Buying/Living in Italy: please share your tips

[SundaySunshine]

I'm considering buying a cheap property in Italy to do up as a family holiday home. Not sure whether to go for a small bolt hole, or larger place which could have B&B business potential. What sort of things do I need to consider? Has anyone had similar experience? I've got two DC 6&2, and would love for them to learn the language (I don't speak the lingo yet, but am willing and able to learn). Thanks

I worked in Italy (Perugia) for a few years.
Running a business can be a nightmare as the bureaucracy and red tape is beyond belief. In my opinion stay away from anything that will take you into contact with it.
Which region are you attracted by.

I have a lot of family in Italy several of whom offer holiday lets etc - they live in a very famous area visited by a lot of tourists and they struggle to find clients. It's a very crowded marketplace as a lot of Italians have branched out into this during the recession. If you want a bolthole, go ahead, but be aware that asking prices in Italy are often very unrealistic and many places will have been on the market for years waiting for a gullible buyer. It is very difficult to appraise the "true" price without good local knowledge.

Thanks both. Yes I thought the bureaucracy might be troublesome, but having read a couple of books which put a positive spin on things, I thought I'd canvass opinions of real people with experience (good old mumsnet!). So that's good to know. I'm thinking of the Abruzzo/ Molise region, as we have historical family links to the region, and at present seems less developed in tourism than its more world famous neighbours. I'd like to have the opportunity to live there for a while, hense the thoughts of B&B, but a bolt hole would be good if that wasn't feasible. I know you can pick up 'restoration' projects very cheaply, but I guess the cost of refurbishing these would be a much greater cost - though I'd love to hear from people who gave had experience in this sort of thing.
Hmmm lots to ponder on. Thanks

We stayed in Umbria last summer on an organic farm with rental cottages owned by a British family who has been living in Italy for several years. I asked them how business had been these past few years, since the recession began (a recession which Italy is still in the depths of). What they said was that there are still plenty of Brits wanting to holiday in Italy and that they had weathered the financial storm pretty full, because their clients were British, but that Italians with similar agriturismo-type businesses were really struggling.

However, since you're thinking of buying in an area that isn't well know by tourists I think you need to make sure you're within reasonable striking distance of a) an airport and b) places that tourists would want to visit. A good website would also be a bonus, although with the growth of sites like ownersdirect, homeaway and vrbo you could probably manage without.

I've also lived and worked in Italy and found the bureaucracy painful. As a Brit I found it impossible to open a bank account or get a mobile phone on contract, but things might have changed since 2000. Things in Italy don't change quickly though, so it wouldn't surprise me if it was still as hard as ever to get anything done. You should learn to speak Italian too, since the area you're interested in is not going to be crawling with English speakers in the way that Tuscany would be.

P.S. When I said 'an airport', what I meant is an airport with direct flights to the UK - and preferably from more than one UK airport. Since from a quick glance at the map I can't see any cities that meet those criteria in either Abruzzo or Molise it could be a hard sell as a holiday business. I'm guessing your potential guests would need to fly to Rome, Naples or Bari, but all would then involve a long drive and that would put a lot of people off.

Just FYI, Puglia is an up-and-coming holiday destination for Brits. Its still nowhere near as popular as the perennial favourites of Tuscany and Umbria, but it is gaining in popularity. Plus, it has Bari as a gateway airport.

OP,
How often have you driven to your chosen area. I live in Luxembourg and at 1400k it might need an overnight stop. From the UK it is a long, long slog. This is fine if you go for family holidays of a few weeks at a time. Otherwise you need to fly then connect to your house by Taxi. That can be very unfunny......and expensive.
If your your historical family links are from the 1940's your family will tell you little has changed in that area since then.

Hi OP. English isn't widely spoken in Molise or Abruzzo so to get anything at all sorted, you'll need to speak Italian or know a local...or ideally, both. You can pick up a cheap renovation in rural areas, but costs to fix it up can often be more than double the price of the property and there's lots of restrictions. I have a property on the boarder of Molise and Puglia. The area is a tourist's dream, but there's hardly any way to get there, so there are no tourists. And, like any rural town anywhere in the world, the locals didn't exactly embrace me at first. It look several years and a good knowledge of Italian to get myself established. It was worth it in the end, but it's not for the fainthearted.

Consider being max 1 hour drive to a big airport. Umbria is fabulous, really easy to drive to Rome Fuimicino or Ciampino. There are some beautiful properties, including palazzi, and proper small town life, with Summer festivals. Much easier for family holidays and/or B&B than Molisses, Abrugges etc. In Umbria you are guaranteed the amazing Summer weather, but it is not corrupt, people can be very kind.

Property in Molise/Abruzzo/Puglia will be as cheap as chips compared to anywhere on the known tourist slog. But after that you will need serious money. Italy has phenomenally high utility bills, local taxes, etc.
If you were considering any of these regions, you're fine for airports with direct Ryanair and EasyJet flights, but do some research into the German market as they will drive down and keep you going out of season.

I would recommend Puglia as an area to consider. Especially for the future. My friend has a house which she rents out and it's always full. Easyjet flights to Bari? Lovely beaches. They have had a lot of problems in the past - like the whole village hooking up to their water supply but it's been worth it apparently. Goes without saying it helps to speak the language.

Be careful of the tax situation. It's a nightmare, as other PP have said.

The "tassa di registro", a sort of stamp duty, is paid in full on the first property you buy, and then increases in instalments as you move up the property ladder. It's one of the reasons young people live with their parents for so long.

There are different levels of buyer's tax, council tax and utilities according to whether this is your first or second house. If you declare it is your first house you have to officially move to Italy within 1 year of buying (not your case, I think). If you're not there when the police knock on your door to check, everything grinds to a halt and can get very messy.

Also I would advise you to buy your property as an individual, then register as a business once the house is renovated. You would then avoid the trap that businesses pay a blanket tax even if they aren't making a profit.

Finally, estate agents regularly take 3% plus VAT as commission.

Sorry I can't do clicky links, but if you go to justlanded.com and search for "Italy/property" there's some good information.