A COUPLE has ventured out of the country to a brand-new oceanfront house after they sold their smaller home in the US.

Although the pair, Lee and Janet Zaretsky, were in for a significant change once they moved to Portugal.

Janet planned to retire by the end of 2023 but thought she’d get ahead of the process by purchasing a coastal residence in Portugal, per Business Insider.

The couple bought a house in Nazaré, a city located about 75 miles north of Lisbon.

It’s known to draw in big waves, making it very popular among surfers, and the couple was too excited to get there, so they moved to the oceanside property in January before Janet retired.

She noted two items on their wish list were excellent medical care and an ocean view — which she checked off nicely — especially given that both property and healthcare are cheaper in Portugal than in the United States.

On the medical side of things, Portugal has universal coverage, and it’s financed through taxes and is available to all legal residents at no other additional cost, per information from nonprofit KFF.

Although it was the day-to-day property costs that shocked the Zaretsky couple.

“It’s a very reasonable cost of living,” Janet noted to Business Insider.

She explained that she had lived in California for a decade before moving to Texas, and the cost of an oceanfront home in The Golden State would’ve been astronomical in comparison.

“We could buy an ocean-view house that we couldn’t afford in California,” Janet said.

In fact, the couple actually paid less for their oceanfront home in Portugal than they did for their most recent Texas house.

They told the publication that their previous residence cost $676,000, while the Portugal beachside property was just 600,000 Euros ($657,870).

In the last five years, there has been a rise in Americans emigrating to Portugal for the same reasons as the Zaretskys.

Since 2017, The New York Times reports that the amount of Americans living in Portugal increased by 239 percent.

However, those who plan to move to a European country should know that the prices have been steadily rising, partially due to their retired visa program.

The Golden Visa allowed people to get residency permits by purchasing real estate worth at least 500,000 Euros ($541,125).

With the amount of people moving to Portugal, the cost of housing has risen, and it’s not as affordable as it used to be.

Jack Epner, 42, is originally from Colorado and landed in Portugal in 2020.

His goal was to live in the country and establish himself long-term, but could not afford the housing.

“There were really small places people were asking a lot of money for — two or three times what it would’ve been just months earlier,” he said.

He explains that anyone who wants to come to the country should do thorough research before making that decision because it’s not like it used to be.

“When it comes to looking at Portugal as an affordable place to live or not, it just really comes down to what your lifestyle is,” Bagby said.

“If you live in New York or San Francisco, pretty much anywhere in Portugal is going to be a cost break for you. But people just assume that everywhere in Portugal is really affordable.”