Before You Buy in Italy: A Practical Pre-Purchase Guide for International Buyers
The essential framework for evaluating Italian properties before you commit—so you can say yes (or no) with confidence.
You've been browsing listings. Maybe you've even visited a few properties. Some of them were beautiful—stone walls, terracotta floors, views that made you catch your breath.
But between falling in love with a house and actually living in it comfortably, there's a long road. And that road is full of questions most buyers don't know to ask until they're already committed:
What does "seismic zone 2" mean for your budget and your plans?
Is that charming rural track going to be passable in winter?
What happens if the land boundaries in the Land Registry don't match what the agent told you?
These aren't small details. They're the difference between a property that becomes a comfortable home and one that traps you in an endless cycle of expensive surprises.
Buying in Italy is easy to romanticise and hard to evaluate calmly. This mini‑guide gives you the grounded context you need before you make an offer, so you can tell the difference between a lovely daydream and a property that actually works for your life, budget, and risk tolerance.
Where the free 20 Questions checklist gives you the questions to ask, this guide gives you the stories, trade‑offs, and real‑world nuance behind them.
What’s Inside
Before You Buy in Italy gives you a clear, practical framework for evaluating any Italian property before you make an offer.
It walks you through the major categories of questions you should ask—and helps you understand what the answers actually mean for your life, your budget, and your project.
Think of this as the commentary track to your checklist.
In around an hour of focused reading, you’ll walk through:
Macro vs micro‑location – How to think about region, town/village, and the immediate surroundings so you don’t end up isolated, disappointed, or in the wrong corner of Italy.
Renovation reality – Why most properties need more work than they appear to, what that means for timing and budget, and how to decide whether you’re up for it.
Budget and risk – How to stress‑test your numbers, build in realistic contingencies, and decide what level of uncertainty you’re personally comfortable carrying.
Infrastructure and access – Water, sewer, gas, electricity, heating, roads, winter access, and parking: the unglamorous pieces that make a house actually livable.
Land, legal, and exit – Basics you need in place around land, access, and records, plus how to think about “Who would buy this after us?” before you commit.
The essential framework for evaluating Italian properties before you commit—so you can say yes (or no) with confidence.
This Guide is for You if:
How It Works
Click the button to purchase the guide.
After checkout, you’ll receive an instant PDF download (and an email with the file link), so you can start reading right away.
Use it alongside the free checklist as you research regions, shortlist properties, and prepare for viewings.
It’s priced as a small decision that can help you avoid a very expensive mistake—exactly the kind of thing to read before you fall in love with the wrong house.
✓ You're seriously considering buying property in Italy and want to evaluate options intelligently
✓ You've already started viewing properties but feel unsure what questions to ask
✓ You want to understand what you're really committing to before you fall in love with a house
✓ You're tired of vague advice and want practical, grounded guidance from someone who's been through it
A complete 13-page mini-guide (PDF) covering all major pre-purchase considerations
Clear, practical explanations of financing, location, infrastructure, and structure
Real-world context and red-flag examples from 20+ years of buying and renovating in Italy
A framework you can use at viewings, with your geometra, and when comparing properties
Instant download—read it today, use it at your next viewing
How this fits with the free checklist
The free checklist helps you ask 20 smart questions on every property you see.
This mini‑guide helps you understand what the answers mean and how to interpret them for your situation.
If you found the checklist helpful and now want more help on the “so what?” behind each area, this guide is the next step.
The essential framework for evaluating Italian properties before you commit—so you can say yes (or no) with confidence.
Your Questions, Answered
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No. The free checklist gives you 20 questions to ask. This guide gives you the context, explanations, and red-flag examples behind each one—so you understand why each question matters and what to do with the answers.
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No. This is a focused mini‑guide drawn from the same experience and material as the full book, but it only covers the pre‑purchase stage—location, infrastructure, structure, risk, and whether a property is right for you. The full book goes much wider (searching, buying, renovating, living with the house long‑term), while this guide zooms in on the “Should we even move forward with this place?” question.
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The guide is a PDF you can download immediately after purchase. It’s designed to be easy to read on a tablet or laptop and simple to print if you like paper copies. You can use it alongside the free 20 Questions checklist on viewings, or while you’re still comparing properties from home.
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Yes. If you’ve already made an offer but haven’t signed the compromesso or completed due diligence, this guide can still help you stress‑test your decision. Use it to revisit the big questions around location, infrastructure, renovation scope, and risk before you move further down the path—better to confirm that this is the right house now than to discover mis‑matches later