth.

2021-2022
Post Covid I am back into an online and onsite scouting cadence. By now I am pretty sure that I won’t be able to full fill my ambitions of finding a second home in the Algarve – I simply can’t afford a house.
So – I started dialing down the expectation of procuring an actual house. Instead I started looking for plots and ruins.

2023 Spring
I find a townhouse in Portimao that has just hit the market and is in pretty bad state. However, I have a great imagination and I am willing to spend years making something livable.

2023, June
My partner and I visit the house for a viewing and a week later, I present the agent with an offer. After negotiating back and forth for about two weeks the seller(s) accepts my offer.

2023, September
My lawyer, Dra. Cristina Marcelino (naming her as a recommendation) called me up to say the deal was closed and after 6 years of search I have landed – what potentially could be – a second home in Algarve.