I remember the exact moment it hit me: we had no idea what we were doing. The real estate agent had driven us 120 km/h down a winding country road to a home we hadn’t asked to see. We stood outside, staring up at the crumbling stone facade, trying to act like we understood what the owner was saying about the roof. We didn’t, but we smiled and nodded anyway.

Our first (naive) attempt at house-hunting in Italy

Let me rewind a bit. A few years ago, my mom and I took a trip to explore northern and southern Italy, just to get a taste of the different homes and lifestyles. At the time, we were hoping to see larger homes for multi-generational living. My mom was very drawn to Lake Como and the surrounding areas, as it reminded her of living on the Puget Sound in Seattle. I found the constant rain a bit too similar to Oregon, but loved the autumn colors.

We thought we were prepared. We chatted with a real estate agent via email and Zoom before arriving, and shared links to about 10 homes we found on Idealista.it (one of the the most popular sites for home listings in Italy). When we arrived, however, the agent only had 3 homes for us to visit. Three.

One big difference we noticed between viewing homes in Italy vs the US is that the owners are often present for the tours. They wanted to share all the details, proudly opening closets and ushering us into attics, every nook and cranny. We learned that many Italians view their homes as an extension of the family, so we tried to enter with respect and stay engaged during the tours.

None of the houses were quite right. One smelled like mildew, one had ceilings so low I nearly gave myself a concussion, but it was all part of the adventure.

Next we made our way down to Puglia, staying in Polignano a Mare. Immediately, I felt the people were much warmer, as was the weather. Once again, we met up with a local real estate agent. The plan was to view 8-10 homes, including some in Ostuni and Ceglie Messapica. But once again, the agent only had 3 to show us, and none of them had been on our list. Starting to see a pattern here?

Here’s where we had our “we have no idea what we’re doing” moment. Real estate agents in Italy don’t really work the same way as they do in the US. Sometimes they collaborate with other agents, but they mainly focus on the homes listed within their own agency. Basically, if we wanted to see 10 different homes, we may have needed to meet with the 10 different listing agents.

Why We Hired a Relocation Specialist

While the trip wasn’t a total success, it was a great learning experience. We fell in love with Puglia and knew we wanted to continue our search there. But we realized we needed help. A lot of help. So hiring a relocation specialist was our next step, and the best decision we made. Here’s why:

Your Single Point of Contact: Most real estate agents in Italy will only show you homes from their own agency, which explains why we kept getting shown random houses we’d never asked to see. You’ll end up juggling multiple agents and their schedules, or you can hire a relocation specialist to be your single point of contact who actually works for you.

Good Luck With That Phone Call: We sent so many emails into the void that I started wondering if our email was broken. Crickets. Phone calls are the way to go, but without being fluent in Italian it’s going to be a challenge. Having someone who can communicate and ask all the right questions was essential.

The Inside Scoop: Online listings won’t tell you that this area floods, that neighborhood gets incredibly crowded in summer, or that your dream house sits directly under the church bell tower. Having someone who knows the real story about different towns and regions is invaluable.

Navigate the Paperwork Maze: Italy has its own special way of doing property transactions, with regulations and procedures that would make your head spin. A relocation specialist can guide you through the legal maze and have your back from start to finish – because you really don’t want to mess this part up.

Your Italian Dream Team: We were surprised at how many people we needed to hire throughout the process: notaries, geometras, agents, immigration lawyers, etc. Having someone else assemble a squad of reliable people took a huge weight off our shoulders.

Beyond the House Hunting: There’s so much more to moving than house hunting. A good relocation specialist can help with the immigration process, rentals, utilities, doctor appointments, neighbor squabbles, translations…all the fun stuff that comes with starting over somewhere new.

Peace of Mind: No more panic googling at 2 AM wondering if you’re doing everything wrong. Having an expert in your corner to answer questions and walk you through the process gives you the peace of mind to actually enjoy the experience.

We set up consultations with a few different relocation agencies, but one person stood out as the best fit for our family. She was amazing!

The Second Trip Success

Before the trip, we chatted with her every week, sharing our wants and needs for a home, exchanging properties we liked online, and creating a giant spreadsheet with all our favorites. Unlike in the US, there is no MLS (Multiple Listing Service), so you have to really dig through the internet to find homes. The main websites we used were Idealista, Immobiliare, and Gate-Away.

She reached out to all the real estate agents to discover more about each listing (and actually got a response, wow!). We ran into a lot of roadblocks along the planning process: finding out certain homes needed more work than advertised, other homes were listed online but had already sold, etc. Our list definitely dwindled down along the way, but with the help of our relocation specialist we scheduled almost 20 viewings for our second house-hunting trip. And with her by our side, we felt confident we would actually get to see them!

Around the third day of our trip, we stepped into a home we all instantly felt could be “the one.” More on that next time!

If you’re planning a move to Italy and would like a referral to the relocation specialist we worked with, reach out here. She’s currently offering free consultations to my readers, and I’d be happy to introduce you!

xo
Allegra