Why Southern Portugal?

Stacey and I are embarking on an adventure to look for retirement property in The Algarve, Southern Portugal. This blog will capture that journey.

The first question you readers may have is Why Portugal?

Let's get one thing out of the way early on. This isn't politically motivated. Well, not entirely. No, I don't like Trump and I am liberal, but this notion of retiring abroad started long before 2016.

Stacey and I love to travel.
Silicon Valley is a damned expensive place to retire.
Portugal offers a reasonably low buy-in for permanent residency and foreigners can own property outright.
The weather in Southern Portugal is similar to the San Francisco Bay Area.
Portuguese is a difficult language, but English didn't seem to be a problem.
The Euro is very low right now.
And yes, the politics in the US right now kinda creeps us out.

THE List

Years ago, we sat down and thought, "Damn, It's getting really expensive here", which led to the question,  "Can we retire with a lifestyle we'd like in California?" The answer was "not anyplace we want to live".

"What are the characteristics of the Bay Area we like and would want in a retirement destination"?

So we made a list.

Housing should be affordable.  Permanent residence visas should be reasonable to obtain.
They have to want retirees.
Both of us have lived near coastal areas all our lives.
Not tropical. Not rainy. Not cold most of the time.
English-speaking is a plus.
We like stable first-world democracies with first-world services. It is non-negotiable.
We like wine regions, travel, culture and scenery.
We want to own free title to our properties.
A nearby international airport.
Never makes the news in a big way.

So, we looked around.

First, we really liked Adelaide , Australia. A lot. Beautiful city. Ticked all the boxes. 

Unfortunately, Australia requires a very high buy-in in investment if you aren't in a highly needed profession and are over 45. Plus until recently Australia had a big real estate bubble with very high prices. So it fell, sadly, off the list.

Then, we looked at New Zealand. The city of Napier, Hawkes Bay fit all the criteria. (Hawkes Bay wines a favorite, and we first learned of it because of a wine labeled "Discovery" which I bought - for the name - for a show I was directing). The city architecture is prominently Art Deco (c/o a massive Earthquake in 1931). Housing prices are affordable. Also Wellington New Zealand is astounding - a lovely city with nice suburbs. Foreign residence can hold free title on property!

We researched New Zealand thoroughly. But we run into the same high buy-in for permanent residence. Plus an influx of Chinese investment has driven up home prices in the big cities.

Then one day I was reading some news feed and saw a (Forbes IIRC) article about The Algarve - the region of Atlantic coastal Southern Portugal.  It was billed as the best retirement destination Americans didn't know about. Portugal was on a travel bucket list, so we started researching.

Going by the criteria list:

The article touted the "Golden Visa" program. After an investment of only 500K Euros, you can be put on a "fast" track (OK, it can take up to 5 years) for permanent residence, national health care and an EU Schengen Visa. You can own property outright. And, it is very, very affordable. In fact, we may need to buy a residence AND a rental just to get over the 500K property investment limit.

Retirees are welcome. In fact it is one of the regions top industries. The property website we found - rightmove.co.uk - was oriented to Brits, but 'muricans are welcome too.

It is coastal. Views of the Atlantic abound. It is near Spain, Northern Africa, and flights from Faro International get you a connection to just about everyplace.

The weather is surprisingly close to the Bay Area.

There are wine regions in Portugal, an international airport in Faro, it is a stable 1st world democrary in the EU and it never makes the news. Well, hardly ever. Except for wildfires, but not in The Algarve.

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