Buying a Home in Europe: What Americans Need to Know Before, During, and After the Purchase
More and more Americans are thinking about moving to Europe. Though the number who pack up and ultimately move is still relatively small, it’s quickly growing due to a variety of factors, including the availability of remote work, the cost of living, and the “toxic” political climate. Increasing numbers of Americans are resettling in the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, and the UK. France, Germany, and Scandinavian countries are also seeing new influxes.
The number of Americans buying real estate in Europe is rising as well. According to Coldwell Banker’s 2023 Global Luxury Report, high-net-worth individuals from the U.S. are showing “significant interest in overseas home purchases.” The U.K., Switzerland, and France were among their top secondary-home destinations. But it’s not just the ultra-wealthy who are shopping for property in Europe. Middle-class Americans, too, are using the proceeds from the sale of U.S. real estate or obtaining second mortgages to buy cheaper homes across the pond. Some even pool savings to buy stakes in European vacation houses.
Flexible immigration policies offered to attract talent and investment have made these real estate purchases increasingly doable. There are new visas in Europe for skilled workers, digital nomads, investors, and even retirees whose passive income meets minimum thresholds. Although real-estate-based Golden Visa programs, which can offer investors a route to residency and potentially eventual citizenship, are on their way out in Europe, there are still many options that open a path to permanent residency and citizenship. The differences are usually in the amount of money an applicant needs to qualify and the length of time the visa-holder must remain in the country.
All of this sounds promising, and it is. But buying a home in Europe is a lot more complicated than finding a beautiful property online and figuring out how to pay for it.
Why Buying Real Estate in Europe Requires More Than Online Research
New visa opportunities have spawned a cottage industry of consultants and YouTubers who offer DIY advice. We strongly advise against applying for a visa and purchasing real estate in Europe without legal help. Each European country has different immigration, real estate, contract, inheritance, and asset protection laws, as well as different procedural processes that can dramatically impact your property purchase. Laws can also shift quickly with changes in political leadership and policy.
Real estate purchases abroad for non-citizens are more complex in European countries and municipalities whose regulations, bureaucracies, and service providers are unaccustomed to the trend. There are cultural differences in the ways properties are shown to potential buyers, as well as more limited financing options for foreigners. Depending on where you choose to buy, there will probably be a language barrier. And don’t forget that the homes themselves are constructed with different materials and building standards than those used in the U.S. Knowing what you don’t know about local quality and construction habits can mean the difference between buying a home you can comfortably update and maintain and buying a money pit. Good legal representation will always insist on independent building inspections.
Sourcing “free” information on complex legal issues like immigration and purchasing real estate in a foreign country, tempting as it may be, is likely to fall far short of supporting your individual financial, legal, and personal needs. No matter how many “satisfied” commenters attest to the advice given, never forget that there’s someone responsible for maintaining the page or group who can censor unwanted news and reviews. Usually, it’s a moderator with some other product to sell who has no legal or fiduciary obligation to you. And that can cost you many times the going legal rate in the long run.
Experiencing the ups and downs of buying real estate in Europe is part of the adventure, but you can do a lot to ensure your purchase is a good one. The right preparation will help you avoid costly mistakes and negative experiences that can make you regret your purchase and your decision to move to Europe. Legal preparation is only part of it, however. Before you get too far into the property search, there are some personal questions worth asking yourself. After living in Europe for five and a half years, first in Belgium and then in Portugal, I've learned that where and how you want to live matters every bit as much as what you can afford to buy.
Where to Buy a Home in Europe: Does Any Place Have It All?
Affordability: What Are Your Cost Expectations?
Many of Europe’s major cities are just as expensive to live in as their counterparts of equal size in the United States. If you’re looking to purchase a house instead of an apartment, the pickings are pretty slim. You can certainly get more for your money by living in the greater metro areas or suburbs, just like in the U.S. But if you do live further out, in most cases, yes, even in Europe, sorry, you will need a car. My husband and I biked it for the first year that we lived in Belgium, but that got old fast. We felt limited in travel, even though Belgium is super bike-friendly and has thousands of kilometers in routes set aside for cyclists.
It’s one thing to hit the trails each Saturday for a stunning ride into the Flemish countryside, but try loading a week’s worth of groceries, or packages larger than a shoebox, on the back of a bike regularly. It’s also easier to drive when you’re not feeling well or have an injury, and I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been caught in heavy rainstorms, still a 20-minute ride from my door. There’s a reason most Europeans today, just like Americans, drive cars. Europe does have better public transportation than many places in the U.S. But better does not mean ubiquitous, and if you live in the city center where you don’t need a car, you will pay more, oftentimes a lot more.
As an aside, my husband and I bought a car four years ago, and every European I know has at least one car per family, except my mother-in-law, who doesn’t drive for medical reasons. One American I know in Portugal just bought a car, and another is currently shopping for one. They both moved to Portugal in 2023. Other costs may be less of a concern. If you can adjust to eating mostly like the locals, food in the supermarkets, for example, is relatively affordable. But if you must have certain American brands of something, expect to pay more if you can find it.
It’s not always the case, but more true than not. Finding famous American brands of OTC medicines is particularly challenging, so keep that in mind. By the way, I’m jonesing for my favorite allergy and cold medications, so if you’re heading to Portugal anytime soon ....
Language: Can You Communicate with Locals?
If not, hit the books. Not speaking a survival level of the local language will limit the number of places in Europe to which you can comfortably adapt. Bear in mind that English is not spoken as widely in Europe as you may think. Folks in the Netherlands, as a rule, speak excellent English, particularly in the more expensive towns and cities. Locals working in tourist spots in nearly every EU country will be able to communicate in English, including in Portugal, where I live.
But if you want to live in a smaller, more authentic town or village, or even outside the tourist zone, as I did in Porto, then you’ll want to know at least the basics in the local language to manage your daily needs. This is not to say that you need to be fluent in the local tongue. Finishing a good beginners’ course with a live teacher, in person or online, will go a long way toward helping you adjust to your new surroundings. Your first course should be of solid quality, however, as it establishes the fundamentals on which you can later build. Online apps, like Duolingo, in my experience, are only minimally helpful.
You got this. Language learning is tedious, but if it’s causing second thoughts about buying your dream home in Europe, it shouldn’t. I've struggled with it myself, and I can tell you that making the effort is worth it.
Cultural Differences: Get Ready for Culture Shock
What, you say? But my grandmother was from [insert Old World story here]! No matter. Unless you came of age in your new European country, as in attended school, worked, learned to be a good citizen, etc., there is going to be A LOT that you simply will not know.
So get nice and cozy with the feeling that you’re always in the dark. Because you will be. There are going to be plenty of times when something you don’t know causes an embarrassing misunderstanding. This happens in our native country, too, but for those who have chosen to move to a foreign place, it’s more frequent. When you first arrive to settle in Europe, cultural and linguistic misunderstandings will probably occur every day, since that’s when you will have the most interactions with local bureaucrats, school personnel, and utility providers.
Now imagine adding the hunt for a home to that confusion. You can expect cultural differences in marketing practices, negotiation styles, construction habits, ownership transfers, and even the enforcement of legal standards. A better strategy for international house hunting is to give yourself more time than you think you’ll need. You might even consider renting in-country for the first few months to soak up that all-important local knowledge and experience. It also gives you a chance to find out whether the place you loved on vacation is somewhere you actually want to live.
Politics: The Grass Isn't Always Greener
Current political tensions in America are not a global exception. Many regions around the world are also seeing volatile social movements, including in Europe, where there is a wave of right-wing extremism that may ultimately affect how welcoming some regions are to foreigners. Recent elections in Portugal, where I live, for example, were a major coup for Chega, Portugal’s far-right party. Chega, which means “enough” in Portuguese, is either loved or hated because of its uber-nationalistic policies that hearken back to the country's brutal dictatorship, which lasted from 1933 to 1974, as well as its hostility to ethnic minorities.
It’s a similar story in Spain, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, Italy, Germany, Poland, Hungary, and Sweden. According to Statista, many European far-right parties share ideological positions on nationalism, social conservatism, and anti-immigration. None of this is meant to put you off from finding your perfect home in Europe. But if you’re coming only to escape America’s “toxic” political climate, you’re likely to find similar tensions boiling to the surface here. Of course, you can hole up in an expat enclave and not watch local television or read local newspapers and, maybe, be “so happy.” But you can do that without the added expense and headaches of leaving the good ole, familiar U.S.A.
Finding the Right Place for YOU
Something other than a change in the political scene should drive your decision to make a long-term real estate investment in Europe. Who couldn’t find a reason in the continent’s striking natural beauty, with its world-renowned mountain ranges, valleys, and coastlines? Or maybe you’re a sucker for architectural treasures and dream of happening upon a famous World War II battle site on your way home from sampling an authentic Trappist beer brewed by the local monastery.
Europe is legendary. But what happens once you’ve made the leap from a tourist on holiday to a new homeowner with permanent residence and a weird four-digit zip code? (Write it before the city, not after.) If any one place in Europe has it all, you’re going to need to know what that means for YOU. It’s the part of your move that may be the most important. Skip it, and watch the stresses pile up as you struggle to adjust to your new environs. Facebook is awash with groups of immigrant homeowners, American and otherwise, complaining about buyer’s remorse.
No move has to be forever, and if things aren’t working out, you can and should go elsewhere. Visa options are changing all the time as governments across the continent compete for new injections of cash and talent. But maybe with a bit more self-awareness and country-specific investigation, you can get it right on the first try.
My husband and I certainly gave a lot of thought to what we wanted in our next home. After living in Porto, we decided we wanted more space, more privacy, and a quieter place to work. We found a house that seemed to offer everything on our list.
Then we bought it.
Buying Our First Home in Portugal: What Happened Next
My husband and I just bought a fixer-upper in Portugal, and we are exhausted. All homes, especially ones that require renovation, have unexpected issues. But rehabbing abroad is incredibly eye-opening, especially when something a local would know leaves you hosing yourself off in the mornings with a battery-powered shower pump and a bucket full of kettle water. At the moment, we have a chain-smoking contractor muttering under his breath as he pushes plaster across our kitchen walls, and two “retired” electricians are switching our new home from gas to electric with the power still on.
But let’s back up a bit.
Finding Our Home in Portugal
My husband and I both need quiet, private office space, and we enjoy barbecuing and entertaining in the open air. The house we just bought has all of that and more. In addition to four bedrooms and two bathrooms, it has an annex, commonplace in traditional Portuguese homes, with ample outdoor terrace space. Even better, it’s an hour to the sunnier south of beautiful, but cacophonous and very rainy, Porto, where we landed after arriving in Portugal.
It even has a sizable backyard, for Europe, mind you (that’s a “garden” if you come from the UK), and it’s in a lovely coastal area with plenty of amenities a short drive away. The neighbors are super friendly. Although it didn’t concern us when we presented our offer, the drawback is that the house needs some work. It’s a large, 20-year-old fixer-upper in a peaceful setting with fantastic potential.
What more could anyone want?
Hot water, for starters. As we quickly discovered, there is a long queue for water heater installation in our vicinity, and it would be about a month before I could take princess showers again. But I digress.
After the Purchase
The actual purchase of our new place went somewhat smoothly. I say somewhat because someone later told us that the sellers’ real estate agents, who were excellent, by the way, had to move heaven and earth at the 11th hour of our closing date to get the local bank's staff to coordinate on the final documents. Thankfully, they succeeded, and our home purchase concluded without further issues.
We were bursting with joy as new homeowners and, keys in hand, rushed to the property for a full unboxing. But when we stepped through the front door, we discovered the former owner had yet to move out.
It was the beginning of many other surprises.
Renovating a Home in Portugal
Once the squatter, ahem, former owner, finally removed his belongings, which took about three weeks, we got a clearer picture of the house’s actual condition. There were over a hundred cracks in the walls, significant mold growth in the closets, and toilets that didn’t work properly.
Worse, the former residents had not maintained their energy equipment to comply with electric and gas regulations and were years behind on government-mandated safety inspections. Not to be deterred, we got to work updating the inspections, only to find a significant gas leak deep inside the house’s pipes, which would require major demolition work.
We considered everything and found a cheaper, quicker solution: switch the entire power supply to electricity. But we had to do it fast. We had six weeks before the end of our lease in Porto. When we bought the house, we knew the kitchen would eventually have to go, but with the decision to switch to electricity, it had to be completely redone now. We were running out of time, so we asked every friend and stranger we could find for contractor referrals. And to speed up the work, we decided to get our hands dirty.
So far, we’ve widened dozens of wall cracks and filled them with plaster so they can be sanded to a smooth, even surface. I've painted five coats of primer and paint on the master bedroom and one office. It took that much to cover the cracks. Meanwhile, my husband and his sister’s boyfriend demolished the old kitchen.
We are overeducated desk jockeys. Nothing in our professional or personal lives has prepared us for a house that needs so much work. Currently, an assortment of hired tradesmen arrive at my home when they please. They scowl at questions, speak a language I struggle to follow, and finish tasks between other, better-paying gigs. I'm writing this post at a local gin bar to get away from the noise. But instead of a nice, dry spritz, I’m throwing back a nasal rinse to clear my sinuses of plaster dust and paint fumes.
It's not the experience I had in mind when I decided to move to Europe, I assure you.
Finding Reliable Contractors and Discovering the Bricolage
When you buy a home in Europe, or anywhere else, as a foreigner, you step into the unknown. The learning curve can be steep, and what is common knowledge for local homeowners is very often unfamiliar to you. There's really no alternative to finding great professionals to help you bridge the gap. But that, too, is a challenge for the new immigrant without local contacts.
It shouldn’t stop you, however. If you’re considering buying a home abroad, start thinking now about how you will assemble your team of reliable real estate agents, lawyers, builders, and handymen. You can sometimes collect references from expat Facebook groups, but beware: there are always fraudsters posing as professionals, and the information you get online will only partially solve your problems.
Once you’ve bought your home, I highly recommend checking out local home improvement stores. These stores are known across much of Europe by the French term bricolage, or “brico,” which is synonymous with “do-it-yourself” in English. You'll find these huge, big-box home repair depots are similar to what you’re used to in the U.S. They're in nearly every medium- to large-sized city in Western Europe, and they’re teeming with reliable expertise, tools, construction products, appliances, and services. Although relying solely on our local brico for every project was impossible, it has helped us get a lot of the way there. We just bought an entire kitchen, including custom-made cabinets and appliances, for example, from our local brico store.
Now, we must figure out how to make do for the next six weeks until it's installed.
Buying a Home in Europe: Preparation Makes a Difference
My experience buying and renovating a home in Portugal has reinforced much of what I learned during my earlier years living in Europe. There is a great deal to love about making a home here, but the things that seem simple to locals are often the hardest for newcomers to figure out. That’s why I encourage anyone considering a European home purchase to spend time getting to know the country and the community before committing to a property. Learn enough of the language to handle everyday problems. Understand what your money will buy and what it will cost to maintain your home. Find professionals you trust, and give yourself room in your budget and your schedule for the surprises that are almost certain to come.
I don't regret our purchase. We love the location, the space, and the possibilities our house offers. But I certainly have a better appreciation for what can happen after the keys are handed over. If you’re considering buying a home in Europe and are apprehensive about buying abroad, or if you’ve already purchased your home and don’t know where to turn for help, send us a note. We have a tremendous global network of problem-solving folks who excel in ideas.
Shannon Brandeo is an American lawyer based in Portugal. Teaming up with our affiliated lawyers in Lisbon, she helps foreigners in Portugal navigate immigration, estate planning, real estate and business law issues.
