11485 purchasing in italy

For my 2 cents worth, dont try getting a mortgage in Italy - you will need more paperwork than you ever thought possible. Try Barclays - they have lots of branches in Italy now. For UK lawyers, me experiences have been largely negative - especially with one of the major players, and I advise my clients that in a straighforward sale a UK lawyer really isnt necessary. It depends where you're buying, but if you can find a local guy who speaks English it will be cheaper.

We have a great lawyer here in le marche, she is italian but speaks english - happy to pass over her details if you send me a private message and email address. With regard to mortgages, it seems from many of our clients, that Banca Woolwich are doing a good job, especially in this current economic climate. Where are you thinking of buying?

We used the Banca di Roma for our mortgage and found them easy to deal with, helpful, and a good rate. They also make sure we come in and talk about any way they can save us money. Our only income is a pension, and they were quite happy to lend us money to purchase our property over 25 years. The bank manager tries out his English on us and we reply in our Italian. He also came to the notary when we were buying the property to legally guarantee that we had a mortgage and that they were good for the money, and all this for free!

Banca Woolwich (Barlays) is a decent bet, but just because of the British connection, don't expect them to be efficient :no:

Good luck

I did a great deal of mortgage comparison shopping in Italy and I can tell you that the Milan "stranieri" branch of Woolwich charges a full percentage point more on any given mortgage than any of their other Italian branches. I assume this is because they provide the application and supporting docs in English and they have an English speaking support staff. Other than that it's exactly the same product. I found that regional Woolwich branches have very good rates without the stranieri surcharge, though none of the bankers I communicated with spoke English.

It's always very difficult to make any recommendation, as every one has very different experiences - some good, some bad. I'd hate to say how good xyz was and then some months later be told that my recommendation had led to the worst experience ever. This regretably has happened to me in reverse.

I'll be careful what I say and not name names, but I suggest you read as much as you can on certain banks that are making the headlines right now, as I think you'd like your future to be more certain than theirs.

Good luck.

Russ

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sometimes it depends on the individual contacts ... whereabouts are you buying...?