Identifying where they’d like to move to after living in Hong Kong, Tracey and Mike hit on Portugal. “It was because of the sun, a more affordable cost of living and we heard that it was relatively easy to get a visa,” says Tracey, 63, a former nursery school teacher from Rotherham, South Yorkshire.
They began searching through properties for sale in Portugal and did a road trip to explore the country. “We found the people lovely and welcoming and decided the country was definitely for us. But we didn’t want the Algarve which we found a bit too touristy. We preferred something a bit more authentically Portuguese.”
The couple identified Tomar, in the centre of Portugal, as the place to be. They also looked at the now-popular area of Coimbra but found it ‘too hilly’.
“I love history and the architecture is great. It’s fairly peaceful, an hour from the coast, and 1.5hrs from Lisbon,” says Mike, 66, an engineer turned social worker then basketball coach.
But the couple soon found that identifying a property online and the seeing it in reality were two very different things. “Because on the listings the location is not always clear [often for security reasons] we were always finding ourselves looking at homes in the wrong place. Even when we told estate agents exactly what we wanted, they would then take us somewhere unsuitable.”
Not having a car to take themselves around to survey locations was also a problem. But then the pandemic intervened and Tracey, locked down in Hong Kong, watched some aplaceinthesun.com webinars and applied to the TV show.
“The team were very worried when they said we’d already looked at 50 homes – maybe we would be impossible to please,” says Tracey. But suddenly got the call up in 2023 and the researchers managed to find them their perfect home – a pretty detached house with four bedrooms which they paid £154k for – their episode has recently aired on Channel 4.
Whilst waiting a few months for the filming, the couple had started renting in Tomar in March 2023 and applying for their D7 visa. “We managed to do the application ourselves and are due to renew this summer,” says Tracey. “In 2028 we can apply for permanent residency.”
In the meantime they’ve been adjusting to life in Portugal, struggling with the language but finding everyone very helpful. “The previous owner has just moved to a place nearby so she was really useful when it came to a plumbing issue,” says Tracey. “Otherwise we’ve decorated, got a new boiler, a new kitchen and two new bathrooms.”
Mike ‘not a DIY man’ knocked out two big brick fireplaces. “We worked pretty hard for a year and then took a break, which lasted around the same. The outside is still a project,” says Mike, of the plunge pool and gardens.
Tracey’s French has helped her to get to know their French neighbour. “She acts as my translator for the workmen on the house. She translates what they are saying in Portuguese to me into French, and then I tell Mike in English. It’s time consuming but it works!”
They have a good network of friends, Tracey volunteers at a local school two days a week and Mike is doing some local basketball coaching – though misses his social network in Hong Kong.
But the only thing they miss about the UK is fish and chips (Mike) and Yorkshire Tea bags (Tracey).
They advise that renting a place beforehand does help you find the right area, which was the root of their problem until the TV show. “Go out, take a car, drive around and work out where you want to be, then look for the property,” she advises.
“But although it took a while we are now really happy and have no regrets.”
SEARCH FOR PROPERTY IN PORTUGAL
