English, start to finish
Foreign and complex income specialists
Lagos office, serving all of Portugal
Part of the Elevate group of firms
Why international buyers use a mortgage broker in Portugal
You could approach the banks yourself. Plenty of people do. Here is what changes when you do not have to.
One application, many banks
You give us your information once. We put the same file in front of every lender we work with and come back with what each of them will do. You are not completing the same forms six times, or explaining your income to six different underwriters who have never seen a foreign tax return.
It costs you nothing
There is no fee from us at any stage. Not to start, not to submit, and not at the deed. You will never receive an invoice from Elevate Finance, and nothing is deducted from your loan to pay us.
Your rate is not worse for using us
This is the question we get asked most. Our commission is paid by the lender out of their side of the transaction. Going through us does not add anything to the terms the bank offers you — you get the bank’s deal, with someone who has read a few hundred of these looking at it first.
One person, in English, all the way through
The same contact from your first question to the day you sign. Not a call centre, not a new name on every email, and not a Portuguese document you are expected to interpret on your own at the notary.
How we get paid, in plain terms
When a bank funds a mortgage we introduced, that bank pays us a commission. That is our entire income from your file.
You are never invoiced. There is no arrangement fee from us, nothing is taken out of your loan, and there is no charge if the application does not go ahead. Because our fee sits on the lender’s side of the transaction, using a broker does not make your mortgage more expensive than walking into that same bank on your own.
This is simply how mortgage intermediation works in Portugal: the lender pays the intermediary, and the service is free of charge to you.
Five steps, start to finish
The same process whether you are in Lagos, London or Los Angeles.
Send us your details
Your situation, the property, and the documents that evidence your income. We give you one list at the start rather than coming back to you five times.
We go to the banks
We present your file to the lenders we work with and ask each of them what they will do for you. That happens in parallel, not one bank after another.
Compare the offers
We bring the quotes back in plain English — rate structure, term, monthly payment, conditions, and the cost of the products each bank wants attached. Like for like, on one page.
Choose your bank
You decide. We then run the application, the valuation and the conditions through to the deed, and tell you what each Portuguese document says before you sign it.
We stay with you
Questions after completion do not stop being ours. Same contact, same number, whether it is six weeks or six years later.
Where international buyers get stuck
Almost none of it is about the property. It is about how a Portuguese lender reads a file that was not built in Portugal.
Your income does not fit the form
Bank forms assume a Portuguese employer and a Portuguese payslip. If you are paid in dollars, through a limited company, or from a pension in another country, the file has to be built differently — and most of that work happens before a lender ever sees it.
The deposit is not the real cost
IMT, stamp duty, notary and registration, the valuation, mandatory life and buildings cover, and the lender’s own charges. Buyers budget for the deposit and meet everything else at the notary.
Everything is in Portuguese
The application, the valuation report, the offer, the deed. You should not be signing documents you cannot read, and you should not be relying on a friend to translate them.
Built for income that comes from somewhere else
Our sister firm is an accounting practice that reads foreign tax returns for a living. That is not a marketing line — it is why we can take on files other brokers hand back.
- Self-employed people, freelancers and company owners
- US citizens and green card holders — IRS returns, FATCA, LLC and S-corp income
- UK residents buying after Brexit
- Retirees living on foreign pensions
- Multi-currency and multi-country earners
- Buyers with no Portuguese credit history at all
Lagos on the ground, Portugal everywhere else
Our office is in Lagos, in the western Algarve. We work with buyers across the country — the Algarve, Lisbon, the Silver Coast, Porto and the islands.
Most clients never need to sit in a room with us and handle everything remotely across time zones. Some prefer to come in. Both work.
Read this before you make an offer
Mortgages for non-residents
What Portuguese lenders will consider if you do not live here, what they ask for, and what to plan for.
The complete guide to getting a mortgage in Portugal
The whole process end to end: eligibility, documents, costs, timeline and the deed itself.
Mortgages for complex income
Self-employed, company owners, retirees, and anyone whose income needs explaining before it is assessed.
Frequently asked questions
Can a non-resident get a mortgage in Portugal?
Yes. Portuguese lenders will consider buyers who do not live in Portugal and have never lived here. The main difference is loan-to-value — non-residents are generally expected to put down a larger deposit than residents — and lenders look closely at how your income is documented in your home country.
How much deposit will I need as a foreign buyer?
Plan for a meaningfully larger deposit than a Portuguese resident would need, and for purchase costs on top of the price rather than inside it. The exact figure depends on the lender, the property and your profile. We give you a realistic number before you make an offer, not after.
Can an American buy property in Portugal with a mortgage?
Yes, and it is one of the situations we see most often. US buyers usually evidence income through IRS returns rather than payslips, and income held through an LLC or S-corp needs presenting in a form a Portuguese underwriter recognises. FATCA reporting also affects which lenders are comfortable taking the file.
What documents do Portuguese banks ask for?
Broadly: passport or ID, your Portuguese tax number (NIF), proof of address, recent tax returns, several months of bank statements, evidence of income, and a credit report from your home country. Self-employed and company-owner files need more. We send you one list at the start rather than coming back repeatedly.
Do I need a NIF and a Portuguese bank account?
You need a NIF to buy property in Portugal, and in practice most lenders will want you to hold an account with them or locally. Both are straightforward to arrange and we will point you to the right route for your situation.
How long does a Portuguese mortgage take?
Allow roughly a couple of months from a complete application through to the deed, and longer if documents arrive piecemeal or the valuation raises questions. The single biggest factor is how complete the file is when it goes in — which is the part we control.
Tell us about your situation
Fifteen minutes is usually enough to know whether a Portuguese mortgage works for you, and what it would take to get there.
General information on this site is not a credit offer. Terms depend on the lender and your circumstances.