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Project management: organizing your work for a successful installation

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Congratulations, you're now a property owner in Portugal!

Then you realize that you're only halfway to making the most of it. Opening electricity, gas, water, internet and insurance contracts, making a few improvements and furnishing are usually the next steps.

Managing the post-purchase period as a project

Put simply, the right approach to finalizing your pied-à-terre or "home sweet home" should be in the spirit of project management. The first step is to identify all the tasks to be carried out, and to organize them in time, one after the other. You also need to consider your own availability, presence on site and skills.

First stage: water, electricity, gas and Internet

This phase is the simplest and, if necessary, can be carried out by proxy. You'll need to be patient as the operators move in one after the other. The only important detail to note at this stage is that gas will only be put into service once water and electricity are in place.

Mind you, we don't think about it all the time, but in order to do the work, the water and electricity have to be working.

Step 2: Draw up work specifications and select service provider

Competitive bidding is essential to ensure that you pay a fair price. Please note: here in Portugal, some companies quote with materials included, others with materials to be supplied by the customer.

Today's means of communication make it possible to schedule regular video briefings to monitor progress on the site and make any necessary adjustments.

And let's not forget the more modest restaurants that revisit Maman's cooking... Our favorite is aptly named: Mãe, cozinha com amor (Maman, cooking with love) in Lisbon's Estefânia district, where you can eat traditional dishes prepared with a very contemporary eye. We love it here!

Post-construction cleaning: a necessity

We are convinced that a building site must be extremely well cleaned! We recommend working with a specialized service provider. This allows us to get the dust out of every nook and cranny, and to clean thoroughly before furnishing.

The final touch: furnishing and setting up the apartment.

Especially when buying your second home, consider finding a service provider to furnish your property. The service could even include setting up your household linen.

Case study "O Jardim das Tangerineiras", Lisbon

Envie de Lisbonne offers a range of services to help you finalize your project. To illustrate our point, we use the case of "O Jardim das Tangerineiras", purchased at the beginning of 2021 by Nelsie and Arnaud.

The context: the purchase of a second home in Lisbon. Initially, I was looking for renovated properties that were already furnished. Obviously, we fell in love with a radically different property: an unfurnished apartment in need of some renovation work.

Together we identified the following needs, which had to respect this chronology:

Restore water, electricity and gas supplies
Improvements (partitioning, insulation, painting and wallpapering)
Post-construction clean-up
Furnish
Preparing the apartment for the arrival of the new owners

Pour mener à bien toutes ces missions, nous avons convenu d’un partenariat de deux mois.

So we set about managing the project, selecting three companies to quote (two French-speaking and one Portuguese-speaking).

In the end, the couple chose a French-speaking company capable of supplying the equipment. As prices were similar, the choice fell on the provider with whom communication would be easiest and with whom the range of services was most comprehensive.

In our case, a weekly review was carried out with the customers; this enabled us to identify small errors, which are quite common in these projects.

Let's take an example: a sliding door had been positioned in the wrong place! It's best to realize this when the company is on site! The problem was quickly rectified, with no impact on deadlines or costs.

Nelsie and Arnaud allowed themselves a shopping day after the apartment was signed for furniture orders. Before their arrival, we take care of assembling and installing the furniture where the couple wants it.

The icing on the cake: having bought the household linen, we're going back to the cleaning company for a standard cleaning. This company has the expertise to prepare apartments for short-term rental, and the cleaning staff will set up the entire apartment with linen, just like in a hotel.

En conclusion : même à distance, reposez-vous sur Envie de Lisbonne afin que – comme par magie – il suffisait d’un claquement de doigt pour que tout soit prêt entre la signature de l’acte et votre installation.