991 New Member on board!

hello, I have been reading the Magazine for a few months now and have only just recently discovered this online forum. An excellent portal for every Italian fan to share views and ideas.

We are going to sicily in a weektime looking for a property to buy in the eastern side of the island. the fact that Ryanair flies twice daily to Palermo for ridicolously cheap fares and that the property market is still very undervalued were the main reasons for us to decide to move there.

This is simply an initial posting to say hallo to you all and if anyone has some ideas on where to start, it would be really welcome! house hunting is daunting enough as it is, imagine how difficult it is going to be for us who have no knowledge whatsoever of either Italian or Sicilian!

Category
Introduce Yourself - Piacere Conoscerti

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 08/03/2005 - 03:45

Welcome aboard, I have no knowledge of the area you propose moving to, BUT, try to read a current book about buying in Italy, AND, remember to take the lovely rose coloured glasses off when being swept around houses by agents. The recommended plan is to find an area you like first, then try to re visit, stay a while and make local contacts, then seek out properties, it's not often possible to do this though, just be careful, strange things can happen in the sunshine :)

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 08/18/2005 - 14:37

sicily was a beautiful island, we found some ideal houses which my wife and I fell in love with, but now the hard bit starts!

WHAT NEXT?! :-)

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 08/18/2005 - 14:41

at what stage do we make an offer and do we need a solicitor to draft this document to make an offer? i was reading in a book about a "prposta irevocabile" but we are not sure how to go about writing this document in Italian!

our estate agent does not speak or write in English either, we hardly understood the prices quoted! at what stage do we need to get the lawyers involved and can anyone suggest a good firm in Sicily or in the UK?

Thank you for your help, we simply feel lost!

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 08/19/2005 - 03:45

Search the posts using the "search" button at top of the page, or I think there is a mamber, called Laura72 who has posted details, open the members list, click laura72, click "all posts by" and you should find the details. It is possible to buy without a lawyer, BUT, you need someone who understands the system here who is able to communicate with you. Good Luck

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 08/26/2005 - 09:58

Italian Lover
When we bought our place in Sardinia we used a lawyer called Alessia Paoletto who's based in London near the Old Bailey.
Can't remember the company she worked for but if you want her number let me know.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sat, 09/03/2005 - 13:39

I found the original posting by Laura72, thanks!

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 09/05/2005 - 10:29

Hi Italianlover
You prob know this already but be careful about agents fees - in Italy both the buyer and the seller pay the agent - usually 2-3% of the price. We didn't realise this until we'd made an offer and then she mentioned her fees. Its very different from English agents..Does explain why Italian agents are so helpful though.
Theres some great advice about the whole process and the tax issues on this forum..

Good luck with it.

Marina