Caminha has charmed me in a way I can’t quite explain.
This conveniently located but thus far overlooked corner of Portugal has obvious appeal—explosive greenery, stunning Atlantic beaches and flat lagoon waters…great food, charming wine valleys, and a storybook medieval town…
But there’s something else. A quirkiness that drew me in…that made me, out of all the places on earth, want to hang my hat here.
Now, as the “Path of Progress” barrels northward toward Caminha, bringing rapid change, I’ve come to check on the historic home I bought here last year—and to confirm that buying it was one of the best decisions I’ve made. (A Path of Progress is anything that improves the accessibility of a piece of real estate and increases its value.)
This is the view from the entrance to my new home in Caminha. That’s Spain just across the water. This little corner of Portugal has captured my heart—and my new home here may just be one of the smartest buys I’ve ever made.
Things are changing in Caminha…
Where there were five great and inexpensive homes for every buyer two years ago, today the ratio is now more like 1:1…and things are heading fast for five buyers for every nice home.
The window is closing.
The Americans are here…the northern European are here…the Path of Progress is barreling towards Caminha. And at a pace I have rarely if ever seen before.
The transformation since last summer alone is astonishing.
Let me back up…
My flight from Shannon Airport in Ireland to Porto airport in northern Portugal was fast (less than two hours), smooth and inexpensive (€67). I love to travel from small airports like Shannon.
On arrival I was greeted by a smiling man named Fernando who held a piece of paper with my name on it. Via the Get Transfer app, I had asked drivers to bid for the business of bringing me from A to B. Fernando’s bid of €130 won my business. And so, he was the one to bring me from Porto airport to Caminha.
An hour and ten minutes after landing at Porto’s bustling airport, I arrived at Villa Idalina, the charming boutique hotel where I’m staying.
I enjoyed the breakfast spread and the calm ambience at Villa Idalina, the boutique hotel where I’m staying in Caminha while work on my house is ongoing.
I’m in Caminha to make a whistlestop check in on progress with my home and the market in general.
I must admit…much of my time in seat 17C in the skies above the Atlantic was spent wondering what the hell I’m doing.
My wife and I bought our 5,000-square-foot, antique-packed historic home late last year. It’s in the village of Seixas, five minutes from the medieval town of Caminha. (Caminha is both a county and a town). The views to the waves crashing on the beaches of both Spain and Portugal are stunning.
When we bought the home, we considered it move-in-ready. And it was. A Spanish couple had meticulously renovated it over nine years. But you know how these things can go. A new bathroom…a lick of paint…then a new kitchen…and before you know it the project takes on a life of its own.
On the plane, I couldn’t stop the questions from swirling…doubts demanding to be addressed…
What if the house’s old stones are cold and damp when we spend time there in October?
We have no parking directly at the house. Outside is a warren of narrow cobbled streets.
There’s no golf course close-by. Regular readers will know how important that is for me!
The garden overflows with fruit trees and flowers. It needs tending.
But most of all…
What if we just don’t like it here!? We already have a beachfront condo we love an hour north of Lisbon. Plus, of course, our bases in Ireland and Cabo. Plus our other investment properties around the world that we can stay in whenever we like.
Why take this on?
I have an easy answer. One I know to be true and rational. One that allows us to embark on an adventure like this feeling confident that, no matter what, we’ll come out ahead…
The view from my “office”—waves breaking on the Portuguese and Spanish shores in one glance.
If we don’t like it here…or if we just prefer other places…we’ll sell in a few years and I fully expect to make four or five times our money invested. (Although some personal extravagances in the renovation might bring that down to three or four times.)
I can’t say with certainty if we’ll click and want to be here. But I am confident that values will rapidly rise. (It’s already happening.)
What’s more, there’s a short but strong summer rental season where a home like this can rent for €600 a night.
That’s the thing—if you buy right, you can totally de-risk an adventure like this.
We have.
Our home ticks all the boxes…amazing views, short stroll to a charming village, five minutes’ drive or a nice walk to Caminha, gardens, self-contained guest accommodation…and all this (5,000 square feet) for a mere €410,000. (As I say, parking is an issue but my efforts to secure a parking spot are a saga for another day. I had been trying to discreetly buy a neighboring property but I arrived to find someone had got in ahead of me, and was doing a big renovation project. The gentrification is everywhere.)
I had been trying to buy the shell and garden next door to us but couldn’t contact the owner. I arrived in Caminha to find I’d missed the boat…
One day into my fleeting two-day visit, here are my big takeaways:
- On a personal level I’m more charmed than ever by this place.
- The window to have your pick of properties at great value here is closing fast…
- This is one of the only places on earth I would take on a renovation like this.
Skilled labor is available here. I have been very impressed by the quality of the work so far, happy with the costs and amazed at the locals’ skill at things like furniture restoration. I spent much of yesterday with our interior designer and the team doing the work.
Each of these three points merits a deep dive. One I don’t have time for now as I’m heading out to pound the Caminha pavements in search of the best deals on behalf of my Real Estate Trend Alert (RETA) members.
But as soon as I’m back at my desk in Ireland, I’m going to record a deep dive with my senior researcher, Margaret Summerfield.
I plan to send you that on Friday.
Stay tuned for more.
Wishing you good real estate investing,
Ronan McMahon
Founder, Overseas Dream Home & Real Estate Trend Alert
P.S. I’ll be in Porto later today and will report on what I see.
Don’t forget to follow along on my Instagram to track my adventures.
Dinner last night was at Restaurante Baptista. It’s the #1 restaurant in Caminha on Tripadvisor and I’ve found it consistently excellent…as well as reasonably priced.
