CPCV

Contrato-Promessa de Compra e Venda — the binding promise contract signed between the accepted offer and the final deed (escritura). It is signed together with the sinal, the deposit, typically around 10% of the price.

Where people slip: due diligence belongs before this signature, not after. Once the CPCV is signed the penalties are real, and problems found later — an unlicensed extension, a charge on the registry, a use permit that does not match the actual use — become your problem to negotiate out of.

Do this: check the caderneta predial, the certidão do registo predial and the licença de utilização first, and have a lawyer read the contract. Budget roughly €700–1,500 for that reading — cheap next to a deposit you might forfeit.