Step into the wild and peaceful mountains of Central Portugal
The tiny villages, green valleys, rocky peaks and fresh rivers of central rural Portugal have a lot to offer for those who want to live a more simple, real, and connected life.
It’s my aim to help people find their way to this special place, or to assist those that are already here in all their bureaucratic and typically Portuguese challenges.
Scroll through this website if you want to know more about what I do and find me on Instagram or Facebook for local stories and adventures.
Follow me for stories, insights and news.
Immigration
advice & assistance
I offer advice and hands-on assistance during the process of immigrating to Portugal. Here are some examples.
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Guidance with collecting and arranging all the paperwork you need to sign a sale contract.
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Help with registering as a resident, connecting to water and electrics, etc.
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Translating (Portuguese to English or Dutch) paperwork and letters.
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Interpretation at meetings with real estate agents, lawyers, neighbours, officials and others.
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Calling on your behalf to a Portuguese number on a “for sale” sign you found locally.
I love to connect the right people to the right property.
You can find properties where I assist the sellers HERE
I also often represent a (potential) buyer for the various parties involved in a sale and I am able to evaluate a property as an independent property consultant.
I enjoy exploring houses and lands and getting to know their history. Most of the properties for sale here are abandoned farms. When the owners show me the boundaries and the buildings, they usually start telling me their stories without me having to ask anything. You can find some of these stories on my Instagram page.
My work as a real estate agent is characterized by my core values of honesty, transparency, kindness and professionalism.
I have a real-estate license from IMPIC, the Portuguese licensing authority for the sectors of real-estate and construction.
Interpretation, mediation & problem solving
If you are settled in Portugal, life isn’t always easy and you can encounter problems that are difficult to solve if you don’t know where to go to and don’t speak Portuguese. I offer my language skills, experience and network to solve various kinds of problems. Here are some examples.
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The old septic tank of your village home is not sufficient anymore for the needs of your family. It smells sometimes and there is an angry neighbour who clearly complains to you in Portuguese, although you don’t understand what he is saying exactly. I can be present at an encounter with the neighbour to translate and come up with a solution together. In this case (this really happened) the solution was to connect the house to the new sewage system of the village. I arranged this process with the local governments and helped fill in the necessary forms to make this happen.
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You bought a property and after you have put up a new fence in the forested area you thought was yours, people come to complain that you should remove the fence. I can investigate the situation, explain what happened and mediate towards a solution.
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Opposite from the road of your new village home is a sad dog on a chain that looks old, injured and not well cared for. You hear him barking often, see him every time you walk out your front gate and would love to adopt him and care for him. It’s your neighbours guard dog though and you can’t talk to them because of the language barrier and are afraid to offend them. Like the two examples above, this is something that really happened. In this case I was able to talk to all parties involved and in the end the neighbours were happy to let the dog be adopted.
Stories & Connection
The social landscape here is a peculiar one. There are the older, traditional residents with deep roots in this ancient land and its ways. Beside them is a diverse and international group of new mountain dwellers who heard the call of these valleys, rocky slopes and rivers. I realise local culture is changing fast and I started to collect stories and make pictures. My aim is to document a bit of the rich and peculiar traditional local culture and to pass on these stories to the new residents, so they can find their place in history and a sense of belonging here. You can find these stories on my instagram page, together with my (daily) adventures.
Reik, Germany
“Else is a literal lifesaver. We would highly recommend her services if you want a well- managed and safe entry for settling in Portugal"
Will, UK
Do plenty of your own internet & Facebook research until your head is spinning with information, then sit down with a real person who actually knows the real nitty gritty what she’s talking about!"
Peter, UK
“I can only have praise and gratitude for the tireless work Else did in helping me through this process and sorting everything out from the biggest of issues to the smallest of details. ”
(about the process of officially renovating a building)
Background & Credentials
I grew up on the edge of the forest in the centre of The Netherlands.
After an interdisciplinary bachelor at the University of Amsterdam, I completed a master in Geo-Communication at the University of Utrecht and a post master in Geography Education at the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam.
I worked as a geography teacher for 3 years and have professional experience in customer service and hospitality.
In 2003, in between secondary educations and university, I went to Brasil where my world was turned upside down and I learned to speak Portuguese.
Most of the work I do in Central Portugal is based on experience. I moved here in 2017 and started working as a freelance translator/consultant/assistant in 2019.
Here I am
