---
title: "Rex McIntosh — Founder & Editor, Ultimate Portugal"
description: "Rex McIntosh moved from renting to buying a home in Oeiras after relocating to Portugal with his wife and three children in 2022. He writes Ultimate Portugal from the far side of the paperwork."
url: "https://ultimateportugal.com/authors/rex-mcintosh"
author: "Rex McIntosh"
author_role: "Founder & Editor, Ultimate Portugal"
author_url: "https://ultimateportugal.com/authors/rex-mcintosh"
publisher: "Ultimate Portugal"
license: "Free to read and quote with attribution to Ultimate Portugal."
home_location: "Oeiras, Lisbon District, Portugal"
---

# Rex McIntosh — Founder & Editor, Ultimate Portugal

## In short

Rex McIntosh moved from renting to buying a home in Oeiras after relocating to Portugal with his wife and three children in 2022. He writes Ultimate Portugal from the far side of the paperwork. Moved to Portugal in 2022. Lives in Oeiras.

## Background

I moved to Portugal in 2022 with my wife and our three kids. We did it the ordinary way: no relocation package, no company sponsoring the visa, no fixer handling the paperwork. Just the two of us, three children, a pile of documents and a lot of guessing.

We rented first, which I would still recommend to almost anyone. Renting bought us a year to learn where we actually wanted to be rather than where the internet said we should want to be. We have since bought a home in Oeiras, just west of Lisbon, and Portugal is where we plan to be for a long time to come.

I have lived the ups and the downs of this. The appointment that gets cancelled the week before. The rule that changed after you already filed. The advice on a forum that was accurate two years ago and is now quietly wrong. The good parts too: the first time the school run feels normal, the first time you handle something in Portuguese without rehearsing it.

That is why this site exists. When we were doing it, the information was scattered, out of date, or written to sell something. I wanted one place that tells you what is actually true right now, says when it was last checked, and does not take money to recommend anyone. Everyone arriving here is on a personal journey, and it is a lot easier when someone who already made the trip left the lights on.

## Writes about, from direct experience

- Moving to Portugal
- Portuguese residency visas
- NIF and Portuguese bureaucracy
- AIMA residency appointments
- Cost of living in Portugal
- Buying and renting property in Portugal
- Living in Oeiras and the Lisbon district

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Ultimate Portugal — https://ultimateportugal.com
HTML version of this page: https://ultimateportugal.com/authors/rex-mcintosh