The most expensive mistake remains taking legal advice from the other side. The seller is paid on completion, which differs from protecting the buyer. Your own legal adviser costs a small fraction of the purchase and is the single best safeguard.
Putting your name to untranslated contracts ranks close behind. A certified translation is a small expense compared with the purchase price. Verbal assurances carry no weight when the written text differs — only the signed text matters.
Purchasing off-plan on trust has wrecked a great many buyers. Before any payment, review what the company has already delivered, the planning approvals, and whether payments are held in escrow. Late deliveries are common with even the best developers; abandoned sites are less common but genuinely ruinous.
Thinking only about the purchase is a quieter mistake. Any property will one day be sold, and the resale market determines the price. A property with no local demand sells slowly in a weak market.
Lastly, plenty of purchasers underestimate the ongoing obligations. Tax filings are often required regardless of whether the buy property in palmela earns anything, tremithousa sea view houses and rome real estate for sale late filings lead to penalties that accumulate quietly. Arranging a local tax adviser from the first year heads off the majority of these headaches.