Read the original article published by International Living here.

Weather, golf, beach and accessibility are the major drivers of Europe’s internal tourism and second home market. In fact, for both Spain and Portugal, golf is a bigger driver than beach. I understand this. I visit Portugal’s Algarve most years but I have never stepped foot on one of her beaches. I come here like many millions to golf.

I can leave my home town of Cork, Ireland on a dark dreary November morning and make an 11.00 a.m. tee time here. The last flight I took from Cork to Faro set me back 4.99 euro (excluding taxes). Budget airlines like Ryanair and Easyjet offer amazing accessibility direct to Algarve’s Faro airport.

The Algarve’s golf courses offer variety in terms of quality, difficulty, and price. Her beaches have the reputation of being among the finest in Europe. The coast here has been protected from sprawling distasteful development.

The sun shines for over 3,000 hours a year. Refreshing breezes mean July and August are comfortable. Winters are short, mild with fine and dry spells. Today it is sunny and 75 degrees.

This is why the Algarve is desirable for northern Europeans who want a vacation…or to buy a second home. As real estate investors, we care about this because it tells us that there is strong end-user demand. Restrictions on development have meant that there hasn’t been the overbuilding and over supply seen in parts of Spain.

While Portugal was spared these problems, it did experience a construction boom. Banks lent to developers to build. Developers built in anticipation that there would be no problem selling their units. They thought the good days could never end. Then everything stopped. Credit and financial crises hit. Sales dried up. Projects have been cruelly caught out. Banks are squeezing. Forced sell offs are happening quietly under the radar.

Today, there are distressed opportunities in Portugal. These are projects that, through greed or bad luck, mistimed the market. Discounts are being discretely offered. Incentives, like free fit out and paid transaction costs, are being thrown in.

In an effort to get themselves out of a bind, banks make the deal sweeter and offer up to 100% financing.

Sound interesting? It’s got my attention, too. That’s why I hop on a plane next week to see eight distressed projects and review the resale market in mature developments.

As always when looking at distressed opportunities, I’ll be following my three golden rules:

- Buy quality (location, construction, amenities and fit-out)

- Don’t take on any construction risk…buy completed units

- Don’t take on any project risk…make sure the condominium is functioning

Real Estate Trend Alert members will receive a full report of the best deals I find.