Whether to knock down or renovate is the number one question if you are buying an older property in Portugal.
Why is it the number one question? Because it can be the difference in keeping to budget or massively running over.
There are many more answers here are a few of them.
Is the structure sound? The number of times that I have heard new property owners say to me “the seller said that it had been here for 100 years and will be here for a hundred more”
In 13 years of renovating Portuguese houses I can categorically say that this is highly unlikely unless remedial action is taken.
Bulges and cracks in the walls. You have to understand what is causing these bulges and cracks. Will they continue to disastrous proportions. What does it mean with regard to opening up new windows and doors. Will my house fall down.
The sagging dip in the roof, olde worlde charm or death-trap. Having roof timbers and clay tiles fall on to you while you are in bed is deffinatly not to be recommended.
Dampness, moss, lichen, grass and small trees growing on the walls Growing out of the walls is not a good thing as it shows damp is penetrating the walls all year around. You know how hot and dry our summers in Portugal are and yet the walls can still supply moisture to plant. Something is very wrong here.
We have just covered the list of MAJOR problems that we look out for when we look at old Portuguese properties for potential buyers and home owners who have started a renovation and then got worried.
Sound structure, wall bulges and cracks, sagging roof, serious damp and humidity problems. We will be happy to take a look at any property on your behalf just contact info@casteloconstruction.com
Here is an example of why this can be important and save you a lot of money.
A client was trying to compile a list of properties that he was going to come over to Portugal and view with the intention of making a serious offer and purchase. They intended to buy with the head not the heart and negotiate hard.
We were asked to provide renovation costs or various properties so that the buyers could add this to their purchase price budget.
I can understand this absolutely it is very important to be in control of your budget and a little extra or you could become unstuck and end up living in a part finished home.
Because we have lots of experience in assessing, refurbishing and building homes here in Portugal we could see lots of things that were not included in the brief for our refurbishment pricing.
The rough list of things that also needed doing came to over 20,000 Euros
In otherwords if the client had bought the property he would have been at least 20,000 short of completion.
Why risk it. Having your property assessed is quick and easy. You don’t even have to own it. We can communicate with the seller and go on our own. The report we provide will have photos explain what we found good and bad.
Check out some of our refurbishment projects www.casteloconstruction.com
