PortugalSherlock’s Terms and Conditions
These are the applicable rules to the usage of the services provided by Sherlock on its Site. Read carefully, they will define your relationship with Sherlock, but they are simple.
Jointly, these rules are called Terms and Conditions and constitute the contract applicable to the relationship between Sherlock and YOU: as the person who visits the Site or uses the Services available here.
By visiting the Site or using the services, you declare to have read, understood and fully accepted these Terms and Conditions, as consisting of the foregoing text and the following rules.
1. Before we start: How Sherlock Services’ contractual process work.
Sherlock is a real estate brokerage firm that provides its mediation services to users who want to sell their property.Real Estate Brokerage Services are the main services.
In addition, Sherlock also provides Secondary Services: Free Valuations Service, Document Storage Service and Communication Services.
In order to access Sherlock’s mediation Services, there is a contractual path that starts with the registration. If you go as fast as Sherlock, we'll can start in a week*!
The contractual path consists of 7 necessary steps:
- Before the first step: read the Terms and Conditions. In addition to this section, you will find below the specific rules of the Real Estate Service that will apply to your use. In addiction to this specific section and because when using the Service or Secondary Services, more rules are applicable, you must read this entire text and the Privacy and Cookie Policy .
- First step: registration. You start by filling out an online application and creating an account with us. You can do it here and it's entirely free.
- Second step: Restricted Area access and account creation. You will have an area of the Site to which only you have access, through the use of credentials you received after registration (the “Restricted Area”). Your account is personal and non-transferable. As the only account holder, you are solely responsible for acts performed through this Site area.
- Third step: the visit. With the account created, a visit is scheduled to be made by one of our agents to the property to be sold, with a meeting with you to know your interest and will.
- Forth step: information. Property documents are collected.
- Fifth step: the contract. The real estate mediation agreement is concluded. You can find the draft and sign it here. Once this agreement is signed, you become officially a Sherlock Client. **
- Sixth step: photos and 3D. Photos will be taken (up to a maximum of fifteen photos – additional photos will be charged separately) and a 3D mapping of the property will be done (for a maximum of 8 rooms).
- Seventh step: The ad, it’s official. After the previous steps, we are able to enter your property on our Site (and other portals or websites, in Portugal or abroad, in order to increase the visibility of the property). ***
* We are referring to an average period. This does not mean that this is the maximum time, nor that Sherlock shall or promises to conclude such mediation agreement with the User. Each of the steps described above is only completed with Sherlock's agreement.
** If the Client wishes to announce more than one property, he must enter into a mediation agreement for each property.
*** The ad remains available for an indefinite period and for as long as Client and Sherlock maintain a valid and enforceable mediation agreement in place.
Sherlock may unilaterally resolve the mediation agreement with the Client and remove the ad from the Site, should Sherlock decide that the property has been announced for a reasonable period and that there is no legitimate expectation of a transaction anytime soon.
The property is yours, the ad belongs to Sherlock.
Sherlock is the sole responsible for the development, administration and maintenance of the Site and its content. In this context, the ads are prepared exclusively by Sherlock.
Sherlock retains proprietary rights over all information and intellectual works displayed on the Site, including (without limitation) photographs and 3D models, and is entitled to change, rearrange or modify the advertisement at any time.
The Client may request the inclusion of property-specific information, images or highlights to increase Visitor’s attention. Where you do so, you are solely responsible for any damages arising from the information as amended by you.
Protect your account and help Sherlock enforce it whenever you suspect someone's using it for you. By accepting these Terms and Conditions, the User acknowledges and agrees that it’s his sole duty to keep passwords secret and confidential and undertakes to prevent unauthorized use of his Restricted Area and assume sole responsibility for acts performed in that area.
If the User is aware of or suspects that someone has accessed to his Restricted Area without permission, he is obliged to immediately inform Sherlock through the available Communication Services.
You can cancel at any time.
You may request at any time the cancellation of your account on the Site. If you’re a Client, cancellation does not entitle the refund of any amounts already paid to Sherlock for services provided under the mediation agreement signed with Client.
As for the written real estate mediation contract. Pursuant to Portuguese law, the Client is entitled to freely terminate, without just cause, the contract within 14 days from the date of completion of the online contracting procedure on the Site. To exercise the right of resolution, the Client shall transmit the resolution decision by sending to Sherlock an e-mail to ola@sherlockhomes.pt or by registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt to the following address: Sherlock, Second Home, Ribeira Market, Floor 1, Av. 24 de Julho, 1200-479, Lisbon. Client's right of withdrawal will expire after 14 days, counted from the first calendar day immediately following the date on which online hiring, on the Site, has been completed.
If the Client exercises the right of resolution after Sherlock announces his property on the Site, Sherlock will immediately cancel the ad, after receiving its resolution communication.
And Sherlock may be obliged to do it, too.
In addition to cases in which the User cancels his account, Sherlock may also suspend or cancel your account in compliance with an administrative or judicial order, or where the User:
- Violate these Terms and Conditions, in particular, by breaching or omitting obligations or duties arising therefrom, or allowing their violation or omission by third parties;
- Assign his contractual position to third parties without the prior written consent of Sherlock;
- Otherwise act in a way that causes or potentially damages Sherlock, other Users, Clients or third parties, including potential buyers, as Sherlock's may consider in its sole discretion.
Account suspension or cancellation does not entitle Clients to reimbursement of any sums already paid to Sherlock for services provided under any signed mediation agreement, nor does it exempt Client from paying a compensation to Sherlock as result of damages.
2. Real Estate Brokerage Services
Real Estate Brokerage Services come in two packages according to your choice: Sherlock and Sherlock Plus. Both packages include:
- The provision of real estate brokerage services;
- Photographs and 3D mapping of Client's property;
- Listing of real estate on the site;
- Negotiation mediation, by distance and presential, the latter only when necessary. The Sherlock Plus Service includes more services:
- Collection and organization of legal documentation of the property on behalf of the Client;
- Conducting visits by our Agent on behalf of the Client.
The services included in Real Estate Services have some rules that should be known.
- The provision of real estate services corresponds to what is legally foreseen and good market practices, tendentially being executed by distance, including documentary support as described in the following paragraph;
- Notwithstanding the following paragraph, the costs and expenses incurred by Sherlock on Customer's behalf in obtaining documents (including fees paid to public or private entities for obtaining such documents) will be charged separately to Customer, subject to Customer's justification relevance of such costs and expenses;
- In the case of an energy certificate for the property, the Customer pays the costs directly to the company conducting the energy valuation of the property, and under no circumstances can Sherlock be liable for the delivery, or lack thereof, of any consideration receivable from the company that conducts the property evaluate the property;
- The photographs included in the package correspond to a maximum of thirty (30), per property, above this limit Client shall pay the price of one hundred euros (€ 100.00) plus VAT, for each group of up to 30 additional photos, per property – this additional payment is paid in advance and without possibility of refund;
- 3D mapping is limited to a maximum of 10 divisions per property, above this limit Client shall pay the price of two hundred euros (€ 200.00) plus VAT for each group of up to five (5) additional divisions per property – this additional payment is paid in advance and without possibility of refund;
- Negotiation mediation is always performed by distance, without prejudice to the following point;
- Presential negotiation mediation is subject to a limit of two (2) hours per property and shall only take place when (i) Sherlock understands that negotiation by distance is not sufficient to reach an agreement between Client and buyer, and (ii) Sherlock considers that presential assisted negotiation will enable the agreement between Client and buyer to be reached.
Real Estate Brokerage Services are remunerated on a flat fee basis.
For Sherlock service we charge a flat fee of € 3,999.00 (three thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine euros), which already includes VAT.
For the Sherlock Plus service, we charge € 4,999.00 (four thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine euros), which also includes VAT.
The fees are paid to Sherlock only after we have found a Buyer, particularly at the time Client signs a promissory purchase or sale agreement for the advertised property. The fee is paid by the Client in full, immediately after the execution of the promissory contract, regardless of the actual execution of the definitive contract.
Sit down and let Sherlock handle the business for you.
Client acknowledges and accepts that all communications with potential buyers are conducted or directed by Sherlock and that he must not contact prospective buyers directly.
The Client is expressly prohibited from seeking to conclude a property deal with a potential buyer raised by Sherlock, without Sherlock’s knowledge and intervention.
Keep Sherlock (well) informed. Sherlock must be informed at all time, being Sherlock who communicates with interested or potential buyers.
Thus, the Client undertakes to promptly communicate any changes to the information previously provided regarding the property and its ownership, as well as any events that are relevant to the property transmission.
Client further acknowledges and accepts that Sherlock does not verify the potential purchaser's ability and legitimacy to enter the necessary business negotiations with Client. Thus, the Client undertakes to verify this capacity and legitimacy; and to report it to Sherlock immediately whenever it suspects, or is certain of, any insufficiency he may have in fulfilling this obligation.
In visits to your property, do welcome those interested in buying.
Client allows property visits by potential buyers.
During the visits, Client undertakes to respect the reasonable instructions given by the Sherlock team.
Whenever the Client or other person is residing in the property for sale, Client undertakes to make available to Sherlock, in their best efforts, the availability for future visits.
Whenever Client is present during the visits, Client undertakes to cordially treat the interested buyers, receiving and answering all questions posed during the visits in this way, not expressing, except in agreement with the interested, any opinion or subjective appreciation of any theme not related with the property purchasing.
Sherlock is not responsible for the behavior of those who visit the property.
Client undertakes to ensure that the property and its contents are position in order to prevent damage or losses in the visits to be made.
When the Client is not present on such visits and without prejudice to liability in the event of willful misconduct, Sherlock shall not be held liable for any damage, loss, destruction, theft or theft occurred during the visits, even if they were conducted solely by a Sherlock agent.
In order to use these Services, you warrant that you can sell the property and that you will behave reasonably and in good faith during the negotiation process.
By using this Service, Client warrants that:
- He is the rightful owner of the property to advertise on the Site, or that he can legally act on behalf and representation of the true owner and at his own discretion;
- He accepts the price agreed with Sherlock and will not change it unilaterally after the sale on the Site is announced;
- Any property information, images or highlights requested by Customer for publication in the advertisement are true, accurate and do not involve any misleading information about the property or its characteristics;
- Informs anyone concerned, as well as authorities or courts, that the information available about the property for sale is product of his own authorship and responsibility.
Sherlock's agreement is between you and Sherlock, only.
Client is prohibited from assigning or otherwise transferring its contractual position to third parties without the prior written consent of Sherlock.
3. Valuation Services
Sherlock offers you two valuation services: Information Request and Sherlock Valuation.
The Information Request is a trial version of the Sherlock Valuation Service. This service offers you a simple price estimate on the property you want to sell.
The Sherlock Valuation Service is comprised of two versions: one partial, available to Users after their registration as such on the Site, and one complete, available only to Clients and as long as they maintain this contractual quality.
These are free information services offered by Sherlock to any User.
Because these are free services, User is not entitled to any compensation for damage or loss arising from the use of the information resulting from it.
The Sherlock Valuation Service is only available from the moment the User registers as a user on the Site. The User will have access to more features of this Service, as provided herein and permitted, after contracting one of the Real Estate Brokerage Services.
As a result of using these Services, User shall receive, whenever Sherlock decides to respond, a document containing information or an evaluation report. Without prejudice to the ownership of the intellectual property reproduced therein, the delivered document becomes the property of the User and Sherlock.
Sherlock may choose not to respond to requests for information or valuation, or to stop doing so in the future.
For any reason it deems appropriate or for cancellation of these Services, Sherlock may decide not to respond or stop responding to requests for information.
You acknowledge and agree that you are not entitled to any compensation or compensation based on Sherlock's failure to respond.
The information offered on these Services is the result of an evaluation based on the offers available in the market.
As such, Sherlock does not represent nor warrant that it will be able to provide you with information necessary to clarify any doubt as to the existence or content of real estate rights or other rights related thereto; and the User acknowledges that does not consider Sherlock to be able to do so.
Furthermore, Sherlock assumes no legal duty or obligation to provide the information subject to this agreement, nor is it responsible for the information it provides.
The valuation is also based on statistical data processing and proposals price virtual corrections.
As such, Sherlock does not guarantee that the values resulting from the valuation are to be verified in actual transactions.
Nor does it guarantee that the User will obtain a sale for any of these amounts; nor that it should represent the real market value of a property with the same characteristics as the ones to be provided by the user.
Underlying these Services is a software.
These Terms and Conditions do not operate the transfer of any rights in the software underlying the Services, or any element thereof.
Except as expressly provided in these Terms and Conditions, Sherlock does not grant you licenses or any other rights to intellectual property accessible in response to your request for information through the Service.
4. Document Storage Services
Sherlock stores copies of your business-related documents for an easier negotiation process management. But they are forever yours.
All documents or information provided by the User to Sherlock are owned by the User and are used solely for the purpose of executing the contract under which they were delivered to Sherlock and are stored only for the period necessary to do so, to comply with Sherlock legal obligations or to resolve conflicts to which Sherlock may be a party of.
Sherlock does not undertake to make back-up of documents or information (other than personal data), nor does it guarantee that they cannot be accessed, disclosed, altered or destroyed in violation of any of its physical or digital protections. For this reason, the User undertakes to keep the originals of the documents given to Sherlock for storage, as well as copies, for replacement and new storage, in order to prevent their loss, destruction or alteration.
The User represents and warrants that he is the real owner of the delivered documents or, if not, has the power to deliver it and allow their use by Sherlock, as consented to in these Terms and Conditions.
By assigning your documents you also allow Sherlock to use them in your best interest or in accordance with your instructions as given through the Site.
Sherlock may, as the User so consents, make copies, reproductions, adaptations and other uses to the documents provided by it.
User consent to the use of the documents covers usage performed by third parties with whom Sherlock has a contract to do so, respecting your interest.
You represent and warrant that the content of the documents or information you give to Sherlock is true, does not violate the Law, nor the rights or interests of Sherlock or any third party.
5. Communication Services
You may contact Sherlock through the Site, mail or telephone, as well as other third party users or customers through the Site.
The User has at his disposal the following means of contact (the “Communication Services”):
- Online chat tool on the site - “Homes”;
- Online forms;
- Email Address - ola@sherlockhomes.pt;
- Telephone call - +351 210 200 500. About Homes:
- It is an online chat tool available on the Site;
- Underlying Homes is third party software (Intercom) as the site's online chat tool;
- Sherlock makes no representation or warranty that Homes will continue to operate uninterrupted, durable or without fail - it is the User's responsibility to verify that the Service is functional.
Sherlock responds as soon as possible, never after a day.
Upon sending a message or request for contact by the User, Sherlock responds within 24 hours, unless it is impossible or very difficult to do so for any justified reason.
We will not post what you share with Sherlock without your permission.
Nothing you share with Sherlock through the Communication Services will be shared on the Site or any other platform without your express consent.
What you write, say or share is your sole responsibility. You must be especially careful about your use of the Services when communicating with others.
You are solely responsible for the content of the messages you send and the calls you make, ensuring that their content complies with applicable laws and regulations, especially those related to public order and ethics, with respect for respect for human dignity, rights gender equality, children's rights, freedom and property of others, pluralism of thought and opinion and, in general, decency.
In the written Communication Services, the following may not be sent by the User: a) of violent or pornographic content or that may be considered as offense to morals and public order or in violation of any legal provision in force in the national or community law; b) knowingly introducing viruses, or any other material with potential to damage the Site or its contents. Further, you represent and warrant that you will leave Sherlock unharmed of any liability resulting from the content you communicate.
6. About Use of the Site
The site's content – data, images, information and more – belongs to Sherlock. Except as permitted in these Terms and Conditions regarding Real Estate Brokerage Services, use of the Site is exclusively permitted for non-commercial purposes. It is considered as non-commercial purpose sharing links of the property page by the Client; this divulgation is only allowed if the Client does not change elements on the page, or introduce new elements, in the act of sharing.
Any use of the Site not permitted by these Terms and Conditions must be subject to prior authorization by Sherlock.
You may use the Communication Services to obtain authorization. Unauthorized use of the Site's data and data structure constitutes the practice of civil and criminal offenses and the agent shall be prosecuted.
7. About these Terms and Conditions
These are the only rules regarding the Sherlock Service agreed between Sherlock and you. These Terms and Conditions constitute the sole and entire agreement between Sherlock and the User for visiting the Site and using the Services.
This Agreement may be changed by Sherlock.
These Terms and Conditions may be changed unilaterally by Sherlock. If the User does not agree with the current version of these Terms and Conditions, he must visit the Site, leave, or cease to use any of its Services.
The applicable law is Portuguese, and the competent court is the Court of Lisbon.
For any dispute arising from this contractual relationship the parties designate, as competent, the Court of Lisbon, with express waiving of all others.The original and prevalent version of these Terms and Conditions is written in Portuguese.
Sherlock has sought to use simple and clear language in order to more effectively communicate the rules that make up these Terms and Conditions, but has done so only in Portuguese.
If the User does not understand Portuguese, he obliges himself to translate the Portuguese Terms and Conditions into his own language or to find a translator for such purpose.
Any versions of these Terms and Conditions other than Portuguese, including those provided by Sherlock, should not be considered as a reliable version of it.