Another Chance to Buy In One of Europe’s “Greatest Real Estate Finds”

One of the great discoveries of my real estate scouting career is the town of Lagos, in Portugal’s southern Algarve region.

When I first spotted opportunity in Lagos around a decade ago, this stunning coastal town was still quiet, sleepy, and largely unknown to the millions of tourists flocking to the Algarve. But it was rich in history, perfectly located, and development was gradually pushing toward it.

Today, Lagos has well and truly been discovered. It’s now a modern, wealthy town with bustling beaches and an upscale marina.

Before I get into why Lagos has been one of my great real estate finds and why there may still be an incredible opportunity here for real estate investors, let’s go back to the beginning…

I first started scouting Portugal’s Algarve region way back in 2002. It was a very different place back then…

The Algarve is in the very south of Portugal facing the Atlantic, but it boasts a Mediterranean climate. It gets 300 days of sunshine a year and has great culture, amazing food, and stunning beaches.

For decades before I first arrived, the Algarve had been a popular vacation destination among northern Europeans, especially the British. In fact, back then the Algarve was basically the only destination that tourists went to in Portugal. And it was very seasonal. Outside the 10 to 12 weeks of high season, the Algarve was very quiet. Many businesses shut down when the season ended. Full-time expats and second-home owners were rare.

I always suspected that could change. So year after year, I returned to scout the Algarve… watching the market and building contacts.

Prior to the global financial crisis, development had been radiating out from the central Algarve in two directions—east and west. The crisis halted this development, but I knew it was only a matter of time before it resumed. The Algarve simply has too much inherent appeal.

In the aftermath of the financial crisis, the world began to discover Portugal. Clever tourist campaigns, new airline routes, and attractive tax and visa schemes shined a global spotlight on what had been Europe’s best-kept secret.

People started coming in droves… and not just to visit, but to stay. That sparked a new era of opportunity on the Algarve.

The Booming Algarve

The Algarve appeals to a huge mix of markets. In addition to vacationers, it now attracts well-heeled expats, young families, and digital nomads. It’s a truly internationalized destination that draws Northern Europeans, North Americans, and even folks from as far away as Asia…

Today, arrival numbers are booming. In 2024, a record 9.4 million people passed through Faro airport, the gateway to the Algarve.

The post-pandemic era has seen a significant rise in the number of North Americans arriving too. Between 2022 and 2024, the number almost doubled, to more than one million visitors.

According to data from the Portuguese government, the number of Americans living in Portugal increased by a stunning 239% from 2017 to 2022, reaching almost 10,000 people. That number has since increased and as of 2024, over 14,000 Americans call Portugal home.

The British are also returning to the Algarve in big numbers. Once a mainstay of the expat scene here, the number of British residents fell over the past few years because of the uncertainty surrounding Brexit. Now, Brexit is no longer talked about and the British are coming again to live full-time and part-time.

And more young digital nomads are coming from all over thanks to a new visa that gives them 12 months’ residency. These are often high earners working in IT, between 30 and 40 years old, who stay in the Algarve during the traditional low season.

The fact is, the lifestyle on the Algarve is hard to beat. It’s been compared to that of California by the likes of LA Magazine, which is why so many folks from the Golden State love it here. It offers superior beaches, ancient architecture, cuisine noted for fresh seafood—like the regional dish, cataplana—and excellent, inexpensive wines. It’s a place where the sun always shines and life is lived outdoors.

And there’s one place in the Algarve that offers this incredibly desirable lifestyle in spades…

Lagos is arguably the most historic town on the Algarve. It was home to Henry the Navigator and the adventurers of the Age of Discovery. It’s compact, low-rise, and walkable. And from spots all over town you can catch breathtaking views of the Bay of Light, fringed by miles of golden sand.

You can walk to the restaurants, bars, stores…walk to the train station and hop a train to Faro where the international airport is…

You can walk to the town’s marina and jump on a boat to go sailing, fishing, or cruising around the cliffs, sea stacks, and bluffs of the Western Algarve’s awesome coastline. The state-of-the-art marina features a wide range of services and facilities for yacht owners and maritime enthusiasts, including well-maintained docks, high-end restaurants, and boutique shopping.

Here you can sip champagne over a lunch of fresh pastéis de bacalhau (salt cod fritter, a culinary specialty around these parts) on the terrace of one of those restaurants while admiring the panoramic views of the Atlantic Ocean and the charming old town.

The old town’s narrow, wave-patterned streets are partially enclosed by 16th-century stone walls and easy to navigate on your own, though you never know what you’ll find around the next corner. It could be a charming café, a quaint market, or a pastelaria selling mouth-watering cakes and pastries.

Check out this video, which showcases Lagos’s appeal.

Lagos attracts tourists from all over the world. It’s a town with exceptional access. It’s just an hour’s drive from Faro airport with good road connections. From Faro, you can catch a two- to three-hour flight to almost anywhere in Europe. Overall, it has direct flights scheduled to 75 destinations in 16 countries.

When I first scouted Lagos, I knew this town was a huge discovery…a place with all the right elements for the new folks flocking to the Algarve and Portugal.

As I say, before the 2007-2008 global financial crisis, development had already started radiating out from the central Algarve, reaching all the way to Lagos. The crisis halted this development, but I knew it was only a matter of time before it resumed. The Algarve simply has too much inherent appeal.

So over the past decade, I used my contacts to help find incredible deals here. Of course, I have an “edge” to help me find the best deals in desirable destinations like this. That edge is my Real Estate Trend Alert group.

RETA is made up of investors like me who recognize the vast potential of overseas real estate… who recognize that there’s always opportunity somewhere when you look everywhere. By acting together at RETA, it means I can go to developers and negotiate off-market deals. That means we can buy at discount pricing that ordinary investors never see. (You can learn more about my RETA group here.)

And RETA members who got in on the members-only deals I found around Lagos after the financial crisis have done exceptionally well.

We got ahead as that previously stalled “Path of Progress” began once again sweeping west along the coast from the traditional tourist centers near Faro airport… to places like the historic towns of Lagos. (A Path of Progress is anything that makes a place easier to get to, like new roads, airports, or bridges, or more desirable, say, a 5-star resort in a place that previously only had cheap hostels).

A Rare Opportunity on the Horizon

Today, people are flocking to the Algarve in record numbers, both for vacations and to live longer-term. All these new arrivals have put enormous pressure on the real estate market.

Resale and rental prices are at or near historic highs. And strict construction and permitting rules mean new communities come online slowly. In a nutshell, there’s a lack of real estate inventory at all levels of the Algarve market… at a time when more people are moving there. Which begs the question, is there still opportunity here for real estate investors?

The short answer is yes. But only if you can find the right deal.

Finding new RETA-grade deals in Lagos has been a major challenge in the past several years, given the high baseline level of prices right now. For a deal to be RETA grade, I have to see clear potential for members to double our money invested in five years. And that has been difficult to find over the last few years.

Dozens of Algarve deals have crossed my desk every year, but none have cut RETA muster.

Until now that is…

My team and I are still working out the details, but now I’m closing in on a new deal in Lagos for members of my RETA group. It will be a chance to own stunning luxury condos right in the most desirable area of Lagos at exclusive off-market pricing.

Frankly, I didn’t expect to find another deal in Lagos. That makes this opportunity incredibly rare and special.

I’ll be sharing more about this deal with my RETA members very soon. (If you’re not yet a RETA member, but would like to be among the first to hear about this Algarve deal, and all future member-only deals, go here to join us.)