In this week’s Your Overseas Dream Home Digest…
- VIDEO: Inside My Historic Portuguese Villa
- Meet the Newest Member of the RETA Team
- A French Village House for $167,000
- Your Questions Answered on Avoiding Natural Disasters
Portugal’s Algarve coast has long drawn visitors from around the world. But farther north, there’s a quieter region where your money can still stretch a long way.
Head north from Porto, Portugal’s second-largest city, and you’ll find Atlantic beaches, medieval towns, and river estuaries opening into the ocean. Just inland are mountains, pine forests, and rolling vineyards.
I first scouted this region three years ago. Since then, international buyers have been discovering it, and prices have risen.
In a video earlier this week, I revealed what you can buy in northern Portugal at three very different price points.
A fixer-upper with river views just outside a historic town…a seven-bed villa with an indoor pool and tennis court near the coast…and a restored country estate on nearly 11 acres, surrounded by woodland. I also share the numbers behind my own purchase here—what my wife, Sayuri, and I paid, how we financed it, and our monthly mortgage repayment. Click below to watch it now.
What does it cost to own in northern Portugal? I compare three properties at three different price points—and show you what you get for your money. Click to watch…
In today’s digest, I show you how the past off-market deals I’ve brought to members of my Real Estate Trend Alert (RETA) group in Spain have played out. I share a French village home that combines an affordable price with access to a major city. But first, how my own purchase in Portugal became a home…
VIDEO: What €410,000 Bought Me in Portugal
Buying in Caminha was never part of the plan.
In the summer of 2023, I booked an overnight stop here while scouting northern Spain and Portugal. Then I saw the town…
A beautiful Old Town beside the Minho River, with Spain just across the water and Atlantic beaches minutes away. And real estate prices that felt like stepping into a time machine.
My team and I kept going back. In late 2024, Sayuri and I bought a 5,000-square-foot historic villa for €410,000—around $90 per square foot.
It sits above the village of Seixas, minutes from Caminha, looking across the river to Spain. When we bought, it had already been meticulously restored. Since then, we’ve made it our own.
Recently, a home on the same hillside—one I consider a step below ours—listed for just under €1 million. I figure ours would already sell for more than twice what we paid. In this video, I take you inside for a tour.
Take a tour of the historic villa my wife and I bought in Caminha, northern Portugal, in late 2024. We got it for around $90 per square foot. I figure it’s worth more than double what we paid already. Click to watch…
Meet the Newest Member of the RETA Team
If you’re not familiar with it, my RETA group gives members access to exclusive, off-market real estate opportunities that I negotiate using the group buying power of all members.
But buying in a RETA deal is only the beginning. There can be several years between buying and taking delivery, and I want members to have clear communication throughout that journey.
That’s why Will Robinson has joined the RETA team. His job is to work with groups of RETA owners from purchase through to delivery.
Will is a long-time RETA member himself… an American living in Mexico with more than 30 years in real estate. I’ve known him a long time. And I watched him closely as he dealt with RETA members in his role with Tao—a developer I’ve done deals with.
At RETA, I’ve been bringing deals on Spain’s Costa del Sol to RETA members since 2014. I wanted Will to walk them. See what got built. See what’s selling today… and for how much.
You can see how these deals have played out in the graphic below. Read more in Friday’s dispatch.
A French Village House for $167,000
Finding value can mean looking just beyond the places everyone knows. In France, a village home could give you character, outdoor space, and a lower price—while keeping a major city’s restaurants, markets, and museums within reach for a day out.
That’s the appeal of a listing I shared yesterday.
A restored three-bed stone house in Bourg-de-Visa, southwest France.
You have a café, bakery, shop, and pharmacy within walking distance, while Toulouse is 75 minutes away by car.
The former village barbershop comes with a modern kitchen, courtyard, lawned garden, and garage.
And it’s on the market for a remarkable price.
Your Questions Answered
Have a comment for me or my team? A question about owning overseas? Share it here. I’d love to hear from you. Here’s a question I got from a reader recently…
Brenda C. asks: Where, in your opinion, are smallish, affordable towns with moderate climate, at least risk of cataclysmic natural events?
Living outside the U.S. is my goal. So is not being “swept away by Mother Nature”!
Ronan says: Thanks for your question. I can tell you I’d never base myself and my wife anywhere I don’t feel is safe.
So you could start your search in places like Caminha, northern Portugal, and the neighboring Galicia region of northwest Spain. These areas offer combination of climate, lifestyle, and real estate value.
Putting boots on the ground in a town yourself means you’ll get a good sense of the place. Talk to locals. Learn a little of the history of the place. Spend time there, including during the months with more volatile weather. That should help inform how safe you can consider a place to be from natural disasters.
Best of luck, Brenda.
Wishing you a good real estate investing,
P.S. If you have a question about buying real estate overseas or have suggestions for destinations my team and I should put on our scouting list, drop me a line here.
