What should be checked before signing a property promissory contract in Portugal?

Between an accepted offer and the deed sits one document that decides almost everything: the promissory contract of purchase and sale, known in Portugal as the CPCV. That is when the buyer pays a deposit, accepts deadlines and takes on the consequences of walking away. Once it is signed, the room to demand corrections collapses. Technical verification therefore belongs to the stage before it, not to the eve of completion.

1. Ownership and encumbrances

Start with a land registry certificate issued in the days before signing, not a copy that is months old.

• Is the seller the registered owner, of the whole property?
• Are there mortgages, attachments, seizures or usufructs registered against it?
• Do pre-emption rights apply, for instance in classified areas or tenanted buildings?
• Does the registry description match the property you visited, including annexes and yard?

A registered mortgage does not prevent a sale, but it does require the contract to set out how and when it will be discharged. That is a clause, not a verbal promise.

2. Planning status

• Is there a use permit, and does the licensed use match what you intend?
• For buildings predating 1951, is there an exemption certificate?
• Does what is built match the file approved by the municipality?
• Are visible alterations such as enclosed balconies, canopies, pools or added partitions licensed?

A mismatch between what is built and what was approved is the most frequent reason a bank stops a mortgage that was already agreed in draft. Solving it before signing is negotiation; solving it afterwards is the buyer's expense.

3. Areas and the tax record

Check that the tax record, the registry and the drawings agree. If the area differs, establish why before signing; the discrepancy affects the bank valuation and therefore the equity you must provide.

4. The technical condition of the property

A pre-contract inspection is not looking for cosmetic defects: it looks for the ones that cost money.

• Water ingress at roofs, terraces and window frames, and signs of rising damp.
• Cracking with a structural pattern, particularly in hillside buildings.
• Condition of electrical and plumbing installations, and the existence of a housing technical file for post-2004 properties.
• Roof, insulation and glazing, which drive running costs for years to come.
• Access and parking conditions, often decisive in Madeira.

The output is a number: what it costs to bring the property to the condition you expect. That number belongs in the price negotiation, not in a surprise after handover.

5. The condominium

Ask for the minutes of the last two general meetings, a statement of arrears for the unit and the approved budget. Works that have been voted but not yet carried out effectively pass to the buyer. An approved facade reinforcement can mean several thousand euros per unit.

6. The clauses that protect the buyer

• Financing condition: the contract provides for the deposit to be returned if the mortgage is refused, within a defined period.
• Regularisation condition: the seller undertakes to legalise or discharge by a fixed date, with a clear consequence for failing to do so.
• Condition on handover: a description of what stays with the property and the state it is delivered in, with an inventory where relevant.
• Deadlines and default: the date for the deed, who convenes it, and the effect of each party's delay.
• Specific performance: keep, or knowingly waive, the right to compel completion through the courts.
• Signature certification: where possession is handed over, certified signatures and registration of the contract protect the buyer.

The practical rule is simple: whatever is not written into the CPCV cannot be demanded at the deed. Every check made in time is a clause that never has to be argued in court.

The sequence we recommend

1. Gather the registry certificate, the tax record and the use permit.
2. Compare what is built against the municipal file, and measure the property.
3. Run the technical inspection and quantify the works required.
4. Collect the condominium documentation.
5. Only then negotiate price, deadlines and clauses, with the facts in hand.
6. Sign.

This route rarely takes more than two weeks, and it is the difference between buying a property and buying a documented problem.