Lisa C.'s activity

Thanks so much for the information pertaining to dual nationals, Charlotte.  It is very helpful.

Charlotte, For those of us who are dual citizens (USA/Italy), if we reside in Italy does this mean that assets would automatically be considered as those of an Italian citizen?

No Fillide, It's quite the opposite situation - I have been pushing to move back to Italy ever since we left in 1983.  My husband is the one who has some mixed feelings about being away from our kids full-time but we have sorted that out and come up with a plan that is workable for him.  I absolutely love Italy and feel that I was born on the wrong continent. I spent 4 1/2 years there and my husband eight.  I also spent a few years amassing documents so that we could obtain our dual citizenship, which we now have.  My husband is also able to practice in Italy since he went to school there and  passed all of his exams for licensure, if he so chooses once we move over.   I am also not sure what you mean about if we have dollars that we have been getting richer by the day but that now perhaps the euro is less favorable.  Until the last few months, the euro to dollar was terrible. The exchange rate for the British was and still is, much more favorable than for Americans and the price of houses in Le Marche is significantly more than what my house in the US is worth so when we do sell it we will have to use some of our retirement savings in addition to the sale of our home to fund our Italian house, unless we are fortunate enough to be able to sell our business. My husband thinks that to buy the house to demolish is a great thing to do if the price comes down.  I have a more cautious nature and want to know what we would be getting into before making such a leap.  I don't think after hearing horror stories about building that it is wise to just go ahead and purchase a derelict house and not have fully researched all that is would entail to bring a new house to fruition.  Our Italian friend had taken us aside after we showed him the property and gone there with his mason brother-in-law and recommended we think long and hard about property rebuilding as he has been down this road and said it can lead to a lot of heartache. He is presently building on his property another building to potentially use for his children and he has said it has already cost him much more than he bargained for.  In fact, he has been trying to get us to buy a small, restored townhouse in the village that is available for a good price but my husband will not consider it as he must have a garden to putter in right outside the house.  He said he would feel trapped in a house that had no land around it to go outside to.  Where we live in the States, we have about 5 hectares of land and a small vineyard and he has ample space for all of his projects. My husband is the one who gets very frustrated that we have spent a long time searching for a house and that we haven't found anything yet except this property so he is ready to jump and buy it.  He feels that perhaps we are not "meant" to be in Le Marche since it has been so difficult to find what we want but I am much more of an optimist and think that whether it is this property or another, that something will eventually come along. He has also said on occasion that others seem to have an easier time finding something but then they are in a location that he does not like i.e. down a long, white road and too isolated.  We have spent some time researching a few areas of Italy and Le Marche is an area we both really like.  My husband also likes Basilicata, where most of his family is from and we may reconsider it if we can't find what we are looking for.  We do still have 4 years before retiring. Anyway, I hope this clarifies things a bit.  It just gets a bit overwhelming getting so much conflicting information at times.  

Thank  you Rachel, Karen and Sebastiano, It seems that people are pretty divided on the best route to go.  The more I read the more confused I get!  I was told by a realtor that we find a habitable or finished house that we must have a civil engineer, not a geometra, inspect the house before purchasing.  We really don't want to spend thousands of dollars on an inspection but would want to be aware of any potential problems beforehand.  In the States, we have building inspectors who do this work for about $400.00 US.  Does anyone like this exist in Italy? Our friend has also told us that it is important to know who the builder was if we were to buy something restored to know the quality of the workmanship.  All of this practically makes me paralyzed as it seems like stepping into a minefield!   I was aware about  prelazione as well.  In fact, a neighbor of a man who has been trying to sell his stone house asked the man to "rent" a piece of his land and they have entered into a 5 year contract.  Our friend thinks that the neighbor may be trying to do something furbo to then have a claim on the property if a buyer comes along.  This is a house we have been considering off and on through the years and this new twist certainly complicates matters. Sebastiano, We would certainly consider buying a ruin that already was on the ground and buildling from scratch but up to now haven't been able to find one that is reasonably priced. 

Hi Lisa C,You probably have reasons for your choice of Marche but just wondered if you have looked further south in Abruzzo,prices here are lower for properties you describe.Abruzzo is a very picturesque region of natural country areas of rolling hillsides,hilltop villages and a little further inland the mountains,which form part of Italys largest national park.Not far from where we are is the historic town of Vasto with its wonderful sandy beaches  along the coastline. Here are many rustico/antico properties in various states of structure,traditional brick or stone,some with large amounts of land.We believe we have found our dream location but everyones criteria is different.Wishing you all the best in finding your dream location. Thanks for the suggestion Atessa, We have been to Northern Abruzzo several times but prefer southern Marche.  However, perhaps on the next trip we will also check out southern Abruzzo and see what we think of it.  I find the Northern part to lack the charm of Le Marche as most of the villages we have seen really did not have much character and the surrounding area had more industry around than I like. 

Thanks Gala, The trick is for me to keep my husband from not getting discouraged.  He is starting to think that maybe we aren''t "meant" to be in Le Marche, since it has been so difficult for us to find something.  I keep telling him that something will eventually turn up and that we have plenty of time.

Hi Penny, We did go to the comune in Montelparo but only asked about houses for sale.  I know in general we have been told that it is very difficult to find buildable land and that you need to have a structure already on it or there is a large tax to pay.  Our friend in Monte Rinaldo showed us the only spot in town there that had buildable land but it faced a block of solar panels and did not have a mountain view. I have sent you a pm Penny.  Thanks so much. Lisa

Thanks for the advice Gala and Ram.  Gala, until this last trip, we hadn't entertained looking at a ruin to demolish and rebuild and I agree with you that I don't know if I now want to deal with sellers who behave this way.  We probably will look at other ruins on our next trip as well as finished houses.  We are on a limited budget, especially now as we still have 4 years or so to retire and move full-time to Italy.  It might be a bit easier if we were in the position to sell our house and business now and have more cash, but that is not possible.  As we have to buy euros in US dollars, until very recently the exchange rate was not favorable for us.  The Brits had much more purchashing power.  We would be happy if we could find a finished house in a location we like but so far that hasn't happened either.  It seems to me that many foreigners have built in remote locations that are difficult to get to in bad weather and too far from the nearest town.  Finding a house with a mountain view, garden area and not far from town is what we are ideally looking for and hopefully something will turn up.  It has been very discouraging up to now.

Flip, No, we certainly don't want to spend 600,000 euros nor can we afford to.  We were hoping to not spend ideally not more than 350,000 if we were to find a restored house (150 square meters or so).  With the current exchange rate (US dollars) that would still be about $437,000 plus realtor fees, taxes, etc.  What I am really trying to find out is if the price to buy a house to demolish and rebuild would be comparable to buying a finished one, but from feedback I am getting it could go either way.  I also wanted to know if the 100,000 euros was a lot for a rustico.  It seems so to us but we haven't looked at many properties to tear down.  I do know that our Italian mason friend spent 75,000 euros for a teardown, but as he is in the business, it would be much cheaper for him than for us.  We also aren't able to get a really straignt answer from him as to a good ballpark range for the total cost to demolish and rebuild and thus were seeking advice from forum members.  We had been told that the going rate was 1200 euros per square meter for rebuilding, but others have said it would be much more.

Fellide and Sebastiano, I wish there were still a grazie button as in the old days.  I really appreciate your advice as well. Yes, I am very concerned about money as I have heard of too many stories were building costs got out of hand and have experience some unpleasant surprises as well when we renovated our house and business.  Everyone here has given me a lot to think about and we will continue to explore both renovated houses as well as possibly building one from scratch.  It would be ideal if one were to come on the market that was in a location and finished to our liking and we do still have a few years to go before moving over.  We have seen, though, over the past 7 years or so, that it is not easy to find what we are looking for and for that reason, we continue to view a few properties anytime we are over.