In this week’s Your Overseas Dream Home Digest…
- The Window Is Closing on This European Dream Town
- Porto at $1,000/sq ft… An Hour Away Just $90
- What Makes Caminha So Special?
- News from Portmarnock…And Memories of Adare Manor
- Your Questions Answered on Renovation in Caminha
Last Sunday, I left Shannon Airport in Ireland with Caminha on my mind. While hurling fans packed the departures lounge and U.S. servicemen and women looked on in bemusement, I boarded a flight to Porto—tracking a “Path of Progress” that’s barrelling north, fast.
Last year, I bought a 5,000-square-foot historic mansion in Caminha for €410,000. I wanted to check in on the renovation work my wife and I are having done, reassess the market—and see if the magic I felt last year still held. (Because we are buying best-in-class real estate at a great price, before the crowds arrive, I expect this home to be worth €1 million within five years.)
The moment I arrived, I knew the answer. This place has something special.
Caminha is charming, yes—but also quirky, unpolished, and full of potential. In just nine months, I’ve seen the market shift: supply is beginning to dry up, prices are rising, and international interest is accelerating. Everyone is saying the Americans and Scandinavians are here.
Read more on how things are changing in Caminha.
While work at my house in Caminha is ongoing, I stayed at Villa Idalina, a six-bedroom boutique hotel.
Porto at $1,000/sq ft… An Hour Away Just $90
Before flying back to Shannon I spent a little time in Porto—where gentrification is booming and prices are hitting $1,000 per square foot in some luxury developments. More than 10X (per foot) what I paid for my historic home with stunning views.
The skyline is filled with cranes, and the city has reinvented itself over the past decade. Real Estate Trend Alert (RETA) members who got in on our recommendations here have made out like bandits.
Just an hour up the coast in Caminha, I’m finding character-filled homes—some in need of work—for much less…this is where I see opportunity like we had in Porto a decade ago…
During my brief visit, warm sunshine spilled over Porto. The al fresco bars and restaurants were packed. It had a true early summer feel…
What Makes Caminha So Special?
By Thursday, I was back in Ireland—while the stories and insights I gathered in Portugal were still fresh, I called up RETA’s Senior Researcher, Margaret Summerfield to take a deep dive on the really important insights.
I wanted to explore Caminha’s “X factor.” It’s not just about the beaches, the medieval lanes, or the wine valleys. It’s everything…the quirkiness of this place on the cusp—where transformation is meeting timeless charm.
Margaret and I recorded an unfiltered conversation where we unpacked what’s happening in Caminha. We also covered:
- What it’s like to renovate a historic property in Portugal
- Why brokers won’t find you the best homes here—and how to find them yourself
- Four real-time listings that caught my eye
- What makes Caminha so special…and how the clock is ticking…
You can watch our conversation here:
In the video, Margaret and I dive into what’s happening on the ground and walk through four standout listings in Caminha
Of course, not every dream home is in Portugal. Some are nestled in the clouds or perched by a trailhead…
Trailside Dream Homes from $96,200
Yesterday, we spotlighted four dream homes near some of the world’s most breathtaking hiking trails.
These aren’t just properties—they’re trailheads to a new kind of life.
There’s a sea-view apartment in Sicily, steps from the ancient Magna Via Francigena pilgrimage route…a country estate in Colombia’s coffee region, with 19 acres and misty mountain views…a historic cottage near Hadrian’s Wall with vast Solway Firth views…and a refined base near Killarney National Park’s world-class trails and lakes.
These homes aren’t just about what you own—but where they place you. Nature, history, adventure… right outside your door.
News from Portmarnock…And Memories of Adare Manor
As you know, golf is an important part of my life. I even wrote about book about it: How to Retire Early and Golf Every Day—for Half the Cost of Staying Home.
Sometimes my golf and real estate scouting lives overlap…
Big news here this week is date for The Ryder Cup in Adare Manor have been announced.
Adare Manor in County Limerick is now one of Europe’s most prestigious golf and hotel communities. This is a former home for me… I previously lived there and was a member of the golf club. It’s also the site of one of the coolest crisis opportunities I found in Ireland.
Back in 2014, I made a recommendation to my RETA group to buy townhomes in this premium golf resort for €125,000 or less (about $166,250 at the time). Adare Manor was in financial trouble back then, and there was a firesale in homes in the resort. But a noted investor you might have heard of (billionaire horse racing magnate J.P. McManus) swooped in.
Now Adare Manor has been transformed. It was named the best resort in Europe by Condé Nast for 2022, 2023, and 2024. And it’s set to host the 2027 Ryder Cup, one of the most prestigious tournaments in golf.
Today, the townhomes I recommended have largely been bought up by the resort and rent for a whopping €1,440 per night and up. (Expect to pay €3,415 per night on some weekends in summer.)
It’s a perfect case study of what can happen when you spot a crisis opportunity before the crowd.
In 2014, I recommended townhomes at the Adare Manor golf resort for €125,000 (about $166,250 at the time). Today, they rent for €1,440 per night and up.
Portmarnock Golf Club, here in Ireland, has taken a major step toward hosting The Open Championship (or what you might call The British Open) and the AIG Women’s Open after over 90% of its members approved proposed course changes at a Special General Meeting. This is a big deal—it would be the first time an Open has ever been played outside the UK.
The decision now rests with the Irish government—which has pledged up to €40 million in support—and the R&A to finalize infrastructure needs and event scheduling. It’s expected that the Women’s Open would be held first, followed later by The Open.
I can’t wait. I am an international member of Portmarnock and make frequent visits to play with friends over the summer. This stretch of north Dublin coast is an incredible in-city golfers’ paradise with world-class courses including Royal Dublin, The Island, Portmarnock Links and, of course, the big one: Portmarnock Golf Club.
When I visit, I like to stay in vibrant Malahide. Real estate values here are major-international-city high. Think $1.5 million for something unspectacular.
The moment to buy here was when I was recommending it to RETA members back in 2010. That same post-crisis situation when we did extremely well in Adare Manor.
Dublin’s IFCS (financial district) is a mere 12-minute drive from Royal Dublin Golf Club.
In February 2012, I recommended two-bedroom apartments in Dublin’s financial district selling for €135,000 (about $179,000 at the time) to members of my RETA group.
Today, two-bedroom apartments in the same area list for €325,000 to €550,000. At the high end, that’s a 307% gain on capital appreciation alone. With leverage (if you borrowed 80%) that becomes 1,937% (before transactions costs)…and that doesn’t even include the roughly €25,000 to €30,000 you would have collected in rents every year.
Your Questions Answered
Tony B. asks: I purchased right in the old part of Caminha myself. It’ll be wonderful if you have any tradesmen’s details as I’m just about to start looking to get some work done on my property. I’ve got some interesting stories about looking all around that northern part of Portugal quite extensively to find what I was after and I’ve come up with a pretty interesting deal where I have bought the one property but it has an upstairs and downstairs apartment that I’ve been able to get strata titled.
Ronan says: Hi Tony, and thanks for your question.
The purchase of my house in Caminha was a very different proposition from most of my real estate decisions, which are purely financial in nature. And from the start, my wife, Sayuri, and I were clear about our roles in this.
Sayuri is the one with the design eye so she’s managing the renovation project. It was her that found an interior designer, who had worked on Villa Idalina, the boutique hotel in Caminha, where we have stayed numerous times. The fact that Villa Idalina used this interior designer spoke well of her.
The interior designer and her whole team speak Spanish and my wife is Mexican, so that worked out well. (Here on the border between Spain and Portugal, you will hear both languages used regularly).
I’ve been impressed with the availability of skilled labor here, the quality of the work and the lack of issues in getting things done.
For more on the renovation, check out my conversation with Margaret where we did a deep dive on my scouting trip, including on the renovations.
Portugal isn’t over—as some influencers claim. But to find the real gems, you need to dig a little deeper. In this video, Margaret and I discuss how to do just that
Wishing you 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.
