So easy to fall for a property

On the all Expat Forums there is always an advice section. When it comes to buying property there are things to do or you could end up losing everything.

1. First thing to do is first find the area that you want to move to.  
2. Second visit the area and get to know your way around.
3. Find the local agents as they are the ones who have knowledge of the area and what's for sale.
4. If a property looks  a bargain at the price offered then ask yourself why is it priced so low or why does it look such a bargain?

The property above is one i made all the mistakes anybody could make. I found this on a website owned by a company who only advertise but do not sell. This company puts you in touch with the owner//seller.

I was put in touch with the owner or so i thought was the owner it was just another illegal estate agent. If you look careful at the picture you can see how perfectly it's been painted. We apart from a new house the Portuguese don't seem to paint there houses.

After looking at the pictures on the website i contacted the owner. I asked for more pictures and quite soon the extra pictures arrived. The property seemed a bargain at only 30,000 euro's. I contacted the owner and made an offer of the full asking price. To make sure that i got the property i offered the owner a 1,000 euro deposit sent by bank transfer for him to reserve the property for me. The owner agreed and he then supplied his bank details for the bank transfer to go ahead and in due course i sent the 1,000 euro to the owners bank account. That was two weeks before i was due to fly over and meet with the owner and sign the promissory contract. Day's before i was due to fly i received an email to let me know that the property had been sold and that i could have my money back. It was at this point that i realized that i was not dealing with a legal estate agent. A legal estate agent would not have done this, taken a deposit and then sold to someone else.

Well i arranged to meet the agent to get my money back, i arranged to meet because i did not want to give my bank details as i was given  no reason to trust him.  We arranged to me in a bar by the river in a place called Setra at two pm in the afternoon. Well as two pm came the owner came over and introduced himself " no name as there is legal action going on but that's for another day ". well i got my 1,000 euro and drove back to Gois and considered how lucky i had been. At least i had my 1,000 euro back.