The signing of the final contract, which is called escritura in Portugal, takes place directly at the notary's office. The notary prepares it on the basis of the reservation contract. It was unusual for us that we did not see the final contract in advance – the whole process takes place in such a way that the notary first reads the contract and then both parties sign it immediately. In fact, it should only be a formal confirmation of the agreement from the reservation agreement, so there should be no new and unknown facts for you. We received information about when and where the escritura would take place from the real estate agent well in advance. If you do not speak Portuguese well, it is necessary to have a translator present at the signing to interpret for you.

The remaining portion of the purchase price is paid by check directly to the notary upon signing the contract. We recommend that you arrange for the check at least a few days in advance – it is issued by your Portuguese bank in the name of the current owner of the property and for the amount corresponding to the remaining payment. When signing the escritura, you must also pay: notary fees (in our case, it was almost 1% of the purchase price) and IMT property transfer tax. We discuss the amount of transfer tax in more detail in a separate article. Normally, you should pay by a payment card issued by a Portuguese bank. If you do not yet have a card for your account at the time of signing, it is necessary to agree on an alternative payment method in advance. We managed to pay in cash.

The escritura itself took about an hour. After reading and signing the contract, we handed over the check, paid the transfer tax, and paid the notary's fee. Then the owner gave us the keys to the house, and we were done. For greater peace of mind and security, we recommend using the services of a lawyer—both for the reservation and final contracts. We only had a translator present for the final contract, and although everything went smoothly, some parts of the contract can be difficult to understand without a lawyer and can cause you unnecessary stress. Finally, don't forget to ask the current electricity or gas provider about the transfer of ownership, and be sure to take their phone number in case you need to ask any further questions.