Hi,
I'm a new member on this forum so I'll introduce myself quickly.
I'm Belgian (Flemish part) and have been to Portugal in the beginning of the year. I almost bought a piece of land but then decided to walk away from it to think it over...resulting (as always) in a "no buy".
I visited central portugal (Covilha/Castelo Branco/Idanha a nova/etc) and really liked the environment. But - I would like to move to Portugal to make a living - not to buy as an investment and the big question is always: will I be able to make a living...as I work in the IT Sector for 16years now as an IT Analyst and don't see real opportunities in that area. Some people advise B&B / 4x4 Adventures / etc...but seen the distance from main Europe (Belgium/Netherlands/France/etc) I see a big issue here seen cost of transport (fuel/highway tax/etc). Any comments from members on the forum here?
As to prices of property: maybe there is still a big difference with UK but if I look at prices for a 3bedroom house on a plot of 600m2 ... prices are not that much cheaper as here...or I'm looking at the wrong websites...
Now - we hate the bad weather here and would like more sun...:-) Is central Portugal still a good place then or do we need to go deeper south?
When I was over, I also noticed that English is almost not spoken/neither French/German or any other language...so if you're not speaking Portuguese...you're lost apparently. Now I do want to learn the language, but I also know it's not an easy language to learn...so how is that treated by the local people...say you need to go to town hall to get papers legalised or when going to a bank for a loan...etc etc etc...
So - I'm really looking for some experience feedback from people who made the move over to Portugal and start a new life overthere (so not as property investment or holiday retreat)...
Thanks,
CC
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