2277 Rum baba - v - Sfogliatelle

I have heard people cut out agents all the time - which is why they are so suspiscious.

You or someone you know or a geometra (who will charge lots) can go to the regional catasto office and look up the plot of land and find out all the information on the owners and the house. This is just like a land registry search here.

Usually there are certain offices in a province that you can go to and use the computer for this - a small charge - under €10 I think. This information ought to be on the regional website.

Alternatively you could try the geometra in the comune and ask him to look it up on the comune map. He has all this information too. I have seen this done in my area.

You would of course have to identify the house location on a map.

Good Luck on getting the diamond palazzo.

In the past I have seen websites which offer this service - try searching. Start off by looking for the comune - some actually have maps with numbered land plots on line. You never know Just about to go on a trip to the hopefully snowless italian riviera so will take you up on the pasta reale alla vongole or rum baba etc when I return.

i know you have powerful relatives etc in the area and can most probably break a leg or two if needed but i would be wary of any approach to buy a house after visiting with an agent and then cutting them out....you will be open to having to pay the bill in any case and if not paying then being taken to court and having to pay costs ...fine and bill.... indeed once billed you only have a certain...quite short time to respond and then it all becomes automatic...and you could well face loosing your house aginst court costs if you do not pay.... plus the previous owner will be liable to a charge from the agent anyway...

you therefore have other choices.... you can get the famous uk lawyers to approach the agent for you and negotiate... based on normal market prices which they have regional lists of....

get a elative in italy to approach agent and see if the price is the same....

as regards offers being made on properties... and owners receiving those.... the offer should be in writing...generally agents should have a specific form... and i think that from jan 1 st this year it is all much more formal anyway.... and that form or written offer has to be presented to the owner who has to accept or not in writing as well.... generally this can have a small deposit attached to show a serious intent to proceed if the offer is accepted... and this initial contract is then binding...the seller not being able to back out for any silly reason.... though despite the change in rules its most probably best to get a larger deposit down to make it harder for the seller to back out as soon as the property has been checked...

of the above options ...it would seem to me the favorite would be the uk lawyer choice... they seem to be used to dealing with italian agents... registered or not and often just the mention of a solicitor here will instill in some agenies a much more proffesional ...wouldnt go as far as honest.... approach to the whole deal...

sorry if thats a boring way to do it.... but anywhere you buy in italy the agents are generally local...know the communities and the communities know them... they will always hear if someone tries to cut them out....and you will need very powerful relatives indeed or friends .... to protect your back if you go against them.... you will also have a house ...empty most of the time in italy....close to the person who might well feel you have cheated on them..... i would regard this as a significant worry.... when it costs as little as a couple of hundred euro to have an arm broken.... i would think a house accident might be even less.... best not to have enemies here

[QUOTE=Aliena]John..

Mio zio, Signore Camorra.. may well have been able to break arms and legs and I dare say.. many hearts in his time.. (I hope mia zia doesn't read this!) but he is actually 87 years old and the only thing he breaks now.. is wind!

My idea was to contact the owner and find out if he was even aware of my offer.. not to cut out Signore Immobiliare! Although I may like to cut off a certain part of his anatomy and place a rats tail under his pillow.. I'm aware I would still be liable for his fees, but I would prefer not to go to him cap in hand just yet.. so to speak.

Regarding the UK lawyer situation.. this ball was already rolling well in advance of any offer from me.. which was primarily accepted verbally.. when the paperwork here was almost in order (subject to a favourable survey) it was then rejected by Signore Immobilare.. who then hiked the price up by ten grand and doubled his commission to almost 6% on top! (5.88% to be precise!)

This rejection and price hike was all within one telephone conversation and therefore, I am positive the vendor was not aware of it.. unless he just happened to be sitting next to Signore Immobiliare at the time.. too much of a coincidence me thinks!

Avvocato Giovane spent much time talking with Signore Immobiliare, but was unable to get things back on track.. so, is this one tough Immobilare or one feeble Avvacato? Nothing in writing from Signore Immobiliare and this is what makes me highly suspicious that the vendor has no knowledge of any offer from me.

I have no intention of making enemies in Italy.. I have far too many in England to keep me busy for the foreseeable future. ;)

:) :)[/QUOTE]

Have you ever considered that you might have one tough cookie of a vendor? Is it possible that Sig. Imm. told them: "we have found a rich beautiful Liverpolitan purchaser for your house and she is prepared to pay full price"...vendor at first says va bene and Sig. Imm gets on with the paperwork but when they saw that he wanted 3% commission from them they told him no way and asked for an extra €10.000 to boot? Is it?