New Seeking Alpha article, page-26

Everything about the promise of buying (contrato promessa) and selling contract
The promise of purchase and sale agreement is a contract commonly established in Portugal to agree on the future purchase of a property or land. It is not mandatory, but it is important, guaranteed the rights and duties of those involved in the business, formalizing the transaction and its conditions.
This type of contract must comply with certain rules, to conclude the agreement reached by the two parties. The signatures of the two parties must be recognized in person.
Requirements

To enter into a promise of purchase and sale agreement, for example, it is necessary to include:

• Identification of the promising salesperson and buyer, with indication of marital status, address, identity number and taxpayer;
• identification of the asset to be transacted (location, typology, existence of integral parts or assets to the property, matrix registration and property description);
• the price of the acquisition and the form of payment, the amount of the payment as a signal and the schedule of the reinforcements, if any;
• free disposal of any charges or charges;
• deadline date for the execution of the public deed of purchase and sale;
• identification of sanctions in case the public deed of sale is not carried out on the agreed date;
• license of use or construction or proof that it has been requested to the City Council or its substitute declaration.

Minute

You can download a draft contract of purchase and sale with a ".doc" (Word) format to your computer .
Sign and non-compliance

The signal is an ancillary clause of the contract. This is a cash amount to be delivered on the date of signing the contract, when included in this contract.
Failure to comply with written agreement has its consequences .
If the promising buyer defaults, the other contractor (the promising seller) can keep the signal.
If there is a breach from the promiscuous seller, the promissory-buyer may require the signal to be doubled.
When both parties are in breach of the contract, the solution must pass through the restitution of the signal in simple.
Real Efficacy

The law allows that the promise of purchase and sale can be given greater effectiveness, reaching third parties, not just the two parties, which is referred to as actual effectiveness. This efficacy must appear in a public deed and be registered.
With it, the promising buyer earns a real right of acquisition over the property in question, regardless of who the owner is to date.
Care to be taken before signing the contract promise to buy and sell

• Include the complete identification of the parties to the contract, the identification of the object of the contract (most often a property), the housing license, the value of the signal, the amount of the reinforcements and the timing of the payments;
• include the maximum period for the conclusion of the final contract;
• include a clause that deters the buyer from responding to charges relating to the property, such as liens or mortgages;
• ensure that the credit has been approved;
• if there is a condominium, ask the seller for the latest minutes of the condominium meetings.