Thank you, thank you! Especially the tip about how to read the apartment listings and how to determine their status. You always provide a wealth of information. I look forward to your future videos.

@whatsupwkirsten

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for watching! Glad you found it helpful.

Love Google map. I virtually drive around to check out neighborhoods.

@whatsupwkirsten

2 жыл бұрын

Yep, even if the street map images aren’t up to date it’s still a great resource. Thanks for watching.

Thank you. This is just the start I needed for my search.

Hello from London, thank you for sharing your greats tips, cheers Laurence

Great advice. Appreciate your approach.

Great video! Planning a trip to Lisbon in late April....looking forward to more of your videos. Take care!

@whatsupwkirsten

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for watching! Appreciate the support. If I can answer any questions, please let me know!

thank you!!! very informative!! looking forward to more videos

@whatsupwkirsten

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for watching!

I love the information that you bring to us. You're very thorough. I especially enjoy the videos taken outside, it gives more of a feel for Lisbon. My plan is to visit for short periods of time, maybe a few mos at a time after my husband retires next year. I'm hoping to find short term rental or an Airbnb if they're available. Keep the video's coming. Take care.

@whatsupwkirsten

2 жыл бұрын

Thank you for watching, and I appreciate your feedback. Good luck with your plans -- let me know if I can answer any questions.

Great information! Thanks so much for your vlogs. I am doing my prep to move in 2023 (fully furnished house to sell) and your videos have really covered very useful things others have not. Looking forward to more content! Best Wishes!

@whatsupwkirsten

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for watching! Appreciate your kindness. All the best to you as you prepare for your move. 2023 will be here before you know it. If you have any questions, let me know.

@HRuiz-kt5ui

2 жыл бұрын

@@whatsupwkirsten I most certainly will. Thanks a million.

That was very helpful, thanks!

@whatsupwkirsten

2 жыл бұрын

Thank you for watching -- glad you found it helpful!

You were awesome , thank you 🙏

@whatsupwkirsten

2 жыл бұрын

Thank you for watching. Hope you found it helpful 😀

Great video and information. My husband and I are beginning preparations to move to Portugal. We will first plan a visit. We've followed your channel from the first video. Thanks for providing such great content!

@whatsupwkirsten

2 жыл бұрын

Thank you for watching. So glad you found it helpful. If you have any questions, let me know. Appreciate your support!

@BE-More1111

2 жыл бұрын

@@whatsupwkirsten Thank you! I would like to reach out by the email listed in your description if that's ok. Our family has enjoyed your videos and we look forward to more.

@whatsupwkirsten

2 жыл бұрын

@@BE-More1111 Of course, please do!

Great content, learned a lot, thanks!

@whatsupwkirsten

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for watching, glad it helped!

you are so smart!

Thank you

I was wandering about the listing numbers. Thanks for the info.

😎👍Nice

What a GREAT informative video. Did you find it easier or harder to find furnished? Did you lose a translator thing to do your note to the site? Did you have the apartment prior to you move because of the D7 need? Will you be able to add links for the realtors that you were talking about in the video?

@alphaaquisitions706

2 жыл бұрын

DEEPL is a fantastic app as it is in European Português!

@whatsupwkirsten

2 жыл бұрын

Hey Michele, thanks for watching -- appreciate your feedback. We looked at both furnished and unfurnished. With furnished, you have to use your imagination a bit, and not necessarily let the furnishings distract you if it's an awesome apartment but the furnishings are not to your taste. Our apartment was furnished, but we asked the landlord to remove the bed so we could buy our own. Some of the smaller items we did not love, so we stored them in the closets (luckily our place has three large closets). Yes, I use the DeepL translator app -- it's great! No, we did not have this apartment for our D7 visa. For our D7 we rented an "alojamental local" (AL) -- short term -- rental. The visa rules have changed since we applied, and VFS San Francisco is no longer accepting AL contracts. It is requiring a lease that is registered with Financas by the landlord. Yes, I will add a link in the description box for our realtor.

Helpful video :) - how long did it take to find your apartment? Will go through this process down the road and trying to figure out how long to make trip.

@whatsupwkirsten

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for watching, glad you found the info helpful. Once we came to Lisbon, it took about three weeks, and then another week or so for the lease. It really depends on the time of year, too. The bulk of our search was in August, when business slows down considerably here. Also, apartment visits typically do not happen on weekends. Hope this helps.

My parents will be visiting Portugal in the summer 2024 to see if that's where they want to retire.

So much clarity, snd v helpful tips, on doing apartment search and checking on Facebook group update. Thank you! So we got to enquire with each realty or broker if its registered with Fincas before we cd consider their listing? If the realtor says they are registered with Fincas , can we take their word.

@whatsupwkirsten

2 жыл бұрын

Thank you for watching, glad you found it helpful. I recommend you join the facebook group Americans & FriendsPT. The group is dedicated to information about the D7 visa process, including lease/purchase/accommodation requirements. The requirements change often and the information in the files of that group is kept up-to-date. Also, there's lots of discussion about leases registered with Finanças, etc. Hope this helps.

Thanks for sharing! Can the type of visa you acquired and the process you went through to get it? Also, do you plan to pursue permanent residence?

@whatsupwkirsten

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for watching! We entered Portugal on a D7 visa, which allowed us to get a temporary residency permit, valid for two years, and renewable for an additional three years. Yes, at this time, we hope to pursue permanent residency once we are eligible. As for the visa process, I recommend you join the facebook group Americans & FriendsPT. That group has files that detail how to obtain the visa. The visa process changes often and the admins of that group do a really good job of keeping the information up to date.

Hi, Kirsten, thank you for all the efforts 👍. It would be good to know how much you pay on rent and expenses for your apartment, who is the lovely realtor you recommend so highly, his/her name would be greatly appreciated. How much bond did you have to pay and how high is the realtor commission you had to pay? Is this a short term or longterm rental agreement? Did it come furnished? How fast is the internet in this particular area? This type of info is what most peeps are looking for when moving abroad and are on a certain budget, or maybe a link below to all those points would be great. Thank you so much, stay well, enjoy Lisbon 👋 😊

@whatsupwkirsten

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for watching! I appreciate your questions. I'll have a video in the future about our monthly expenses, and will put a link in the description box for our realtor's information. Our realtor was no cost to us -- the fees are paid by the landlord. We sent listings to our realtor and he helped coordinate the showing of the apartment we ended up renting. Most importantly, he negotiated our lease. We entered a long-term lease -- 3 years. Our apartment was furnished -- see my reply to a comment below. We are in the middle of Lisbon, and have fiber internet. Hope this helps, take care.

@alphaaquisitions706

2 жыл бұрын

Hi again, :) thank you very much for answering my questions. Much appreciated. I look forward to the upcoming vlogs regarding your expenses and the contact of your realtor. He really seems to have done a great job! Have a lovely week.

The tour of the apartment was done online? Also, you received a residential visa or retirement visa?

@whatsupwkirsten

2 жыл бұрын

Our current apartment we toured in person. For our first apartment (short term tourist rental), we reserved it based on photos and it turned out well. We arrived on the D7 visa, a Portugal national visa that leads to temporary residency. The visa requires you to show sufficient income from a source outside Portugal. A variety of people obtain this visa: retirees, self-employed persons, independent contractors, digital nomads, etc.

Other than your introductory message in Portuguese, how did you communicate with realtors, owners, etc. Were they able to communicate in English or did you run into any language barriers?

@whatsupwkirsten

2 жыл бұрын

The language barrier is real. I communicated in Portuguese, using a translator app (DeepL), and my very limited Portuguese. Some realtors/owners were able to communicate in English, some were not. Most people are so friendly - just give it your best effort - it’s all part of the learning process.

@3fortheroad

2 жыл бұрын

@@whatsupwkirsten Thanks. That is very helpful. I just put deepl on my phone. Planning my first trip in April.

Great information, thank you. If I may ask , did you guys rent your current apartment online before your D7 appointment in the US ?

@whatsupwkirsten

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for watching. At the time we applied for our D7 at VFS SF, a lease registered with Finanças was not required. We did have a one-year contract, but it was with an AL company, rented online. Because it was a contract and not a lease, per se, we were able to end it early with 30 days notice. The contract was definitely the weakest part of our visa application, and we were prepared to be rejected because of it, and reapply once we found a traditional lease. It was worth the risk at the time, because it worked out and we were approved. Things have changed quite a bit in a short amount of time, and we would not be approved with that contract now. This is my long way of saying no, our current apartment is not the same rental we had for our D7 visa approval. Hope this helps, and gives a little context.

@Mr.S65

2 жыл бұрын

@@whatsupwkirsten Thank you for the detailed answer. I just hate the idea of committing to anything for a year without taking a look first. My city is Boston and we don’t use the VFS. Who knows what they will come up with. So far I haven’t heard of anyone going through the two consulates in Massachusetts. Thanks again.

@whatsupwkirsten

2 жыл бұрын

@@Mr.S65 That's why we got a little creative with the lease. It's a big commitment site unseen. Having a comfortable landing place is important. Video tours help, and having someone physically go look is great, too. Do you follow the Facebook group Americans & FriendsPT? If not, you should definitely have a look. There are tons of posts and its files are legendary. Search the posts because I recall a couple of people using a MA consulate ... New Bedford, I believe? Can't remember for certain, but there are also a few notes in the "files" section as well.

@Mr.S65

2 жыл бұрын

@@whatsupwkirsten Yes, there is one in New Bedford, you’re totally correct. New Bedford has a large Portuguese community as well. I didn’t know about the FB group, thank you for the heads up. I’ll go take look for sure. And thank you so much for taking the time to give me excellent tips to try and find a way to solve that part of the application! :)

How many months in advance on average do you have to pay when securing an apartment in Lisbon??

@whatsupwkirsten

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for watching. There's a lot of variability on this, and it's really up to the landlord. For our apartment, we paid one month deposit, and three month's rent in advance. We did not have a local guarantor, and because we were relatively new to Portugal we expected to have to pay more up front. I've heard people paying six month's to a full year in advance. I would not pay that much up front -- seems unreasonable. Completely understandable that landlords want some kind of guarantee. It's all negotiable. My advice would be to try to keep the deposit to one month's rent, and any additional monies to go towards actual rent, as opposed to just sitting in the bank. Hope this helps.

@nemoxx96xx58

2 жыл бұрын

@@whatsupwkirsten thanks so much for the response! Yes it was very helpful 🙂.

Is there a reason why we cannot View the replies to the questions folks ask you?? Thank you

@whatsupwkirsten

2 жыл бұрын

It might be something with your settings, or the device you’re watching on? All comments and replies on YT are public, so you should be able to see them. Hope this helps.