Research. Compare. Decide.
Free tools
Checklists, calculators and explainers you can use right now, at no cost.
Tool 01
Property buying checklist
Work through this before you sign a promissory contract (contrato-promessa). Every item is something you can verify with a document or an official portal.
Documents to see, in writing
- Caderneta predial urbana — the tax record of the property from the Autoridade Tributária.
- Certidão permanente do registo predial — who owns it and what charges, mortgages or liens exist.
- Licença de utilização (use licence) — and whether the licensed use matches how you intend to use it.
- Ficha técnica da habitação for newer properties — what was built and with what materials.
- Energy certificate and its rating, issued under the national system (SCE).
- Condominium documents where applicable: minutes, budget, current charges, any approved works.
- Proof that condominium fees, IMI and utilities are paid up to date.
Checks that change the price
- Does the registered area match what you are being shown, and does the description match the physical property?
- Are all works licensed, and is anything built that does not appear in the documents?
- Any pre-emption rights, tenancy, usufruct or heirs who must consent to the sale.
- Damp, structural cracks, roof, drainage, electrics, plumbing, and who pays for each finding.
- Rural land: boundaries, access rights, and whether the property is registered with BUPi.
- What is legally included in the sale — fittings, kitchen, parking space, storage.
- Your total cash requirement, including taxes and fees, not just the asking price.
Source: Portal das Finanças — Autoridade Tributária
Source: Predial Online — Instituto dos Registos e do Notariado
Tool 02
Used car buying checklist
Most costly surprises in the Portuguese used-car market are documentary, not mechanical. Check the paperwork before the paint.
Paperwork
- Documento Único Automóvel (DUA) — confirm the registered owner is the person selling.
- Any reservation of title, lease or finance charge registered against the vehicle.
- Inspection history (IPO) and the date the next inspection is due.
- IUC (annual circulation tax) paid and up to date.
- For an imported vehicle: ISV status, legalisation and matriculation history.
- Full service record, with invoices, and whether the timing belt or chain interval is documented.
- Mileage consistency across inspection records, service invoices and the dashboard.
Vehicle and terms
- An independent pre-purchase inspection, paid for by you, at a workshop you chose.
- Cold start, a long test drive including motorway speed, and full electronic fault-code reading.
- Tyres, brakes, suspension, clutch, air conditioning, and any fluid leak.
- Electric and hybrid: battery state of health in writing, and remaining battery warranty.
- Written sale terms, the legal warranty that applies when buying from a professional seller, and what is excluded.
- Who pays for the transfer of ownership, and the deadline for registering it.
Source: IMT — Instituto da Mobilidade e dos Transportes
Source: Automóvel Online — Instituto dos Registos e do Notariado
Tool 03
Property cost calculator
What this purchase really costs
This calculator adds up the figures you enter. It contains no assumed tax rates, because rates and reliefs depend on the property, its use and your situation — take each figure from the official simulator or a written quote, then total it here.
The price in the promissory or final contract.
Use the official simulator on Portal das Finanças for your case.
Confirm the current rate on Portal das Finanças.
Ask the notary or Casa Pronta for a written quote.
Get a written fee proposal before instructing.
Optional, but the only way to price hidden defects.
Valuation, arrangement fee, insurance required by the bank.
Your own estimate, based on quotes where possible.
Transport, connections, deposits.
- Price
- €0
- Everything else
- €0
- Total cash needed
- €0
Confirm taxes with the Autoridade Tributária on Portal das Finanças and deed and registration costs with Casa Pronta. Nothing here is a quote, a valuation or tax advice.
Tool 04
Healthcare navigator: where do I go with this?
A simple route map for the Portuguese system. It is not medical advice and not triage — if you may be in danger, call 112.
Choose the right door
- 01Life-threatening emergency — severe chest pain, difficulty breathing, heavy bleeding, loss of consciousness, signs of stroke: call 112 immediately.
- 02Unsure how serious it is: call SNS 24 on 808 24 24 24 for nurse triage and advice before travelling anywhere.
- 03Ongoing or routine problem, prescriptions, referrals, vaccinations: your centro de saúde and your family doctor.
- 04Urgent but not life-threatening: SNS 24 will direct you to the appropriate urgent care unit rather than a hospital emergency department.
- 05You want speed or a specific specialist and can pay: a private clinic, using insurance cover or a discount plan if you have one.
- 06Pharmacy matters — minor symptoms, medication questions: your local farmácia, which can also advise whether to escalate.
Before you need it
- Register as an utente at the centro de saúde for your address, and ask about a family doctor.
- Keep your NIF, utente number and, where relevant, your European Health Insurance Card accessible.
- Know whether your cover is insurance or a discount plan — they behave completely differently in a hospital.
- Read the waiting periods in any private policy before you rely on it.
- Note your nearest centro de saúde, urgent care unit and 24-hour pharmacy now, not during an emergency.
Source: SNS 24
Source: SNS — Serviço Nacional de Saúde
Tools 05 and 06
Explainers
The SNS, explained plainly
The Serviço Nacional de Saúde is Portugal's public health service. Once registered as an utente at the health centre for your address, you access primary care, public hospitals and public urgent care, largely free at the point of use with some user charges and legal exemptions. It covers serious illness and hospitalisation. Waiting times for non-urgent care vary by region and speciality, which is the main reason people add private cover on top rather than instead.
Health insurance vs a health plan
A seguro de saúde is an insurance contract with an ASF-supervised insurer: within the policy limits, waiting periods and exclusions, it pays for covered care including hospitalisation. A plano de saúde is not insurance — it is a membership giving discounts inside a limited network, and you still pay every bill yourself. The full comparison, including the questions to put to a broker, is on the Health page.
When you move from research to a specific property or car
Automated property analysis
Paste the listing link and get a structured report of red flags, missing information and the due-diligence questions to ask, with direct links to the official Portuguese sources for that property.
Automated car analysis
Paste the listing link and get the same structured treatment for a used vehicle, with links to IMT and the tax authority for registration, IUC and ISV.