My Country: are you thinking of buying a house in Italy? Part one.

I am not a very productive blogger for many reasons:
I will never dream of  writing  or twitting  trying to convince you” how to make money on the internet using Twitter , Facebook or anything else”, if I only knew ,sorry, I would keep it  for myself.
I will never write  about things I do not know.
Above all I will write  when I have something  interesting to  write about.

Plus I am not a housewife, I am busy  and time is precious.


So I just come to the point, that is'
 What you should know when you decide to move and buy and house in Italy.
This subject came  up  few months ago, when by pure chance  one of my  rental agencies in UK  send me an email  containing the request of an American gentleman ,who  was  half through the process to buy a house  fairly close to where I live. He was looking for a person who was fluent in English  and eventually was willing to be his house manager.
 I answered him and well… The Hell broke loose”
 Luckily I have been able to help him ( a lawyer , an architect  and many other people were involved in the process since the situation was really a messy one) and save him  from a very messy situation , but the all process, that by the way, will likely end up in a week from now , made me think .
So  after consulting with all the people involved  here I am.
Italy is a beautiful Country  so  I can understand that many people  see it as a dreamland where to spend holiday or retire, but if you want to buy a house here , you will find below some useful tips.
If you have already decided where  you want to stay, come and live in the area for a while, scout the place, ask for all the information you can think of and please if you do not speak the language (“find yourself an independent translator” I can assure you that she/he will be worth any amount you will pay)
What you need to know, depending  on the area:
 Where is the nearest village, are there shops, bank, church, all the thing that you expect to find in a civilized place.
 Weather  How is the weather during the year ( nobody will go to a weather forecaster)  but people who live in the area will be able to tell you many things. Lifestyle. Please ask  away you will find out that many people will be happy to help you.
Estate Agencies , this is going to be the tricky part, many people who already bought a house here, will wonder why I am saying this. If everything went well : either they found the Perfect estate agent or they have been extremely lucky.

Well  the choices can be different : you chose an agency abroad , in this case you must check if they have a subsidiary in Italy, if they know the Italian law about the matter  in short if they know what they are doing ( I am sorry many do not ).
You must also be aware that to be an Estate agent  in Italy you must have   at least   a  school Diploma(  Secondary School Diploma ), be an Italian citizen or if foreigner has to have an Italian regular residency and work  permit , also  she/he have   to take an exam and  be registered  to the Camera di Commercio ( Chamber of Commerce) of the region in which the agent operate, to be a qualified agent, the person has also  to prove that she/he never went bankrupt , that she/he doesn’t have a criminal record and that he/she have never been associated with someone who has a criminal record .. And so on.
To check if your  Estate Agency is regular  you can go to the web site of the Association that gathers  all the regular Estate agents is called F.I.A.I.P (Federazione Italiana  Agenti Immobilari  Professionali) : http://www.fiaip.it/ ( the web site is in Italian but is user friendly,).
There are many good  Foreign agencies who have a subsidiary  in Italy care of an Italian Estate agency ,anyway I strongly advice to check  their credential before you start any business.

I also stress that there are a lot of people who pretend to be what they are not, also again I stress that  should any problem arises, the Italian law recognizes only professional ( this subject only can take hours, but since I do not want to bore you I keep it short) so please keep this in mind.

So now you have found your Estate agent and unless you are in a big town, or in a specific area when people can reasonably expect to speak English  , you will need a translator ( if the estate agency  is a well equipped one, they should be able  to provide  one)

Looking for the right place
I am sure that when you eventually start looking for  the house of your dreams, you must at least  have set a list of your priorities :
Where it should be and what it should have… notwithstanding I   recommend you:
Try not to fall in love at first sight
as the old Burt Bacharach song says when you fall in love …..
” A guy with a pin to burst your bubble
That's what you get for all your trouble..

Absolutely true…

to be continued