I also agree with all the good advice above. If at all possible I would recommend the approach taken by Angie & Robert, i.e. buy somewhere already restored (we did the same). I think an interesting question potential buyers would do well to ask themselves is "Were this 'ruin' in the UK, would I buy it and take on its restoration/rebuilding?". If the answer is anything but an unhesitant YES, then consider that there will be the additional problems of laws that you do not know, building methods with which you are completely unfamiliar, tradesmen you don't know and language issues (and how these could be (ab)used by the unscrupulous!) - plus you may or may not be on site for the work. IMHO restoration is a game best played by those with good nerves and deep pockets. Just my 2c worth, maybe I'm just a skinflint coward.
Unfortunately I think the ideal answer would have to be 'yes'. The problem is that you can't be absolutely sure which areas they have got into until they come out - by which time the damage will have been done. However, we have to be realistic about these things - obviously there are a lot of timbers you aren't going to be able to get to anyway, so I think I would treat all surfaces of the timbers you know have been affected and also any nearby, and leave it at that for the moment. Then keep a careful watch for ever (a big advantage of hard floors is that you can easily see if there is any dust). Note however, that this is not professional advice. Oh, and I forgot to say before, generally they can't get into painted or varnished wood (assuming that all surfaces and ends are sealed). If you see any new flight holes in such situations they are usually a sign of an infestation before the paint/varnish was applied. This is then a case for injecting directly into the flight holes, as the adults sometimes lay eggs there.
I'm afraid that injecting the holes is almost a complete waste of time. The holes are called "flight holes" - precisely because they are where the mature adults have come out and flown away, not where the little beggars have got in. So, yes, there might be a little bit of absorption into the timber surrounding the flight holes, but it won't really have much effect. From what I remember the adults, after mating, lay eggs on the rough surface of the wood (or sometimes in old flight holes), these hatch into tiny larvae that burrow their way into the wood, have a good feed while they are growing and maturing, then emerge (I think it's about 4 years later), mate, lay eggs, and so it all starts again. Spraying / brushing and putting up with the smell really is the only effective remedy.
I know you wouldn't be using your 3 x 9Kw anything like all the time, but have you looked into the cost of electricity in Italy? Nowhere as bad as the cost of gas, I'll grant you, but nothing like cheap. Most Italians are, as others have said, very frugal in their use of energy. Incidentally we found the 3Kw difficult at first (for 140 sqm of living space), so we have upgraded - we've now got 4.5Kw. And it's ample. The main breaker has only tripped once since we upgraded (about 5 years ago). Incidentally it used to be the case (and may well still be) that your standing charge was calculated on the basis of the Kw your contract (and therefore meter) allowed. And there was a lower rate per KwH for residents provided the supply was only 3Kw. This may all have changed though, I don't know.
Sure, the previous owner is still here and is definitely known to the old man (both families have been in the village for generations). There is no building on the land. The road is said to be the Comune's, on the catastal map it has a name but no particella number (never thought about that for roads!). On the catastal map where land is confinant with a property it has no separate particella, and there is a tilda-type symbol on the border line. For our plot that is definitely not the case. I would prefer not to pursue the seller in any other than the most friendly way because, as I said, he is a personal friend. He is also a really nice, straight and honest man. The lawyer is more a stronzo than anything else. Talking to friends in the village, I seem to be far from alone in this opinion. The father is another matter entirely, he is as far as I can tell very pleasant, though you can never ignore the fact that blood is thicker than water. As things stand, I can't envisage falling out with the old man, but sometimes these sort of things can spiral out of control very quickly. Even if they do go out of control, I would be very reluctant to take it out on the old man (by, for example, throwing him off without any notice). I also suspect that such steps (whatever the justification we percieve) would to some extent alienate us from the many friends we have here. Your last para puzzles me - certainly he goes there only to cultivate the land (he lives about 100 metres away) and there would be no possibility of living there. But what is the difference here between possession and usucapione?
Thanks so much for your advice so far, things are slowly becoming clearer. Fillide: The wording of the atto is firstly that the house and land are sold"nello stato di fatto e di diritto in cui attualmente si trovaquano venduto, con tutti i diritti, azioni, ragioni, usi e servitù, così come dalla parte venditrice si possiede, nulla escluso ed eccettuato". In the next article it says"Dichiara e garantisce la parte venditrice che quanto venduto le spettava in piena ed assoluta proprietà, per giusti e legemitti titoli e che è libero di pesi, vincoli, ipoteche, trascrizioni dannose e pregiudizievoli, gravami qualsiasi che ne possano comunque diminuire il valore, volendo in caso contrario rispondere della evizione e dei danni come per legge." Ram: I don't know if he has ever paid rent for the land, probably not. He most definitely knew the previous owners (a native villager who has moved to a smaller house in another part of the village - and incidentally a social friend of ours). The cultivator is 83 years old, but seeing as his mother is still alive and lives with him and his wife, waiting for him to die may not be the best thing. Anyway, some research I have just done (now I know the term 'usucapione') implies that the time 'served' for usucapione can be inherited. Not sure what 'poderal' and 'interpoderal' mean, but the overgrown 'road' that completely separates our house from the land is definitely the property of the Comune. General: I will be going for a chat with the previous owner over the next few days (assuming he's not away on holiday). From what I remember of the story the present cultivator took over the land from his (the cultivator's) cousin when he died - but I doubt that this was 'inheritance' in the legal sense. I suspect the time of this to be less than 20 years ago. Another little wrinkle is that the house was restored by the previous owners (the Building Permit was granted in 1990) and access would have been very difficult - the apparently easiest solution could have been to have a tower crane on the piece of land in question, lifting materials from a white road situated below the village walls. IF this is the case, it is likely that all or a large part of the land will have been used by the previous owners for a considerable amount of time (at least I year, I would have thought) in or after 1990. I'll check this out with the previous owner as well. Thanks in advance for any more insights .....
My last payment was July 31st.........£2,000 + £4 fee (total £2,004) left one of my UK accounts. Amount received here in my Italian Bank account = 2,239.20euros. (exchange rate 1.117)
I use HiFX, and they send me a daily email showing the previus day's rates. Looking at 31 July their rates were LOW 1.1928 and HIGH 1.2043. Let's be pessimistic and say you bought at exactly the low point of the day, you'd have got 1.1928. Now, that is not the rate they give you, but for larger quantities (£10,000) they usually come in about 1 cent less. So for that sort of amount you'd have got something like 1.18 to 1.19, as opposed to your 1.117 - a big difference in my view. Oh and on these larger sums, no charges whatsoever. I exchanged money on 23 June, when there was LOW 1.2061 and HIGH 1.2192, and I got 1.2018. So, is there any way you can do fewer but bigger transfers?
Can't help you find a doctor, I'm afraid, as we don't live in Abruzzo. However if you take the leaflet from your present medication to a doctor he/she should be perfectly capable of working out what it is (and what your condition is) and prescribing something similar. However, be aware that the doctor may just refer you to a specialist at the nearest hospital (who would be likely to speak some English). As for costs, my wife has had hypertension since before she came here - no problems with obtaining equivalent drugs (obviously brand names may change) and they are completely free.
What's the connection between legal residency and health insurance? I don't see it... I think you should focus on your residency and an affordable health insurance separately.
The connection betwen the two is as follows. Italy wish to ensure that residents of other EU countries are not an unwarranted drain on resources. There are two factors, both viewed as short-term matters. The first is that you have enough income to live on in, the second is that you won't be a drain on the SSN (i.e. Health Service). The current legislation requires you to 'prove' both of these before you will be granted residency. If you are neither state-retired in the UK nor working here in Italy, then you will have to prove both - the first by a bank statement showing enough capital (or, if you are lucky, self-declaration that you have it), the second by PHI (because intra-EU cover is emergency services only). Once you have got residency, you then have to wait 5 years before being admitted to the SSN (or if you start work in the meantime you go straight in at that point. What happens if you pass retirement age during the 5 years I don't know). In this interim period you aren't in the SSN, so you will only have emergency cover unless you renew your PHI. This is the current, theoretical system. It didn't used to be like this (changed in 2007 I think), and not all comunes fully understand the legislation, so a few lucky people will slip through by mistake.
I doubt there are areas that require mandatory health insurance for getting permanent residency.
What you have written is true. You don't require PHI to get permanent residence. Other way round, in fact. Permanent residence is what you get after the 5 years, that then entitles you to join the SSN.
Castel> One tip for longevity of your electric plug ins, mark one side of the plug as top, that way you avoid reversing the polarity every time you plug in. I'm completely puzzled by this. What possible difference can it make?
Comments posted
I also agree with all the good advice above. If at all possible I would recommend the approach taken by Angie & Robert, i.e. buy somewhere already restored (we did the same). I think an interesting question potential buyers would do well to ask themselves is "Were this 'ruin' in the UK, would I buy it and take on its restoration/rebuilding?". If the answer is anything but an unhesitant YES, then consider that there will be the additional problems of laws that you do not know, building methods with which you are completely unfamiliar, tradesmen you don't know and language issues (and how these could be (ab)used by the unscrupulous!) - plus you may or may not be on site for the work. IMHO restoration is a game best played by those with good nerves and deep pockets. Just my 2c worth, maybe I'm just a skinflint coward.
Unfortunately I think the ideal answer would have to be 'yes'. The problem is that you can't be absolutely sure which areas they have got into until they come out - by which time the damage will have been done. However, we have to be realistic about these things - obviously there are a lot of timbers you aren't going to be able to get to anyway, so I think I would treat all surfaces of the timbers you know have been affected and also any nearby, and leave it at that for the moment. Then keep a careful watch for ever (a big advantage of hard floors is that you can easily see if there is any dust). Note however, that this is not professional advice. Oh, and I forgot to say before, generally they can't get into painted or varnished wood (assuming that all surfaces and ends are sealed). If you see any new flight holes in such situations they are usually a sign of an infestation before the paint/varnish was applied. This is then a case for injecting directly into the flight holes, as the adults sometimes lay eggs there.
I'm afraid that injecting the holes is almost a complete waste of time. The holes are called "flight holes" - precisely because they are where the mature adults have come out and flown away, not where the little beggars have got in. So, yes, there might be a little bit of absorption into the timber surrounding the flight holes, but it won't really have much effect. From what I remember the adults, after mating, lay eggs on the rough surface of the wood (or sometimes in old flight holes), these hatch into tiny larvae that burrow their way into the wood, have a good feed while they are growing and maturing, then emerge (I think it's about 4 years later), mate, lay eggs, and so it all starts again. Spraying / brushing and putting up with the smell really is the only effective remedy.
I know you wouldn't be using your 3 x 9Kw anything like all the time, but have you looked into the cost of electricity in Italy? Nowhere as bad as the cost of gas, I'll grant you, but nothing like cheap. Most Italians are, as others have said, very frugal in their use of energy. Incidentally we found the 3Kw difficult at first (for 140 sqm of living space), so we have upgraded - we've now got 4.5Kw. And it's ample. The main breaker has only tripped once since we upgraded (about 5 years ago). Incidentally it used to be the case (and may well still be) that your standing charge was calculated on the basis of the Kw your contract (and therefore meter) allowed. And there was a lower rate per KwH for residents provided the supply was only 3Kw. This may all have changed though, I don't know.
Sure, the previous owner is still here and is definitely known to the old man (both families have been in the village for generations). There is no building on the land. The road is said to be the Comune's, on the catastal map it has a name but no particella number (never thought about that for roads!). On the catastal map where land is confinant with a property it has no separate particella, and there is a tilda-type symbol on the border line. For our plot that is definitely not the case. I would prefer not to pursue the seller in any other than the most friendly way because, as I said, he is a personal friend. He is also a really nice, straight and honest man. The lawyer is more a stronzo than anything else. Talking to friends in the village, I seem to be far from alone in this opinion. The father is another matter entirely, he is as far as I can tell very pleasant, though you can never ignore the fact that blood is thicker than water. As things stand, I can't envisage falling out with the old man, but sometimes these sort of things can spiral out of control very quickly. Even if they do go out of control, I would be very reluctant to take it out on the old man (by, for example, throwing him off without any notice). I also suspect that such steps (whatever the justification we percieve) would to some extent alienate us from the many friends we have here. Your last para puzzles me - certainly he goes there only to cultivate the land (he lives about 100 metres away) and there would be no possibility of living there. But what is the difference here between possession and usucapione?
Thanks so much for your advice so far, things are slowly becoming clearer. Fillide: The wording of the atto is firstly that the house and land are sold"nello stato di fatto e di diritto in cui attualmente si trovaquano venduto, con tutti i diritti, azioni, ragioni, usi e servitù, così come dalla parte venditrice si possiede, nulla escluso ed eccettuato". In the next article it says"Dichiara e garantisce la parte venditrice che quanto venduto le spettava in piena ed assoluta proprietà, per giusti e legemitti titoli e che è libero di pesi, vincoli, ipoteche, trascrizioni dannose e pregiudizievoli, gravami qualsiasi che ne possano comunque diminuire il valore, volendo in caso contrario rispondere della evizione e dei danni come per legge." Ram: I don't know if he has ever paid rent for the land, probably not. He most definitely knew the previous owners (a native villager who has moved to a smaller house in another part of the village - and incidentally a social friend of ours). The cultivator is 83 years old, but seeing as his mother is still alive and lives with him and his wife, waiting for him to die may not be the best thing. Anyway, some research I have just done (now I know the term 'usucapione') implies that the time 'served' for usucapione can be inherited. Not sure what 'poderal' and 'interpoderal' mean, but the overgrown 'road' that completely separates our house from the land is definitely the property of the Comune. General: I will be going for a chat with the previous owner over the next few days (assuming he's not away on holiday). From what I remember of the story the present cultivator took over the land from his (the cultivator's) cousin when he died - but I doubt that this was 'inheritance' in the legal sense. I suspect the time of this to be less than 20 years ago. Another little wrinkle is that the house was restored by the previous owners (the Building Permit was granted in 1990) and access would have been very difficult - the apparently easiest solution could have been to have a tower crane on the piece of land in question, lifting materials from a white road situated below the village walls. IF this is the case, it is likely that all or a large part of the land will have been used by the previous owners for a considerable amount of time (at least I year, I would have thought) in or after 1990. I'll check this out with the previous owner as well. Thanks in advance for any more insights .....
I use HiFX, and they send me a daily email showing the previus day's rates. Looking at 31 July their rates were LOW 1.1928 and HIGH 1.2043. Let's be pessimistic and say you bought at exactly the low point of the day, you'd have got 1.1928. Now, that is not the rate they give you, but for larger quantities (£10,000) they usually come in about 1 cent less. So for that sort of amount you'd have got something like 1.18 to 1.19, as opposed to your 1.117 - a big difference in my view. Oh and on these larger sums, no charges whatsoever. I exchanged money on 23 June, when there was LOW 1.2061 and HIGH 1.2192, and I got 1.2018. So, is there any way you can do fewer but bigger transfers?
Can't help you find a doctor, I'm afraid, as we don't live in Abruzzo. However if you take the leaflet from your present medication to a doctor he/she should be perfectly capable of working out what it is (and what your condition is) and prescribing something similar. However, be aware that the doctor may just refer you to a specialist at the nearest hospital (who would be likely to speak some English). As for costs, my wife has had hypertension since before she came here - no problems with obtaining equivalent drugs (obviously brand names may change) and they are completely free.
The connection betwen the two is as follows. Italy wish to ensure that residents of other EU countries are not an unwarranted drain on resources. There are two factors, both viewed as short-term matters. The first is that you have enough income to live on in, the second is that you won't be a drain on the SSN (i.e. Health Service). The current legislation requires you to 'prove' both of these before you will be granted residency. If you are neither state-retired in the UK nor working here in Italy, then you will have to prove both - the first by a bank statement showing enough capital (or, if you are lucky, self-declaration that you have it), the second by PHI (because intra-EU cover is emergency services only). Once you have got residency, you then have to wait 5 years before being admitted to the SSN (or if you start work in the meantime you go straight in at that point. What happens if you pass retirement age during the 5 years I don't know). In this interim period you aren't in the SSN, so you will only have emergency cover unless you renew your PHI. This is the current, theoretical system. It didn't used to be like this (changed in 2007 I think), and not all comunes fully understand the legislation, so a few lucky people will slip through by mistake.
What you have written is true. You don't require PHI to get permanent residence. Other way round, in fact. Permanent residence is what you get after the 5 years, that then entitles you to join the SSN.
Castel> One tip for longevity of your electric plug ins, mark one side of the plug as top, that way you avoid reversing the polarity every time you plug in. I'm completely puzzled by this. What possible difference can it make?