- Just because it's on the web, it doesn't mean it's for sale (or for sale through that agent). This is probably the biggest single thing we learnt. We trawled diligently through loads of websites, carefully selecting the properties that we thought would meet our needs. And in the end, I don't think we saw one of them. Why? Because as far as I can tell, loads of agents will have the same house (it's not clear whether they have a contract with the owner) and when one sells it (or it comes off the market) nobody tells the other agents. Some 9 months after we agreed to buy it, a quick Google search shows that our house is still on at least three websites.
In our experience, all the websites are good for is to give you an idea of the sort of places the agent might have available. - Choose an agent that will help you to find what you want. How do you know which these are? Well, I think the best thing to do is to tell them what you want and get them to send you details of properties that they have available for you to view. You will soon get a feel of whether they are listening or not (and whether they do have anything suitable). If any of them say they can't tell you in advance (maybe only a few days, but in advance nevertheless), don't waste your time - find somebody else.
- The quality of service provided by an agent is not proportional to the amount they spend on advertising.
- Negotiate on price and other things that matter to you. Make sure you know which things are vital to you and which you are prepared to give away in the negotiation.
- Don't buy a ruin if you want an old house. What you'll get is a pile of stones and a plot on which to build a new house from them. Which is absolutely fine, and probably a lot easier than a restoration, but you won't be buying a piece of history or somewhere with "soul". It's your choice; make it with your eyes open.
- Try and build a rapport with the seller. Chances are if you're buying a ruin or a restoration project that the owner will be local and can help (or hinder) you building successful relationships with the local authorities and community. Remember many of the Comuni where people are buying houses are really small (maybe 1000 people or less)and everybody knows everybody else. If you hack off your vendor, be sure the neighbours and everybody up to the mayor will know about it. In our case, our vendor has proved to be a real gent but that isn't always the case and if it looks like they are going to be a pain to deal with you need to ask yourself if it's worth the hassle (which of course it may be, but at least think about it.)
- Learn some Italian; it really will help relationships with your vendor and many other things and if you have any aptitude for languages it is definitely worth the effort - especially since very few people, even professional people, have more than a few words of English. Learning some Italian will give the practical benefit of not having to go through a translator for every little thing but will also help you build up the personal relationships and trust that are so important to doing business here.[Language will be the subject of a future post]
- Know what you can afford and what your budget is (not necessarily the same thing.) Think about how flexible you can be if something comes up that isn't exactly what you were looking for.
- Take your time. We got lucky (touch wood!) but we were definitely prepared to go home empty handed if we didn't find the right house. It's one of the biggest decisions (at least in financial terms) that most of us will make, so getting it right is more important than getting it done quickly.
There are lots more things but they relate to the subsequent stages and will be covered in later postings.
