Do foreigners need a local guarantor to rent ?

This is an example of what requirements many landlords are asking, which appear very unreasonable and even abusive (not to say discriminatory....) for just an average, old apartment with performance energetic 'D' (so not that good) on the outskirts of Lisbon. 1 200 Euros/month. I would definitely avoid those types of landlords.
'Rental Conditions:
Amount of 4 rents upon signing the contract (1 month rent plus 3 months deposit)
guarantors
Presentation of IRS (tenants and guarantor)
3 last salary receipts (from tenants and guarantor)
Schedule your visit to me.'
-@juliajonesjy

This is NOT unreasonable to ask for 1 month rent plus 3 months deposit. This is the norm in pretty much every European country. Asking for a guarantor is often when a landlord has been screwed offer in the past.
-@SimCityAT

I fully agree. Guarantor is also needed if the tenant is without income (e.g. a student) and then usually the parents step in as guarantors.

However, I have never been asked for a guarantor as I always had income or money.

I understand but tenants 'get screwed' too sometimes too when they are stuck in a 'dump' with a fuse box that goes off all the time, a noisy place with no heater and in an energetic drainer..... And they are forced to rent what's available because there is nothing else, so out of desperation.

@juliajonesjy this is the norm.

@juliajonesjy yes, you were very lucky. The law in Portugal protects the tenant, not the landlord. Landlords often have their houses occupied with tenants that don't pay and ruin the property, so they need to be sure tenants have the financial means to pay rent for the length of the contract and in case of no guarantor, they pay several months in advance. Plus, regardless of having the rent paid, they need to pay high monthly taxes on the rent amount, plus yearly property taxes. That's why the market is scarce and rents are high.

@frgomes Hi, could you please share the details of your rental if its a T1 or a T2 and in which area its located and the expected rent as i am looking for a long term rental starting 1st August 2023 and kind of in a hurry

@GuestPoster316  I remember exactly that being our situation in December 2021 when we arrived in Portugal - the rental market was very scarce, lots of days off when nobody would show us any apartments, and we had no place to move to from our short-term rental, so we took the first offer that would have us. Which proved to be a hell-hole - extreme noise of all kinds day and night (neighbours, college across the road, cars, etc.), and extremely poor energy rating - we ended up paying huge sums for the gas although we only heated two of the bedrooms. Fortunately we were able to convince the landlord to let us go after 6 months (of a 3-year contract), only to have her then refuse to return the deposit so we were forced to take her to court.

We got our money back and found a much better apartment, but I am not going to forget those first 6 months in Portugal...

@suraj_pt Go to Idealista, that's where we found all the apartments we looked at. Avoid private deals.

@ctomac problem is that they expect us to talk in Portugese language which I still do not know and they disconnect the call as soon as they here me enquiring in English

@suraj_pt,

Simply because you are contacting private ads, and many people don't speak english.... At idealista you have private ads and ads placed there by real estate agencies.

And another important thing: there have been many and very bad experiences with people from your country, because after renting, they overrent the house to N people. This is certainly not your case, but be aware of that...

@JohnnyPT definitely not going the N route.... How do I find the option to filter out only real estate agency ads, which could help me find a home with my English language and without a guarantor as well since I just arrived and do not have anyone who could be one

Without guarantor is possible although difficult, but you may be required to pay 6 months rent as a guarantee...

As far as I know, you can't filter it on the Idealista website. You have to look at the photos ad, if it has the logo of a real estate company (Remax, Era, Century21, etc. ....) then it is placed by a real estate company. If it doesn't, it is from a private person.