1168 Possible Contact in Abruzzo

We are thinking of buying a house in Abruzzo, but being somewhat limited in vacation time (good ol' US is not exactly a worker's paradase), I wonder if there is a way to do everything online. I can manage a few days to look around and pick what I like, but no more than that.
There are plenty of websites with active (or so they claim) listings, however, my inquiries aren't answered yet.
Perhaps Antonio, you've mentioned above, has email address? Is it possible to ask him to mail pictures of houses available?

Thanks, Liza

Hi Lisa
We are in the process of buying a property in Abruzzo at the moment, in my opinion I think that it would be a bit dodgy trying to do it all on-line, although people have sucessfully done it. Abruzzo is a large chunk of Italy with so many choices of areas to live in, you should try to take some time out to visit the area, I appreciate that it may be difficult.
As you say there are a lot of 'estate agents' out there, bear in mind that a lot of the properties on the web-site are either 'sold' or 'not available' when you get there, also a lot of properties never get so far as the web-site.
We used [url]www.housearounditaly.com[/url] IMO they were very helpful, they have English people in their offices so language is not a problem.
A lot of the work can be done without being in Italy but I believe you have to be there to open a bank account.
Best of luck but don't rush it.

Hi Stibs

Agree with you entirely, it's such a diverse area. You also don't get a proper feel of the place by looking at pictures on the web. You can't tell what the surroundings are like etc. I certainly wouldn't want to buy without visiting first.

How have you found Housearounditaly? We're also buying through them, they've seemed very good up to now.

Regards

Kerry

Hi Kerry
Found HAI very helpful, saw a lot of properties, trouble is the one we picked is a bit messy, divorced couple with young child, the house seems to be left in trust for the child so a judge has to rule whether the house can be sold, I believe that the present owner has to make an undertaken that he will buy another house to put in trust. We should know by the end of September otherwise we have to start again. If all goes well we should be moving in the begining of 2006.
Stribs

ps Sorry Lisa, getting carried away

Hi Lisa,
As regards HouseAroundItaly, yes they are certainly an option. The only thought that comes to mind though is that they're a bit too thinly spread. What you really need is a smaller agency with local knowledge. Coincidentally, in Penne, you can find AbruzzoProperties

[url]www.abruzzoproperties.com[/url]

which is run by a English chap called Andrew Turner. He charges £4000 up front and then undertakes to find you a property and help you through the buying process. He has links with lots of Italian estate agents in the area. You just have to bare in mind that after his fees you then have to pay everything else including the agency fee; whoever the agent may turn out to be.

Then there is CasaItalia based in a small town called Galiano Aterno

[url]www.casa-italia.dk[/url]

which is run by a Danish couple (Kasper and Annia Karlsson) who speak excellent English. They have a similar consultancy based business but charge a lot less than AbruzzoProperties, around E2,500 I think.

Moving down towards Sulmona you can find ProssimaCasa

[url]www.prossimacasa.com[/url]

which is an agency run by an Englishman called Clive McCombe. They have the advantage in that being an agency they don't charge anything up front - just the usual 3 or 4% of the property price at the conclusion of the sale. They also offer a full property restoration service.

I haven't been anywhere further south into Abruzzo and so I can't really say what's going on down there. I hope though that the information above may be of use.

Lots of luck with your search.

Regards, Reginald.

Hi Reginald.
I will stress that I have no involvement with HAI except that we are buying our house through them, I cannot understand the comment about being spread too thin, they have a large amount of properties on their books and use local agents/scouts to take you to see properties.
They did not charge anything up front and charge 3% on signing the compremesso, we picked the properties we wanted to see on their website and made viewing arrangements from the UK, we saw up to 8 properties a day on some days, we spent 5 days viewing and travelled a couple of hundred of kilometers meeting their reps in Elice, Penne, Loreto Aprutino, L'Aquila, Alanno & Chieti each rep then took us around a lot of properties. I trust you will agree that this is quite a catchment area.

[QUOTE=Stribs]Hi Reginald.
I will stress that I have no involvement with HAI except that we are buying our house through them, I cannot understand the comment about being spread too thin, they have a large amount of properties on their books and use local agents/scouts to take you to see properties.
They did not charge anything up front and charge 3% on signing the compremesso, we picked the properties we wanted to see on their website and made viewing arrangements from the UK, we saw up to 8 properties a day on some days, we spent 5 days viewing and travelled a couple of hundred of kilometers meeting their reps in Elice, Penne, Loreto Aprutino, L'Aquila, Alanno & Chieti each rep then took us around a lot of properties. I trust you will agree that this is quite a catchment area.[/QUOTE]

Wooow! Sorry. I hereby absolutely agree... :) :) :)

Hi ya
I used HAI to buy my house in the Lanciano area, although I found them excellent whilst the purchase of the house was going through once the contract was signed and all fees were paid then they where not really interested.

I had problems with the seller remove items that I had paid for and with the survey which I had done with a Geometra that they recommended. HAI can’t seem to grasp the concept of After Sales Service. :rolleyes:

I would use HAI again, but I would only deal with Sara and use an independent Geometra.

Plus the house that would have perfect for me that was on there website and I checked if it was still for sale the day before I left for Pescara, but by the time I got to there office it had been sold, yeah right.
But it's still on the website for sale. :(
here's the link
[url]http://www.housearounditaly.com/imghfs/PHROZ159.htm[/url]

Apart from all that I’ve got a lovely house, beautiful views and such friendly neighbours so I'm happy. :D

I think we better leave this now as we are disrupting the original thread.

Stribs

No apologies required. Any discussion on the subject is educational and greatly appreciated.
Somehow, up to two weeks ago, we've never thought of actually buying something in Italy, though love the country and visited it on numerous occasions, the last time in July to be exact, but never Abruzzo.
Of course, you are right. Buying a house is not a grocery shopping.
I plan to go there in a few weeks, once we have the funds lined up.
Since I am already in correspondence with HAI and other guys, your recommendations are very welcome indeed.
Thank you all very much for kind and detailed responses. I'll post later on how things are shaping up.

Best of luck.
If you have time try to have a look at the National Parks they are beautiful.
Stribs

Hi to Liza and everyone how has been interested in this thread.

In reply to Stribs comment about disrupting from the original thread, don't worry. I'm not an agent or seeking any monetary gain from it this post (having read the part about not posting ads to sell houses - oops, hope I haven't broken any rules!!).

I posted the remark as I though it might be of some use to someone as we were in a very similar position to Liza.
We had very little time in holiday and we did not have the biggest budget to buy our holiday property.

Initially we went to HouseAboutItaly and they show us many properties (about 15) in the space of 2 days. However due to our budget we were shown mainly very run down properties which would need a lot of work which we didn't want. We were about to give up when we met Antonio by chance. He helped us enormously and took away a lot of the hassle of the house buying process. We also employed HouseAboutItaly to provide a Notary (in Pescara) who spoke excellent English and produced the final contract() in English and obviously in Italian.

In total I think we went over about 6 times but there we quite a few emails and phone calls.

Anyone thinking of buying in Abruzzo won't go wrong with [url]www.housesforsaleabruzzo.co.uk[/url]. Absolutely fantastic, loads of help when buying and loads of help once you have bought.

Gold Star service.

living in the place and having been here quite a while..... with an italian family ..... also checked out some of the websites that have been suggested i would have one comment to make in regards the house buying situation here....

it is an established fact that amongst all those mentioned there is one in particular house selling site that has managed to increase the prices of very complicated house sales here in abruzzo..... they might well be the most prolific sellers at largely the highest prices...... even though they might insist they are getting the customer the best price..... i think that if you can drag yourselves away from english only speaking house sales you will find that properties in abruzzo still represent even better value

ie ... our local agent has houses for sale from e40,000 habitable.... and i do mean habitable..... semi habitable from e50,000 ...which means cosmetic building work and ruins... well you take your choice.....

ok ... no website..... but if a flight costs you a hundred euro.... you get a hire car...drive to a small town and visit a local estate agent you will find properties that do exist...that are priced at real prices and if they are habitable are indeed ready to live in....... saving yourself at least half the cost of those houses advertised in english and aimed at those that would rather have a little help ... which often runs out after the compromesso .....and the fee payment....in english it what is essentially a non problematic house buying process here

often those houses for sale through specialist foreign sites are there because the local italian agent would not handle them either because they are over valued or too difficult to sell with either heriditary or legal problems attached....... ie no italian buyer would look twice

so i would suggest be adventurous... look at those websites and then try a vist here without some agent holding your hand..... you might well get a pleasant surprise.....

i would also say that if anyone would like the name and address of our local agent you can send a private message.... will also be happy to help if you need a bit of translating done..... dont worry he will pay us out of his 3 % agents fee if you do go ahead.... and like i say try the others suggested here before... but i bet if you do and then do a vist with him you will be surprised.... ok not all will like the villages or the situation... but can assure you that after that you will only be dealing with local italian agents if you do decide on a place you like and want to find a house....

it is a pet hate of mine that people come here and get caught up in the stupidity of paying double for a house to save themnselves a bit of italian / english translation... hell you could hire your own private interpreter/legal adviser and still have loads of change out of the prices you are paying......

I agree with your comments about paying over the odds using English speaking agents. I have bought through English speaking agents, I may have got the property cheaper through a local agent, but I would not have seen this property without them.
With the difference in procedures in Italy than here at home and the language barrier some of us feel more confident by using an agent, also we can get a good idea of what is on offer by looking at the websites.
I have already said on a previous thread that a lot of website properties are not available when you get there so the house you fancy may not be available. I also know that if you fancy property in a certain area you can usually find out if anything is available by going into the local bar and finding the local fixer who knows everything that is going on, but again language problems for most of us.
Having said all this, if the property I am buying falls through I shall be taking the local bar route as I now know the area I want to be in.

Stribs

I think that Stribs ha ragione....even though he needs to brush up on on the use...or the misuse...of ellipses if he wants to fall in line with Adriatico. There are several homes for sale...from shells to villas...for sale in the small town where I purchased my house. I think...just my opinion...that it is best to decide on the area you would like to live and then visit...or go for an extended stay...there a time...or two.
non-Elliptical Casale...
[url]http://www.angelfire.com/film/casale[/url]

Ohh dear, here we go again, John puts too many dots in, actually, I am not sure that they can still be classed as ellipses if there are more than three dots, BUT, it really is worthwhile to ignore the dots, and read the advice.

I too bought through an English Agency who simply failed eventually to provide the service they promissed,

John gives very sound advice here which, should you have the time will save you money.

I would never recommend that anyone pay a commission to a bloke in a bar, who is probably unlicenced, but, some people think it works and seem happy with the arrangement,

Liza's problem is however different, it is incredibly expensive to fly from the USA to simply visit to make contacts, we're spoiled by the availability of cheap flights into thinking that it is easy to pop over every week or so. Any how, I am sure Liza will find her own way through the problem. If I were her, I think I'd be PM'ing someone called John in Abruzzo......... :cool:

I have to agree with John. This was how we met Antonio.
We suspected that the prices we were being told for some completely inhabitable places (E70,000) were too high.
From this we deiced to search for ourselves. We walked into an estate agents office and tried to communicate - us in English and him in Italian.
Needless to say we didn't get very far - but he took us into a bar were the barman spoke English. - The rest is history...
...and we are now learning Italian!

Because of the problems trying to buy online,I looked for 4 years in different countries,I bought a camper van and went to Italy to find the place that so far had eluded me.Through HAI.I ended up in LORETO where they showed me about 10 properties,Nothing like I wanted,
Walking through Loreto I came upon INTERLAND run by NUNZIO.After attemping to chat to each other,agreed to meet next day when he showed me 4 plots of land,3 of which I would certainly bought.The plot I did buy is 13,000sq m of olive grove with a beautiful view and a metalled road to it.The purchase went without a hitch and we are soon to start building.All the getting of architect and builders was sorted by INTERLAND at a very,very good price.So if anyone is thinking of moving to that area I cannot recommend them highly enough
The office Phone no is 0039 085 8208408 [COLLE CORVINO] village next to Loreto

When we researched up about buying a property in Italy, the books we read said that good contacts were local people. It it appears to be true.

If you are interested in buying a property in Abruzzo from the comfort of your sofa in England, contact [url]www.italyliving.co.uk[/url] they are based in England and they offer advice before you commit to a tour that you might not want :)

stef

[QUOTE=stef]If you are interested in buying a property in Abruzzo from the comfort of your sofa in England, contact [url]www.italyliving.co.uk[/url] they are based in England and they offer advice before you commit to a tour that you might not want :)

stef[/QUOTE]

Definitely a much better way than actually visiting the country and meeting errrm, foreigners all trying to rip you off... do they provide their services free?, ohhh, and if you do buy the property, will it ever be necessary to actually leave the sofa and errrm, actually visit... or, could you just stay on the sofa talking about your house in Italy ?? :rolleyes:

I'll bet you are the Stef in the contact section of the site too, ohh, it should be WINE, not VINE too, unless of course you wish to enjoy the perfect vine :eek:

That whim of mine (buying a house( is getting rather interesting. Even if at the end I decide that there is nothing wrong with renting, there is wealth of material on the net, which reads like an exciting mystery action book.
I'll set aside time for English speaking agencies, and shall certainly rent a car to drive around, and perhaps, will be lucky enough to meet the local agents, through John and others. (PM-ing is not such a bad idea, but only if he dances argentine tango).

Liza,

[color=black]What ever you decide to do, make sure that you have legal advice before signing or parting with money. The point being that what ever agent you go through there is good and bad. It would be far better to spend time getting to know the area and the locals first, we didn't and have payed for our mistake. Trusted and English and Italian team (agent) and wish we hadn't. [/color]

[color=black]Don't let this spoil your hopes. We still love [/color][color=black]Italy[/color][color=black] and have also found some really wonderful, honest and helpful people in [/color][color=black]Italy[/color][color=black] and this forum. Hope to complete on our Trullo soon.[/color]

The best thing to do is of course to explore the region and admire the beauty that the region offers, and I am sure that, if you decide to porches a property , you will find many honest and competent locals that are going to help you and save you some money, is in the Abruzzesi nature to try and help, no everyone will try to “rip you off” :)
I have to sadly agree that some agent/agency that offer “foreigners” services are overly priced and you can get a better deal if you deal directly with the vendor or the local agency, however I don t like to generalise and I know that there are some honest “English” agencies out there that can provide, in addition to the normal purchase deal, some pre-after purchase advice to ease off you decision (and yea this comes for free if they are not only interested in the financial side of the deal) and this is hard to get from someone that is not fluent with the terminology, o that gives thinks for granted, without realising that the buyer is not familiar with the italian legislation.
Using common sense helps, if you go and visit the region buy a news paper where you can check house prices, talk to people, they love to practice their English, so they practise and you find some useful info, the house market in italy is open so if you see a house advertise in a news paper or in a window why don t ask your agent to try and find out more about that property?? If you can’t or don’t want to go to Italy then do some research on some Italian site [url]www.google.it[/url] and type (casa, compera, villa, abruzzo), this will show you a list houses in different areas, you can get an idea of how far your money will go and then compare it with what ever agent you want to use.
Lived in abruzzo for 20 years and I can ensure you all that this region is worth exploring, so good luck.

Ps to clarify thing yea I am the Stef (Stefano) of the contact above (honesty ), Giorges thanks for the tip about wine-vine....I will tell my web master off :D .

stef

It would be wonderful to go and leisurely explore the region. But that will have to wait a little bit. Meanwhile, no other way but to be content with exploring the local life on the web, after all for a computer nutter of long standing, such a solution is the second nature.
There is an abruzzoweb site in Italian (is someone familiar with it?) with a number of local real estate agencies listed, which are not that much different in prices from english ones. I don't speak italian, but it's not difficult to read classified ad with something like 'con vista panoramica. Besides I downloaded a couple of translation tools.

I have good friend who runs a property search in the area. You can send her your search criteria and she will do the leg work. Lucia Proto - She is contactable at [email]info@itarchouse.it[/email] (Her website is [url]www.itarchouse.it[/url]) - and I believe I saw a previous client of hers recommending her elsewhere on this website.

If you care to send me a private messgae I can give you a list of Estate Agencies in Abruzzo I bookmarked, [url]http://www.propertiesarounditaly.com[/url] is the one I used. They are a UK registed Ltd company and operate from their office in Sumona. They are also registered with the Italian authorities.

As you will see from the second link below the rules for house buying are being tightened and the guy in the initial post, Antonio Damania, would be best advised to have a copy of them.[url]http://www.italymag.co.uk/forums/legal/5592-new-rules-concerning-house-purchase-finanziaria-2007-a.html#post50749[/url]

Not sure where Reg has got this totally inaccurate information from since he certainly has never spoken to me or anyone else at Abruzzo Properties to obtain it. It really does annoy me when people use these forums to post information that is misleading and untrue.

Abruzzo Properties does not charge £4000 up front. In fact the total property search fee is only £3000 but only a third of this is payable up front, the balance payable over the course of the transaction should we be successful in our search. Just felt this need to be clarified!