thatās interesting and tricky. Does it mean the key condition of inhabitation category is investors would actually have to invest into an uncompleted project? If so, be ready to gamble acknowledging defeat.
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I, too, am interested in working with Mercan, and would appreciate feedback from people who have experiences with them. Thanks!
Hey Christo,
I am new at that forum. Can you please share with me the contact details at Mercan group.
Regards,
Khaled
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Iām new here would love those lawyer contacts!
Hi David, Iām new to this forum and just found this thread. Wondering if you can share your experiences with Mercan. I am interested in the Lapa project. Thanks so much!
Hello Queenie,
Nice to meet you, Mercan is one of the developers that I work with and they are a firm that I trust.
The Lapa Renaissance Hotel is indeed a very nice project, are you already in touch with them?
Kind Regards,
David Lincoln
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Hi David,
Thank you for your response. Yes, I will have a call with them soon.
When you say work, is that your line of work? Or are you also applying for golden visa?
Iām in my early stage of researching and the Mercan project does look really attractive. Plus, it aligns with what I want. My main concern is that I really donāt know much about them. So Iām trying to find more info about the company.
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Hi David, I am also interested in your experience with Mercan if you are willing to share? We are new to this forum and also at the early stages of talking with Mercan. Thanks a lot!
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Hi all,
Iāve been working with Mercan now since this summer. We have signed our Lease Agreement, set up a bank account, transferred our fund and just received our deed to our hotel in Porto, Portugal. Jason at Mercan has been incredible helpful, answering my questions in a timely manner and helping us through every step. We just emailed our legal docs (2 months to prepare) and now the lawyers in Porto are taking our info the SEF for our initial application. So far, everything has gone as planned, (not without some hiccups, but most were related to submitting the appropriate documents to get our bank account), and I am very happy with our progress. Please DM me for any specifics.
Stay safe and wishing you all well,
Sarah
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Hi @mtrom - can you please share the law firm contacts for the D7 visa ? Thank you in advance 
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thanks for your comments. Good luck!
Hi @mtrom - I am also evaluating the D7 vs RE option vs Fund option. Can you kindly share your law firm contacts for the D7 visa? Thanks much!
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Hi everyone, I came across an article by The Points Guy talking about Portugal Golden Visa and working with Mercan. Interesting read.
Iām not too sure how to read into this. On one hand it makes me think that maybe there isnāt a lot of people investing in this opportunity so he is advertising it? Or that there is a bit of comfort that he is talking about the GV program and is part of it. Anyway take look at the article: My journey to EU citizenship - The Points Guy
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Hi Queenie,
I am new here and also had been researching Mercan re Portugalās GV. Pls let me know if you have further findings . Iāve been in a call
Once with the founder at Mercan and he seems knowledgeable. I just havenāt met anyone or spoke to anyone who has used their services. Good luck to you as well on your quest .
Hi Queenie,
I have already started the process with Mercan, and I can share my experience thus far. Please PM me.
Hi Sarah,
Iām talking to Mercan as well. Do you mind sharing with me which option you will be proceeding with and howās your experience with them so far . Thank you
Conney
belas artes is closed now, right?
I believe it is closed.
Something occurred to me earlier this week. Might be obvious to others of course.
These kinds of projects, with the buyback, are actually reasonably tax-advantaged, if you do it right, if youāre an American. Might be true for others as well.
The key is that the contracts clearly state that Mercan is renting the property from you, no ifs ands or buts. You have legal deed and control - you are delegating control and management but itās your control to delegate. Therefore it can be characterized as a rental business if you choose to. This screams at you so clearly that I donāt need an accountant to tell me this is legit. The buyback is a legal buyback - you are selling your property back. Therefore itās a sale of your business/
If you do that, then IMT is a legit acquisition cost - like sales tax - and gets added to the basis.
Itās a purely rental property, therefore you get to depreciate it, straight-line, 30 years. (Some would argue 40 years. For Mercan for a hotel, they may be right, since itās commercial. For others, itās 30. YMMV. Not really relevant.) So you get a tax deduction for the depreciation every year to offset against the income.
Personal use under 14 days a year doesnāt affect anything meaningfully. No issues there.
When you sell the property back to Mercan, if thereās a loss, itās cap loss. If thereās a gain, itās a cap gain. Which one it is depends on too many factors - currency, whether you paid IMT, etc.
You CAN try to write off travel to inspect the property. āMake sure there really is a building standing thereā is pretty valid. Now, thatās only going to be useful on a 1-2 day trip - to charge off flights and everything on a 30 day jaunt around the country, no, but a day or two to pop over and have a coffee in Porto and stay in the hotel to check the quality of service (gotta evaluate that management companyās performance!) seems perfectly reasonable and might be fun if youāre into that kind of thing. You can discuss with your accountant, but itās fun angle.
The accountant you hire to deal with all this, legit write-off.
Bank fees, legit write-off - canāt own the property without the local bank account, right?
Some of the legal fees, write-off. Canāt do the deal without a lawyer, right? Canāt write all of it off, certainly not the GV/SEF side, but certainly some.
If you feel a need to put it in an LLC, costs there are a write off.
For some, the fact that itās rental income and not interest income may be beneficial. Not sure how, I just see the potential.
The point is that taxes are an interesting aspect of the deal and another factor to consider if you are thinking about this vs funds or buying property and overall costs. This actually moves the meter for me somewhat.
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