There is no estate agent involved in this sale, and no business broker. When you enquire, you are writing to the people who own the house, planted the fruit trees and built the business. When you visit, we will be the ones showing you round.
That is unusual for a sale of this size, and it is worth explaining what it means in practice — because “for sale by owner” is a phrase people know from house sales but rarely see attached to a business and a property together.
What it means for you
No commission built into the price. An agent selling a property at this level would typically take a percentage, and a business broker another. That cost has to come from somewhere, and it is always the price. There is none of it here.
Answers from the person who knows. Ask an agent what the winter heating costs, how the water supply behaves in August, or which fruit tree crops first, and they will find out and get back to you. Ask us and you get the answer, immediately, including the parts an agent would soften.
No sales process. Nobody is working a pipeline or chasing a month-end. We are not going to ring you on a Friday to see whether you have had a think. If it is right, it is right, and if it is not, we would both rather know quickly.
Direct negotiation. When it comes to price and structure, you are talking to the decision-maker. No offers relayed through a third party, no “I’ll have to put that to my client”.
What it means we ask of you
Be straight with us about where you are. The enquiry form asks about funds and timescale, and it is not a filter for the sake of it. Without an agent in the middle, every conversation is one of us actually talking to one of you, and we would rather spend that time well.
Bring your own professionals. Buying direct does not mean buying without advice — it means the opposite. You should have your own Portuguese lawyer, your own accountant looking at the business, and your own survey if you want one. We would think less of a buyer who skipped any of that.
Expect an NDA. Before we go into the detail of the business — the clients, the figures, how it works — we will ask you to sign a non-disclosure agreement. That is standard for any business sale and it protects clients who have trusted us for over a decade.
Why we are doing it this way
Partly cost. Mostly because this is not a standard transaction and an agent would struggle to represent it.
A house on its own is a straightforward listing. A business on its own is a straightforward listing. A house and the income that pays for living in it, sold as one thing to someone who wants a different life — that needs somebody who can answer questions about both, and about what the two together actually feel like to live with.
That is us. So we are doing it ourselves.
Interested?
Tell us where you are in the process. If it looks like a fit we'll talk properly, and if it isn't we'll say so quickly.