We used NEWCO for our home purchase in Funchal. They’re great to work with, and happy to meet you in person if you need to. Madeira being “autonomous” sometimes like to interpret rules their own way - I’ve seen this with both SEF and Finanças. So I appreciate having people on the island who you can actually talk to and know its quirks.
One caveat is that if someday you want to jump-start your GV application’s progress with a lawsuit, I don’t know if they’ve ever filed one before. Other people who’ve succeeded with their suits often note their law firms in this thread.
Oh, and if your agent submits your online GV application properly, then the next day there’s a prompt on the same portal asking you to pay the fee amount.