Mr K Shelton
Buying your first house in Italy is a real experience. Don’t expect it to be like buying a house in England. Don’t try & compare their system, process and documents with ours and don’t expect them to work like we would like them to .. this is Italy .. you do it the Italian way.
Do read up about it and do talk to people who have done it .. but ultimately you need to understand what happens at each step, what needs to be done .. and you have to learn to trust the system.
Building this trust is where Vignaverde are invaluable and where the team earns it’s fee!
They know the country, the region, the commune, the people, the properties and the local system.
From the outset it is clear that they want to build a relationship with you that will progress beyond the purchase, into the restoration and then eventually into welcoming you into their community. For this reason they have a vested interest in doing the best job they can for you and making sure that everything is done correctly and properly … ultimately they have to .. you might be their neighbour when all is done & finished!
In the initial visits to view properties they are excellent at determining what you are looking for (even when you are not sure) showing you different options and showing you the potential of the property & the land….. let them show you the property you had discarded when viewing online .. it might be your ‘dream house’ .. it was for us.
Pino, the associated Geometra clearly has a huge passion for the correct and proper restoration of property in Abruzzo properties, there are many examples of their work in the region for you to look at and get ideas and confidence that these guys know what to do .. and do it to a high standard. He will talk you through his thoughts about what could & should be done to a property .. but don’t expect too much commitment as to potential costs at the outset .. that comes later!
When you decide to take the step to buy, they help you understand the system and will advise and help you work out the best route through the maze of Italian rules & regulations. The Vignaverde team has all of the skills and professional capability to support you through your purchase. They did an excellent job for us, sorting out the complexity of current ownership of the land and property and creating the contractual documentation required for the purchase. They sorted out all of the financial aspects, provided the translation services and guided us through the formal legal steps. They also provided contacts for us to talk to, people going through the same process for us to do a ‘sanity check’ with .. and other professionals, not part of Vignaverde, for us to get 2nd opinions from.
This network that the Vignaverde team has built up is invaluable and covers all aspects of the purchase and restoration of a property from travel and local accommodation, architects/engineers, tradesmen, Banking & Finance etc.
At the time our house purchase felt nerve racking, very strange and different, and sometimes downright dubious and crazy …. Looking back it was remarkably painless and we are now the proud owners of a wonderful house .. well .. ‘project’ in the most beautiful region in Italy.