2729 estate agents in abruzzo

Hi,
I suggest you PM a user of this forum called Rob, or PM me and I'll let you know how you can get in touch.
All the best
Sarah

Hi Tessa.

House around Italy have an office in Pescara airport and many people say good things about them. I went into their office a few times and they were always very friendly and helpful. They have plenty of properties on their books, although to be honest I'm not sure that you'll find much that is habitable at €75,000. Remember also that it is standard practice for both buyer and seller to pay the agents fee (3% a piece is the norm) and then on top you have various taxes, legal and notary fees, so be realsitic with your budget.

Depending on the area that you are interested in within Abruzzo, you'll find plenty of people in this forum who will be happy to recommend an agent they've used, aswell as those they don't!

Good luck with your househunting.

Russ

[CENTER][CENTER][COLOR=black]Hi Tessa[/COLOR][/CENTER]
[CENTER][COLOR=black] [/COLOR][/CENTER]
[CENTER][COLOR=black]As a rule of thumb it is worth thinking that for a total budget of 75,000 Euros you need to look at properties around the 62,000 Euros as the taxes etc will come to around the 20% mark. If you tell the agents you have a budget of 75,000 Euros, they will show you properties at this level or higher normally and not take into account the taxes etc. We had a similar budget and were shown properties up 100,000 Euros!! And this did not include taxes; fees etc. or take into account any extra work that might have been required!! :eek: [/COLOR][COLOR=black][/COLOR][/CENTER]
[CENTER][COLOR=black] [/COLOR][/CENTER]
[CENTER][COLOR=black]Basically you need to keep telling them that something is out of your budget! But you can take into account that as in the [/COLOR][COLOR=black]UK[/COLOR][COLOR=black] you can offer a much lower price and see what happens. It is worth while getting in dependant views and if possible valuations. Also remember that if you sign anything you may be committed to buy it! So I would recommend you get professional advice.[/COLOR][COLOR=black][/COLOR][/CENTER]
[CENTER][COLOR=black] [/COLOR][/CENTER]
[CENTER][COLOR=black]There are many people on the forum that can help you more and will have experience of the area you are looking in. Good luck with your search and read widely on this forum as there is plenty of good advice here. :) [/COLOR][COLOR=black][/COLOR][/CENTER][/CENTER]

tessa... as has been said the budget is tight and also depends a lot on the type of house you are looking for ... but to give you some hope i know of at least 4 or so houses near us on the market at around the e60,000 mark... and these are not ruins... so dont worry you will be able to find a place in budget... just be aware of who you deal with... garda homes has given very good advise about contacting rob first... hope your trip goes well...

Salve Tessa,

Have posted you a PM.
Have you tried using the search facility in the list above in the green band. Click on 'search' & dial in either the name of the agency you are interested in, or just 'estate agents' & see what comes up.

Ciao for now
Rob

Hi Tessa,

I have had some dealings with HousearoundItaly, and found them to be very helpful and well-informed. The only issue has been getting hold of a particular person there asthey all seem to spend time out of the office.
There is quite a lot of property available in the area, but it's best to make a short list before you go, get as much detail as possible, and to see only the ones which are really interesting to you. We have had 3 trips to various parts of Italy and it can be very time consuming unless you do a lot of work in preparatiion.
From our research, Abruzzo is the perfect area to buy in, with a real mix of surroundings from beach to mountains, and the climate is great except for January/February.
Good hunting!!

Hi,
We are in the process of buying in Abruzzo, completing next week, cant wait!!!!!
We used ACA Immobiliare in Lanciano, they have an english contact Jonny Allen, not sure of the web address but if you want it PM me and I will get it for you. We have had excellent service, no pressure to go over our budget and a variety of properties shown, all costs explained at the word go. By the way our budget was lower than yours and we still managed to get our dream place with just the right amount of land, The location was exactly what we wanted and yes we had seen it on the web and it existed and they got the price down.
Hope your search goes well.:)
Michelle

We bought through Remax in Lanciano and found them very helpful. They took on board all of our requirements and everything we looked at fell within our criteria. Everything on their web site was still available when we went to look so there were no "red herrings" at ridiculously low prices which mysteriously disappeared when you requested a viewing!

Giancarlo the guy we dealt with spoke very good english and we didn't feel pressurised at all - some agents made us feel as though we were being held hostage!!

We have just returned from a week at our house and Giancarlo came out to help us organise a local bulder and electrician, organised a hotel for our first night and delivered the front door key on his day off!

I ususally like to deal with small independant companies but this was one franchise office that I felt worked well.

Good luck with your search

Jackie

Hi, we have bought a house in abbruzzo through house around italy.So has a mate of mine.Both purchases went smoothly(ours went through in a month!) and for far less than your budget so dont despair.We bought in roccacasale a south facing mountain village near to sulmona. The price was 19000 euro and if one was hardy it is habitable. Electric and water are connected.Watch out for shaded villages although the prices are low so are the temperatures!If you want to know more just ask.Nigelgh

Montefino ciao,

How much were you charged for all the 'extras', petrol money, opening a bank account, codice fiscale, etc?
Or have they relented now & are making enough to offer these ex-gratia.

Thanks for all encouragement/advice. I had been told by HAI that the service was free. Of course if they find a suitable property for us then they take a percenatge but am I wrong in thinking they are offering a free service just for viewings? Am I really going in here with my eyes shut?

[QUOTE=tessa myers]Thanks for all encouragement/advice. I had been told by HAI that the service was free. Of course if they find a suitable property for us then they take a percenatge but am I wrong in thinking they are offering a free service just for viewings? Am I really going in here with my eyes shut?[/QUOTE]

Hi tessa!

the viewings aren't free - you have to pay, when we did it it was per day. I think just viewings (or 'tours') used to be free but as they got bigger, this was no longer possible.

Cheers

Simone

Hi all, regarding price HAI have a minimum price of 3000 euro to process your sale,and no we didn't get charged any extras. We paid the person directly to set up the bank account.I think regarding the viewings it really depends on how much of their time you take up .Buona fortuna Tessa!

The agents we used set up our bank accounts, sorted out our fiscal codes, organised hotels-ones we had already chosen so there were no backhanders and ferried us around to view properties over two days at no extra charge. We just paid the standard 3% and on a pretty cheap property to boot!

Since completing they have also driven out to our new house to help us change over services, meet the local officials and translate to local workmen who have all proved exceedingly honest.

We were originally told that the house would probably need rewiring ( I presume this is standard "get the electrics checked" get out clause that surveyors use in the UK to avoid liability) however the local electrician said they were perfectly safe and for a very good price is just going to put some more attractive socket fronts on and install some double sockets.

Perhaps we have just been incredibly lucky judging by some of the experiences of others for which we are eternally grateful!!

Good luck to everyone looking to buy

Jackie

[FONT="Book Antiqua"][SIZE="3"]its sounds as if you have had very good value Jackie..I'm still thinking of a way to promote 'good'agents on my web site without being mislead by recomendations from the agents themselves or someone working for them

HAI is patchy and they need really to tighten up a bit on some of their pratices.Some 'scouts' are very good, having good local knowledge and sticking to selling properties in their own area.This way they will be able to give you a lot of info on not just the property but also the area.

Others seem less impressive!They are zooming around a huge area showing properties that in some cases they haven't even visited before.The rating system used on the web site is very subjective....ie a property is given a w1 w2 or w3 rating according to the agencies assement of the amount of work needed.Perhapes they could devote a page of their web site going into more details of this rating system and how a judgement is made.

I feel that with the cheaper houses it would be better to have far less and make sure that they have checked them out individually than to allow 'scouts' to put as many properties on as they want but then that would probably put up the prices!

At one time they were the main agent for Brits wanting to buy in Abruzzo but now so many others are setting up I feel that this will force them to rethink some of their stratergies.As we can see there are several people here who have expressed their disquiet and it is not in that agengies interest for the number of disenters to increase with the level of business or word will soon get around.

Anyway Jackie I will be asking you more !!

Becky[/SIZE][/FONT]

HI Becky

I agree-local knowledge is everything. When we first looked at houses the intermediary at the airport could only give rough directions to our first appointment as she admitted she didn't really know the area we were going to and neither did we as we were taking their advice. As a result we were over an hour late.

The poor guy at the other end spent wasted time sitting in his car broiling in the glorious sunshine and we then spent an afternoon chasing him round the countryside in scenes reminiscent of Monte Carlo or Bust (sorry - showing my age there!!).

The agent was very helpful but his brief had not been accurate so it really was an afternoon wasted as far as properties were concerned but we thoroughly enjoyed the whistle stop tour of the Abruzzo!!

I think your web site sounds a great idea although you may find some who will disagree about particular agents and regulated systems do not necessarily work.

As a letting agent in the uk I recently read an article written in one of our trade magazines about regulating estate agents and the like in the uk.

The NAEA (National Association of Estate Agents) is keen to see the industry regulated - surprise surprise by themselves in order that they can go on to make money out of subscription fees/courses and professional indemnity policies etc.

However, it was felt that they would effectively end up controlling the market and the needs of the public would not necessarily be met.

I do not belong to a professional body for just that reason but all of my staff take professionally recognised training courses and as a sole trader in a small town where my reputation is everything I take a moral view that I'm in it for the long haul and want to give as good a service as possible.

This has included giving over my bathroom every night for a young mum to bathe her children whilst we waited for the boiler part to arrive, to putting up landlords in my spare room when they arrive on a late long haul flight and just want a warm meal, a beer and a friendly face.

All clients have access to me at all times and my poor husband is often to be found on his day off sorting out small irritating repairs when tradespeople let us down- to avoid any conflict of interests I never charge for his services!

I doubt if I will ever be rich but I know that I do the very best for my clients. However there are always going to be instances where things go wrong but as someone pointed out in another thread, it's how the problem is dealt with that matters.

After years in the property business I am a sceptic when it comes to intermediaries and I do worry about the unwary but you do have to have some faith that there are some good guys out there and listen to lots of peoples different opinions before throwing in your lot with one agency.

A web site giving all of this information would therefore prove invaluable and if there were some discrepancies over recommendations perhaps a member could be a secret shopper to check them out!!

Good luck with the site

Regards

Jackie

[FONT="Book Antiqua"][SIZE="3"]Hi there

Having spent a morning slaving over the pc I now have my site's home page up...it on part of my other site but when I 've got the whole site finished it will be hosted under it's own Domain but so you can all see it I've made a new page in mybeadyeye.Please pm me any comments!

check it out it will give you an idea of what I'm aiming for as I think a few on the forum have got the wrong idea![URL="http://www.mybeadyeye.com/abruzzo.html"]http://www.mybeadyeye.com/abruzzo.html[/URL]

My idea for dealing with agents is this... I make up a simple email form and send it to everyone I know who has bought in Abruzzo asking them to rate agents on a 1-10 scale then I can list all the agents in Abruzzo on one page with a rating! No slander or abuse just a simple star after an agent who has been rated highly? No names except the agency name.i will email all the agents to ask if they object to being listed on my site on this basis first.

Becky[/SIZE][/FONT]

Manopello ,

herr Senator :))

sorry ...

I click ..click , on all images on your's web page , but no only one work ,
what occur ??

[FONT="Book Antiqua"][SIZE="3"]Sorry I should have explained....So far I have only put up the [B]index[/B] or [B]home[/B] page so the links to other pages will not work until I have created the whole site and hosted it on its own domain.

Its like a book...what you see is the first page and the rest will be written and at the moment are blank!!!

I posted a link as I felt that on another thread one or two people were assuming my site was going to be something it isnt!!Does any of this make sense!

Watch this space.More to come.

becky[/SIZE][/FONT]

I have had dealings with a number of agents. here are some bad things I have found.

A number of agents boost the price by huge amounts. I was shown a house ay 100K Euros. I called the owner and found he wanted 65K!

This is the biggest problem over there. Some agents try to keep you away from the vendor.

Here is what I suggest. take a camera with you. When you have a look at a property, if you see a red for sale sign, take a photo of it. Get a native italian to call about the property and check the price. Also insist that price negotiations are carried out with the vendor (dodgy agents do not like this)

I have found a few of them out. I am using Jonny Allen and I trust him. Going over on the weekend. I can give you details of an English couple who live over there run a B+B who can tell you what it is like to live over there if you like.

Drop me a message.

Cheers

Hi

Glad to hear you are still keen on Abruzzo!i agree with all your comments and wondered if you would like to send me the b&b details for me to put on my website?if the owners want to they can email a pic Theres no charge at all but if they can let me maybe publish some of their thoughts on living in Abruzzo?

I've already gone into the ethos of the site in this thread and others but if you want to know more ask!

Any tips or recomendations would be very welcome.

I wont be putting any negative comments etc on the site because of the libel laws so just positive stuff if yu have it!!!!

Becky

I bought a house with AbitaItalia last January. They are a mother and daughter team and were excellent, they were also english which was a help. They are based in Lanciano and used a full legal service. I think its a .com web address but if its not PM me and I will check for you. We were informed all the way through, had no hard sell, all costs were explained, and they worked hard at getting a lower price. Im going over next week to finish the decorating and am looking forward to enjoying it this summer.
Good luck hunting.
Tim

[EMAIL="warekevtrish@aol.com"]warekevtrish@aol.com[/EMAIL]
Hi,
We are going to Abruzzo in July and until I registered with this forum was starting to have a feeling of despair!.I was starting to worry about the whole process of buying in Italy and particular could we get a good property for our moneywith a budget of approx 75,000 euros.
Having never purchased property abroad I live in fear of making a financial mistake but some of your feed back has given me some hope.We have been to Italy a number of times and love everything Italian but had given up on the Idea of being able to afford a holiday home in this beautiful country .Any one on this Forum who can give me some tips for looking for a property in Abruzzo and area to consider would be welcomed.I have also found out that the agencies that help you with finding a property will also take a chunk of your budget which 3% is a lot when you think of all the other costs that is involved.
I would prefer to use a English speaking local Estate Agent who has reputation for honesty.Excuse me if I am pessimistic about middlemen but it seems everyone is trying to make money at som level.

[QUOTE=Trish][EMAIL="warekevtrish@aol.com"]warekevtrish@aol.com[/EMAIL]
I have also found out that the agencies that help you with finding a property will also take a chunk of your budget which 3% is a lot when you think of all the other costs that is involved.
I would prefer to use a English speaking local Estate Agent who has reputation for honesty.Excuse me if I am pessimistic about middlemen but it seems everyone is trying to make money at som level.[/QUOTE]

Don't forget - you will still have to pay the Estate Agent his commission [That was the one thing that caugh tme out when buying]

[QUOTE=tessa myers]We are going to Abruzzo in May for two weeks and are hoping to look at property to buy and I have been in touch with House Around Italy, an agency that send you out with scouts to view property for sale. Has anyone heard of them or dealt with them before? I am wondering if its the best way to view or is it easy enough to just walk into an estate agency and ask to see houses. Our budget is only 75,000 Euros so there may not be much available although my contact seems to have a full week of viewings set up.

Please advise...[/QUOTE]

A good (Italian) friend of mine here in Dublin is presently working through them and will be viewing properties with them later this month. He seems very happy with their level of service and knowledge of the region.

[QUOTE=tessa myers]We are going to Abruzzo in May for two weeks and are hoping to look at property to buy and I have been in touch with House Around Italy, an agency that send you out with scouts to view property for sale. Has anyone heard of them or dealt with them before? I am wondering if its the best way to view or is it easy enough to just walk into an estate agency and ask to see houses. Our budget is only 75,000 Euros so there may not be much available although my contact seems to have a full week of viewings set up.

Please advise...[/QUOTE]
I have a contact with an estate agent who is competent, reliable and speak English, they also reply to e-mails, which is still rather unusual for Italy (I usually have to call people on the phone to inform them that I sent them an e-amil and they should check their mail...).
You can call Gianmarco Poli of Abruzzo Project S.r.l Tel & Fax +39 0872 98 28 55 or check their site [url]http://www.abruzzoproject.com/[/url] and send them an e-mail, you can say you had their contact from Roberto Battista in London (it helps both ways). They have several good properies at current prices and are fairly thorough in advising about best areas for investment and what can you realistically hope to get for the budget you have.

Good luck

Roberto Battista [url]www.deplain.com[/url]

According to me the choice of the real estate agents is very subjective nevertheless I can tell you my indirect experience: two couples of my friends have recently bought two properties, respectively in Abruzzo and Molise (You'll get more square metres for your euro in Molise than almost anywhere else). that until 1963 wasn't even a region in its own right, being twinned with
northern neighbour Abruzzo under the soubriquet 'Abruzzi'. The real estate agency with which they have dealt is Country Sunsets, give a look to their web-site . The agent, has managed honestly and quickly the negotiation for the purchase. Good luck!

like timmay i used abitaitalia and found them very friendly .i saw several properties was not pushed and when i found the one i eventually bought they bargained very hard on my behalf.

Glad to see you have had a good experience with this agency.Are you going to post anymore cos the cynic in me makes me a bit suspicious when someone comes on posts a rave review then goes.Heaven forbid that anyone might believe an agent would delibrately use this forum for such a purpose!

If I'm wrong [B]molto apologies [/B]amico and we love Abruzzo too!

Ciao Becky