3949 Property viewing in Lunigiana

Hi everyone,
Well we've moved from La Bella Toscana to Lunigiana for our second week. You may be interested to know our experience on my previous threads of 'should I speak Italian' and agents charging a fee, both of which seemed to spark off various controversial replies. You may also recall that we emailed agents we arranged to meet stating quite clearly that we were not in a position to buy this time but would appreciate a little of their time if possible.
Well our experience with our first 'English' agent in Lunigiana was anything but happy. She showed us the opposite of our stated requirements despite reminding her what was negotiable and what was not. She kept agreeing and then proceeded to turn a deaf ear once again! We agreed to meet with her a second day hoping that she had finally understood our requirements but alas no, this was worse than the first day. Remember me asking should I let the agent know that I speak Italian, well I did and she certainly didn't like it. Towards the end of the day she became quite stroppy when she couldn't tie us down to a property, which in turn made my 'hackles' rise and I became quite sharp with her. Needless to say we will not be buying from this agent as her prices were without doubt, 'prices for foreigners' which incidentally I pointed out.
Oh well tomorrow is another day and we are looking at another area, everything else is great.

Category
Property Sales/Rental Advice

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 06/13/2006 - 16:09

So long as you are enjoying yourselves overall.. that's the main thing! :D

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 06/13/2006 - 17:03

No, it's easy to be trite Anastasia (you [B]must[/B] stop that, it's not dignified!) but it's easy to read one parallel thread on how agents must be registered and then read this one that agents have to listen.........

.........separate, but parallel; Genna's agent may'may not be registered, but her 'customer experience' (yah?) is what's important?

What insight can [URL="http://www.italymag.co.uk/forums/property-sales-rental-advice/3942-registered-estate-agents.html#post34142"]one thread[/URL] give us on another?

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 06/13/2006 - 17:46

You have lost me for real this time Tusk..

I was just replying to Genna's last sentence about tomorrow being another day and that everything else was great.

I'm not sure what upset you about my post, but.. if it's undignified to wish someone a pleasant time.. then so be it. I remain undignified.. and confused. :confused:

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 06/14/2006 - 01:41

Then my unreserved apologies; I felt that the main thrust of Genna's mail was about the unsatisfactory service she'd recieved & wrongly believed that your reply was to that & not just the last sentance......mea culpa!

Soz
:rolleyes:

D

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 06/14/2006 - 03:44

'tis OK.. but next time.. I'll have to..[ATTACH]737[/ATTACH] :eek: <-Tusk. :D :D

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 06/14/2006 - 04:03

[QUOTE=Genna]Hi everyone,
Well we've moved from La Bella Toscana to Lunigiana for our second week. You may be interested to know our experience on my previous threads of 'should I speak Italian' and agents charging a fee, both of which seemed to spark off various controversial replies. You may also recall that we emailed agents we arranged to meet stating quite clearly that we were not in a position to buy this time but would appreciate a little of their time if possible.
Well our experience with our first 'English' agent in Lunigiana was anything but happy. She showed us the opposite of our stated requirements despite reminding her what was negotiable and what was not. She kept agreeing and then proceeded to turn a deaf ear once again! We agreed to meet with her a second day hoping that she had finally understood our requirements but alas no, this was worse than the first day. Remember me asking should I let the agent know that I speak Italian, well I did and she certainly didn't like it. Towards the end of the day she became quite stroppy when she couldn't tie us down to a property, which in turn made my 'hackles' rise and I became quite sharp with her. Needless to say we will not be buying from this agent as her prices were without doubt, 'prices for foreigners' which incidentally I pointed out.
Oh well tomorrow is another day and we are looking at another area, everything else is great.[/QUOTE]

Genna, the best advice that we have received is that if you can speak Italian, stick with Italian estate agents. They are registered (usually) and have more properties on their books as a general rule, and should not charge more just because you are stranieri.

Good luck with the house hunting - it can be exhausting but also quite rewarding.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 06/14/2006 - 13:19

[QUOTE=Sano]Genna, the best advice that we have received is that if you can speak Italian, stick with Italian estate agents. They are registered (usually) and have more properties on their books as a general rule, and should not charge more just because you are stranieri.

Good luck with the house hunting - it can be exhausting but also quite rewarding.[/QUOTE]
Yes Genna, I agree with Sano, we also had similar experiances just like you, I was then fortunate in having my father in law come along with us to Italian agents and it was a total different ball game, as to when my husband and I were seeing other agents that were not Italian, and if you did not want what they wanted to show you, or you did not like what they showed you, I found them really offensive and damn well rude, so if I had to do it all again, I would only use Italian agents:)