Buying a House in Italy: First Steps…
Have you ever dreamed about buying a house in Italy?
Have you wistfully perused estate agents’ windows whilst on holiday?
Have you seen pictures of renovations and said to yourself ‘I could do that!’?
If the answer is a resounding ‘yes’, this post is for you.
Follow our exciting journey into buying a house in Italy.
It might just be the start of a new adventure for you.
This stem of Orchids to Olives is a joint venture, so whilst much of the voice behind the rest of the website is mine (Jenny); the stories here will come from both myself and my partner Scott.
Therefore, I thought I would be kind enough to let Scott introduce it…
“Ciao! I have long since dreamt, or rather known, from a young age that I was not destined to spend my entire life in the UK. Having been no stranger to moving around, buying a house abroad felt like the natural step. The climate, culture and lifestyle of Mediterranean countries has always appealed to me, and a chance conversation after dinner one evening with Jenny uncovered a shared dream of living abroad.
I had recently released a small amount of money and I knew that this was one of those things that if I didn’t do right at that moment, I would probably never have the opportunity again. After much searching and considerable lowering of expectations, we decided upon a small townhouse in a sleepy town in the Molise region, one of Italy’s beautiful undiscovered gems.
I suppose the craziest thing is that although Jenny had been to Italy many times, I had never even visited before!!! However, I did know that I wanted a house within a relatively short flight time away from the UK and as soon as I set foot in Italy one bitterly cold February evening in a torrential downpour, with a long list of properties to view, I knew this was the place for me.”
‘The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams’ Eleanor Roosevelt
How did we find our Italian home?
Rightmove Overseas – our search began leisurely one evening, scanning properties far and wide from France, Spain, Slovenia, Portugal and Italy. We gradually zoned in on Italy, amazed by the low prices and stunning locations.
After lots of woweee, I can’t believe it moments, we took a step back and thought about what we actually wanted. Initially, Scott was dead set on big old houses in idyllic rural locations with lots of land. However, as we considered the more realistic bigger picture, we decided it would be much more practical to be based in a town with shops, amenities and transport. We also liked the idea of being part of a community.
We, therefore, began a more defined property search based on the following criteria:
- close to the beach
- in a town
- within two hours of an airport
- transport links
This narrowed the locations down significantly as many locations by the coast were simply out of price range.
However, properties in the neighbouring regions of Molise and Abruzzo (south east Italy) kept reappearing on our Rightmove searches.
They seemed to have it all – a beautiful coastline, scenic towns and stunning countryside.
I figured there must be catch as I couldn’t quite understand why there was such an abundance of properties for sale.
More research ensued…
We learnt that in the last few decades the region has undergone significant depopulation, with many young people moving away for employment; thus resulting in a glut of housing for sale. We also learnt that some towns have become virtual ghost towns, with diminished ageing populations. This did not appeal to us. We knew that we needed to be somewhere with a vibrant community; so our search was slimmed down even further to specific towns.
However, it is really interesting to note, that in the last couple of years, we have learnt that more and more people outside of Italy from countries as far and wide as Canada and Australia are snapping up properties in both Molise and Abruzzo. Villages that only a few years ago had tiny populations, are gradually expanding with an influx of foreign buyers who are keen to take advantage of the low prices and beauty of the region.
One such example is Palmoli, a small hilltop village in Abruzzo – only a decade ago – there were just 3 foreign owners (including our English builder). In the last few years, this has increased to 50 in this small village alone.
Additionally, with the recent onslaught of the pandemic, property agents have noticed a considerable increase of interest in the region. This is being driven both by the sudden change in how people are working and the desire to have a rural retreat. As more people realise that they can work predominantly from home, it makes sense to move away from the expensive cities of the north and live a more relaxed lifestyle in the south. Such is the interest, that some buyers, only able to view by video, are purchasing without even viewing their prospective house in person!
I can’t help but see this as a very exciting time to buy a house in Italy, particularly in these lesser-known regions.
For more on the region, check out my blog post – Molise: Italy’s off the beaten path hidden gem!
So, what began over a late night, wine fuelled meal in late October 2017, ended with a five-day trip to Italy in February 2018 to view several properties in Molise and Abruzzo.
And so, the adventure began!
A Freezing February Trip to Italy
As we stepped off the aeroplane at Abruzzo International Airport in Pescara, we were met by sleet, rain and freezing temperatures. This was not the Italy we had imagined!
Driving down the autostrada in a hire car, Scott experienced his first taste of Italian driving with non-stop rain pelting down, but we were in high spirits.
The rain and sleet did not abate for the whole of our trip.
We had booked to stay in a lovely Airbnb in the small town – Montenero Di Bissacia – the location of which would become where our future house is.
On arrival, late in the evening, we were led by our Airbnb host up a dark winding alley, lugging our suitcases and trying to avoid drenching our shoes in the stream like gush of rainwater making its way down the hillside (we lost that battle).
Despite it being close to 10 pm, we were excited and ready to explore. With umbrellas, we made our way up to the top of the sleepy hilltop town.
We wandered past cafes and shops with their shutters tightly bolted against the wintery weather, and colourful balconied houses, which I imagined would be brimming with geraniums throughout the warmer months.
As we reached the town centre, we smiled. We were met by a heady sense of homely familiarity. The central piazza, so quintessentially Italian and beautifully maintained with evergreen trees and a trickling fountain, welcomed us. The moon was bright, the air fresh and an aura of misty calm hung over the treetops.
We spotted a café on the far side and a geletarie next to it.
We were in Italy and it felt good.
House Viewing in Italy
“Don’t wait. The time will never be just right.”
– Napoleon Hill
We only had a few days and Scott was determined. His ethos was go, see, buy (very male – he’s the same when buying clothes!)
We had a list of viewings lined up on each day. However, to cut a long story short we had pretty much made our mind up by the end of the second day and cancelled all viewings after that.
Perhaps it was fate, who knows, but when we met Monia Di Guilmi of Abruzzo Rural Property in a small café she informed us that the owner, had dropped the price. This was music to our ears.
As we were guided down a narrow walkway in the old part of town, we immediately recognised the house from the pictures, and we became excited. I clutched Scott’s hand and he whispered ‘that’s our house’.
As we viewed the old cold dank rooms that had not been lived in for fifteen years we were met with a barrage of feelings – nervousness, excitement – there was a lot that needed doing, but my it had potential!
As we were led onto the damp roof terrace, we were told that on a clear day you could see the ocean. As I stared at the sky laden with dark grey clouds I found this hard to believe. However, I now know this to be true and we have since spent many sun filled days, gazing out to the distant blue of the ocean.
Scott began to take stock of what would need doing. The first thing he noticed was that although the house appeared to be structurally sound and even had central heating, water was leaking into the terrace room at the rate of knots! That’s 10k euros worth of new roof and scaffolding to you and me, and if fate had lent a hand again, I would say thank goodness it was raining because had it not we would not have noticed the leaky roof…
Potential…. 
Potential…
Buying our Italian House in Molise
I’ll begin by saying that process of buying the house, from start to finish was made very easy by using Abruzzo Rural Property. The owner, Monia Di Guilmi, guided us through the process seamlessly in perfect English and put us in touch with everyone we needed. She delivers a thoroughly professional and friendly service, and any questions that we had were answered promptly. We cannot recommend her enough.
The whole process took two months! A far cry from the Italian bureaucracy we had read so much about.
In brief, here’s what happened after we returned to England:
A Quick Overview of Buying Our Italian House
1.Quotes for rewiring and a new roof – Abruzzo Rural Property recommended two building companies that we sought quotes from. We decided on the Abruzzo Building Company – an English builder who has lived in Italy for several years (He later became our go to for all questions building related – sorry Craig!)
2. We were given a breakdown of all costs (including the Notary fee, purchase taxes, registration fees, legal taxes and IVA (VAT).
3. We put in our offer, which was accepted.
4. We registered for a Codice Fiscale (Italian tax code).
5. Preliminary contracts were raised (you pay 10% of the deposit to the owner. If the owner later pulls out, they must give you double back and if you pull out you lose your deposit).
6. A Structural Survey was carried out by a Geometra (similar to a surveyor but with a greater range of job roles), and approval in the form of an SCIA from the local commune was granted for roofing repairs and scaffolding.
6. May 11th, 2019, we popped over to Italy for two days and contracts were signed at the Notaries.
Wahoo! And I hasten to add the sun was glorious, and the view from the Notaires’ office over the crystal clear Adriatic ocean felt like something out of a Hollywood movie 🙂
And that, we learnt was the easy part…the joy (and challenge) of making the house into a home, was yet to come…!
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Are you thinking of buying a house in Italy?
We’re not going to tell you either how or what to do, as you can find hundreds of websites with that information!
However, here are a few points to consider from our personal experience:
- Who to use – Rightmove overseas & Gate away are a good first port of call and once you’ve decided on a region, it may be prudent to then source a locally based property company who has that invaluable local knowledge. If you’re looking in the Abruzzo/Molise region, we used Abruzzo Rural Property and we cannot recommend them enough. We were guided through the whole process – an excellent, professional, friendly service.
- What’s your budget? Double it and you might be somewhere close. This post hasn’t touched on the costs of doing up your Italian house (more of this later). However, even if you’re doing much of the work yourself (which we are), materials and equipment aren’t cheap in Italy. Furthermore, as you get to know your property you may inevitably expand on your original ideas which obviously come at a price.
- What’s your nearest airport? A 3-hour drive to your nest egg may seem exciting and adventurous at first but quickly wanes when you have stuff to do and are against the clock.
- Don’t expect to get a mortgage from an English bank, or an Italian one for that matter. If you haven’t got the cash, then no dice.
- View your home – absolutely view your potential home and do not put your faith in photographs! What’s more if you fall in love with a place whilst looking at photographs, then you’ll need a cold shower before you view to offset the rose-tinted glasses. My advice would be to view your property in the worst conditions you can. Remember everywhere looks sublime when the sun is shining!
- Don’t forget the additional purchase costs and the cost of a Geometra, who must inspect your property for any structural work.
- Language, language, language – unless you’re in Rome or a popular tourist destination don’t expect folk to speak English, it is Italy after all.
“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbour, catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” — Mark Twain
So, are you yearning for your own slice of la dolce vita?
Any questions, please do ask?
Did you buy a house in Italy? We’d love to hear about your experiences in the comments below!