Summer reruns have been a feature of video entertainment since the earliest days of TV, and they continue to this day in the digital sphere. Missed your favorite show or favorite news presenter? – not to worry, wait until the summer season and voilà, there it would be—replays, copies, streaming, 24 -was famous for reruns of his greatest hits.) It’s the end of August, just about the end of summer and we have picked out a few of our best tidbits you may have missed. If you like the tidbit, you can always click on our home page under “Blog” and access the whole thing. Happy Replays!

(this one is a bit philosophical)

YOUR PROPERTY IN ITALY – published September 18, 2018

“…..If you are reading this blog now and/or scrolling through our website, it is probably fair to say that you have had at least a glimmer idea of checking out Italian real estate. Maybe you haven’t even parsed out the why or the what of it, but……anyway it has attracted your interest. We are here to present some ideas for you to consider, not to sell you a house (well, not quite true – we would LOVE to sell you a house). What we really want to do however is to open some thought channels down which perhaps you haven’t gone……………………….

…….Next question is why are you doing this? Remember this is a significant, perhaps a long-term move, not a tourist jaunt! There are those who have always dreamed of a life in Italy – some want to be young when they do it, some want to be older. Another group are those who are making the move for work purposes – whether in the private or the public sector. This requires facing the Italian bureaucracy juggernaut, but as with a lot of stuff in Italy, a little bit of “help from a friend” goes a long way. Read that, lawyers and consultants abound here to smooth the way; you’ll pay but it will save your sanity. The last group are those who are looking to an exotic second career, while living in Italy. These are usually those who have ideas of a B & B or an agrituristic place, whether located in the country, small town or city. This route requires nerves of steel as you negotiate medieval business rules on top of the usual taxing requirements. Fore-warned is fore-armed (as they say)…..”

(This bit is a quasi-fun one)

THE ITALIAN POST OFFICE – published May 26, 2019

“..…Today, the Post Office retains traditional and online services, in addition to correspondence, packages, speed mail. The Post Office is also an important conduit for government services such as pensions, passports and other social services. Whew – the Italian Post Office really does a lot!

………..So…..how do you access this center of everything important? The neighborhood PT’s are all over Italy, in large and small cities and villages. All services are provided in every center. Provision of services has really improved over recent years, with differentiated, number-driven lines instead of the unitary one which at times was so long that social groups grew up with friendships formed, bagged lunches carried in! Elderly persons arriving to collect pensions were given seats and their place in line was informally held. You learned never to get behind a pension collector in those lines, as that tended to be V E R Y slow. Additionally, the heat was good in the winter and the air conditioning welcome in the summer. I even learned some rudimentary Italian and got lots of advice about life in general while waiting….”

(this bit is a practical, nuts and bolts one)

SURVIVAL INTERVIEW: an Australian couple who purchased a holiday home in Italy – August 17, 2018

………..We present here an interview with an Australian couple who purchased a holiday home in Soriano nel Cimino, Lazio. (see our blog detailing Soriano) They have shared their experiences with us about doing an international real estate transaction in Italy. It’s a very personal, witty, accessible and fascinating tale which takes the experience out of the realm of “maybe, just maybe” to “I think I can”. (just like the Little Engine That Could)

What started your thinking about buying in Italy? Dreams / reality/ combo?

………..A series of life events led to what has become a part of our lives. We had visited Italy several times as tourists; we started to learn the Italian language, and of course that meant to practice the language you need to return to Italy; a life changing event, namely illness, intervened and, after recovery and a small insurance pay out, it seemed that it was time for some “insanity”. Buying a property in Italy was just that total sense of “throwing caution to the wind”. But to be truthful, we knew buying a property in Italy was possible because a friend had done it.

Role of your real estate agent?

………..Our real estate agent was critical to the success of the project.  She never spoke to us in English, but her Italian was slow and clear and the only surprise we got was a pleasant one.  She had told us the tax on the transfer was 10% but it was only 10% of the government value which was less than half the purchase price. She also helped us open a bank account and secure an Italian tax code card (codice fiscale).

So there you are, three reruns from our Blog series on our website Just go to the home page and click on Blog. See you next time for the beginning of our fall series!

Homepage – Casa Capital Investment

 

Kathleen Ventre