Editorial Policy

Our editorial position

Madeira Real Estate is buyer-side. Every piece of content on this site is written from the perspective of someone who is about to spend money, not someone who is about to earn a commission. We are not a licensed real-estate broker, we do not list property, and we do not accept payment for editorial coverage. That boundary is the whole reason this site exists.

How we research

1. Primary sources first. Every statute, tax bracket, and regulatory change cites the primary source - Diário da República Eletrónico (dre.pt), Portal das Finanças, IMPIC, Câmaras Municipais, DREM, AIMA. Secondary summaries are used only to cross-check, never as the sole source.
2. Cross-check against independent advisory sites. We regularly read MCS, Global Citizen Solutions, Portugal Buyer's Agent, Madeira Estate, Prime Properties Madeira, DRP Advisers. Where they diverge from each other or from the primary source, we flag the discrepancy in the page text rather than picking a side.
3. Community evidence is labelled. Quotes from r/Madeira, r/PortugalExpats, Expat.com, forum-madeira.eu, or Facebook groups are cited to the thread, not paraphrased. Community claims are treated as hypotheses until verified against a primary source.
4. Calculators show their sources. The IMT calculator, rent-vs-buy calculator and IFICI eligibility quiz state the statute, the bracket table or the assumption behind every figure, with the date it was read. They are not reviewed by a lawyer; every result says to confirm it with your own lawyer before you sign anything.
5. Municipality pages are built from municipal and statistical sources. Each of the 11 concelho pages cites the Câmara Municipal, DREM and the registers it draws on, with the date each figure was read. The site does not claim visits it has not made.

How we handle regulatory change

Portuguese property law moves. DL 76/2024 changed Alojamento Local overnight. Law 56/2023 killed the Golden Visa property route. IFICI replaced the NHR regime for people becoming resident from 1 January 2024. Decree-Law 97/2026 set a flat 7.5% IMT for non-resident buyers from 25 May 2026. When any of these move, we:

• Re-date the affected pages once the change is confirmed in the primary source.
• Notify newsletter subscribers if the change materially affects in-progress deals (e.g. IMT rate changes).

Corrections policy

We make mistakes. When someone flags a factual error, we fix it and add a dated edit note at the bottom of the affected page. Minor corrections (typos, dead links) get a brief edit note. Write to us through the contact form to report a correction.

Conflicts of interest

• No AMI licence. We deliberately do not hold an AMI real-estate brokerage licence so our editorial cannot double as a sales channel.
• Referral fees are disclosed, and never come from lawyers. The Portuguese bar statute does not allow a lawyer to pay for referred clients or to share fees, so lawyers do not pay us. If another professional pays us a referral fee, it is disclosed on their listing and in the disclaimer.
• Vetting is not pay-to-play. Our decision to include a lawyer, mortgage broker, or advisor in the directory rests on public checks (registration, office and practice, languages), not on willingness to pay. Client references, track record and response times are not checked yet.
• Paid featured listings are labelled. Featured placements in the directory (if any) are tagged "Featured" so you can tell editorial from paid.
• No editorial coverage for payment. We do not accept payment to publish, amend, or withhold editorial content. Ever.

AI and automation

We use AI tooling to draft, cross-check, and research. Every piece of content is reviewed by the human editor before publication; we do not publish unedited model output. Calculator logic is hand-coded - not AI-generated. Where AI has surfaced a claim we cannot verify against a primary source, we either verify it or do not publish it.

Editor and byline

All editorial on this site is produced by the Madeira-resident editor (see the About page). Guest contributions, when we accept them in future, will be bylined with the contributor's credentials and disclosure.

Contact

Editorial questions, corrections, tip-offs about regulatory changes, or professional vetting enquiries: write to us through the contact form.