BUYING A PROPERTY

I bank with Millennium, so I'll give them a try - thanks!

Same as Dicey, we use Ibex, Almancil office. Tell David we said hello!

We use Ibex - http://www.ibexinsure.com/

Good luck Maggie and do keep us in the picture. Everything helps for future advice.

We saw the guy from ERA this morning and he is lining up some properties for us to view. We have taken on board all the advice we've been given, both here on this site and from other sources. High on our list of priorities is to check for barking dogs...although, if there aren't any where we're looking at present..there could be in the future. Andre from ERA says there are barking dogs and clucking hens nearby to his home but he has learned to zone them out when he sleeps! We know we want a place with.....

No barking dogs or 'very-quietly' barking dogs (Is there such a dog?)
No community charges
South facing
Not too far from shops/bars etc so we don't have to drive everywhere. We enjoy walking, though.
Some neighbours not too far away. I need people to talk to. I'll have to learn Portuguese.
Inland is OK but not so far inland or so high on the hills that the lovely winter temperatures are lower than on the coast
2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms
At least a small garden for growing something....although Andre tells us he has given up growing tomatoes etc in his small plot as the birds kept eating them. Now he just has snails....lol
We don't mind a bit of work


I suspect we're asking for too much for our budget...but we know there is room for negotiation and hubby tells me the Portuguese always put a much higher price on their property than they expect to get.

Just along the road from us is a small dog on a balcony that does a bit of yapping but the funny thing is there is also a parrot on the same balcony and if the dogs not doing his bit of yapping then the parrot is imitating the wee dog. It's hard to tell whether it's the dog or the parrot but if you walk past and say 'ola' you will know which one cos the said parrot stops yapping and answers back.

Jayjan's right. It seems necessary, especially for every rural home, for all to have an attack dog. There are also places where semi-wild dogs roam.

Just down the road from me there are two huge dogs, one an absolute ringer for the Hound of the Baskervilles, that are kept on a tiny balcony with nothing to do all day but bark themselves silly. If that is not cruelty i don't know what is.

When I first moved here and for a long time afterwards there was no problem with dogs barking and howling at night, but just lately someone has a dog which makes a loud noise ( I cannot call it barking) well into the night.

It is definitely worth visiting any area at night before a house is considered. Dog noise carries a long way and as there are apparently no laws against it of any value, it will be a problem for many.

I don't think they see the dogs as pets as we do, none of our neighbours dogs ever go in the house, they parade the yard or garden. That said we don't have the barking issues you mention, fingers crossed it stays that way.