Getting the Right Location for your property in Portugal

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  Portugal

  Property for sale in Portugal

  Purchasing a Home in Portugal

  Living in Portugal

  Owning a Property in Portugal

  Weather in Portugal

Getting the right location when you move to Portugal is vitally important to ensure you attain the lifestyle you hope to achieve.

Buying in the wrong location can sour the whole experience of moving to a foreign country and gekkoportugal.com hopes to help keep you grounded when searching for a property to purchase here in Portugal.

Although it can be an exhilarating thought to move to a foreign country, getting the right location is imperative to ensure you enjoy your new lifestyle to the full.

Unlike your home country where jobs and family may have tied you to certain locations, when you look to live in Portugal you will probably not be confined by these restraints. Though initially this can be very liberating as you scour the internet for properties for sale, it can also make the process more difficult in the longer term trying to narrow down your search.

Though a relatively small country, Portugal is a land of contrast, from the rocky coves and beaches of the Algarve in the south; the flat, open plains of the Alentejo; lush green hills and valleys of the central region; remote moor land of the Tras-o-Montes to the terraced, rain soaked hills of the Minho to the north all with something special to offer prospective home buyers.

After all if you have always had hectic social life, which you enjoy, moving to a remote rural area with only elderly Portuguese neighbours may not provide the stimulus you are looking for. Equally if you enjoy your own company and are keen to be closer to nature and wish to attempt a more self-sufficient lifestyle purchasing a property in a tourist resort area may not be the best idea.

But before you fall in love with a property on screen try to map out what will be most important to you when you live in Portugal as this will help you choose the right region of Portugal to suit these needs.

By categorising the needs of your new home in Portugal you will be able to eliminate certain regions quite quickly and although you may have spotted what looks like the perfect property on the Internet there try keep yourselves grounded.

If you will be having friends and family visiting on regular occasions once you have settled into your new home, being within easy driving reach of an airport will be significant. You may think this to be important initially, but you may change your mind after the third, four hour round trip to the airport to pick up your guests.

This is especially important if you are going to try and earn an income from your future property with paying guests also visiting. Accommodation locations which are further from the airports and with fewer attractions can and do struggle to entice visitors and often have to charge considerably less than other venues simply to fill beds.

Additionally if you do not drive remember although Portugal has good public transport links in less populated areas these will be more infrequent than you may expect and could lead to a feeling of isolation very quickly.

One point to keep in mind when you are trying to find the perfect region of Portugal to relocate to is weather and the climate. Portugal is much like any other country with a varied weather pattern and although the winters may be a lot warmer than other Northern European countries, temperatures can plummet during the winter months in some areas.

For example in the more northerly regions of Portugal (Minho, Douro and Tras-o-Montes) the temperature can be up to 6-8 degrees different to the more southerly regions during the winter and summer. Then again if you don't enjoy excessive heat you may want to rethink looking at the Alentejo, which can reach the mid 40s during the long, summer months.

If you are looking to move to Portugal to enjoy a warmer climate in both the summer and winter remember the northerly regions of the country, though with beautiful scenery and many historic towns and cities to explore do experience severe weather conditions than the rest of the country with more rain and snow during the winter months.

You may be counting down the months, weeks and days until you move to Portugal, but it best to take your time. If you can, rent in the different regions you have focussed your search in as this will give you time to decide whether or not it is right for you.

Don't rush into, or be rushed or pushed into purchasing a property and although you will be keen to start your new life in Portugal getting it right the first time will help ensure you have many happy years in your new home.