182 Books on buying in Italy

I have four such books at home - will jot down the titles and post up here - those who have used them when moving to Italy might take the time to rate the books?

Best of the bunch is probably Buying a House in Italy: Where and How to Do It by C. Gordon Neale. It's very informative and easy to read and/or dip into.

Most books that cover the subject are either called the complete or the definitive guide to buying and restoring properties in Italy.

I would say that whilst they do provide some very useful tips on what to look out for, they tend to be somewhat lacking when it comes focusing on the core issues. For example, I have yet to see a book that is precise when it comes to explaining what you need to know about the proposta d’acquisto (which becomes legally binding once the vendor accepts your offer) or the contratto preliminare (compromesso). I have noticed a number of inconsistencies in this area, with some chapters and paragraphs bordering on the complete nonsense. For example, in one book I read that the compromesso is considered to be more important than the final contract. This happens to be incorrect. The contratto preliminare is a final contract!

Another much overlooked aspect is the deposit or caparra. Whilst the books tell you that you can expect to pay between x and y and that you can lose your deposit etc, they don’t explain the differences between the caparra confermatoria and the caparra penitenziale, both important contractual terms with far reaching consequences in the event of breach of contract.

Taxes, duties, professional fees and renovation costs tend not to be covered in any detail, but this is to be expected because it is virtually impossible to establish, a priori, what they are with any accuracy.

Books like these can provide you with broad guidelines, but don’t over rely on them because they don’t give you all of the relevant facts.

"Buying a home in Italy" by David Hampshire is OK and detailed and "Going to Live in Italy" is really good for learning how to write a cheque and how to decipher your phone bill.

Generally though, they can only ever be a guide as none of them are complete in their information and things vary so much from comune to comune.

Even here in Marche, our friend's experience of getting residency was very different to our own - different comune.

Agree with comments in all the previous posts. All these books are interesting to read and you learn some useful information from them but they will never be the perfect answer.
Every ones experience is different due to a thousand different things!
We generally found that everything was easier than ALL the books we read led us to believe!

AnnieT
You've probably already found your book, but I managed to get 3 of them out of our local library. I know for certain that the south glos/ bristol libraries have them even if they have to order from another branch.
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[QUOTE=Stribs]AnnieT
You've probably already found your book, but I managed to get 3 of them out of our local library. I know for certain that the south glos/ bristol libraries have them even if they have to order from another branch.
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Thank you for this. I have two of these books and after having read them I agree with Charles. They are useful as a general guide to the process and to emphasise the differences between house purchase here and in Italy (more ways to do it), however, forewarned is forearmed. I have found this forum to be far more helpful if only to emphasise that each house purchase is unique. So many thanks to all contributers. :)