Salutoni a tutti...

Hope to be of help in answering any questions about the house buying process in Italy.

I'm assuming you are in the Marche region. Don't you have to put down 50% to buy?
We (me and 2 others) are racking our brains trying to think of a business in Italy. M had suggested real estate in Puglia (best steaks, best wine, the university etc). something like a bed and breakfast.
just curious. thanks.

I'm assuming you are in the Marche region. Don't you have to put down 50% to buy?
We (me and 2 others) are racking our brains trying to think of a business in Italy (my husband is from Rome). My husband had suggested real estate in Puglia (best steaks, best wine, the university etc). something like a bed and breakfast.
just curious. thanks.

Yes we operate in the Marche where we provide sales, project design/management and renovation. We have an office in the UK and also cover other regions in Italy to provide conveyancing and other services as well. I have also written and published articles about the house buying process in Italy and also sit on a panel of experts that answers questions from potential buyers.

There are no written rules about how much to pay as a deposit, but normally when you make an offer, you will be expected to pay a deposit (deposito cauzionale) of around 10% of the asking price.

You will then pay a further 20% to 30% when signing the compromesso (preliminary contract) and the balance is paid at completion.

You can sometimes skip the first 2 stages and go straight for completion, although this very much depends on the circumstances.

A lot of people chase (and get carried away by) the dream of running their own agriturismo or B&B, but you have to be very realistic as it requires a massive up front investment and is very hard work. There is a lot of competition as there are too many places chasing too many visitors. Normally you can expect to attract business from April to September (October at a push) plus Christmas and New Year. Winter is the quietest period yet it is the time when most of your heaviest payments will be made.

Don’t expect to make a living from this sort of activity from day one. It takes about 3-4 years to get well established, even in the most popular tourist aeas.