If you’ve been following me for a while, you are already aware of how to find and what you need to know before you start looking for a property to buy in Italy.
I can assure you that, before you start to wander through the web, it is useful for you know another fundamental aspect, often completely overlooked.
I’m almost certain you will not find anywhere else the suggestion I am about to share with you in this article, related to the real estate world, because only a few really put themselves in the shoes of those who, from a foreign country, want to find a property to buy here in the “Bel Paese”.
Several real estate operators and programmers of websites dedicated to the search for properties in Italy completely overlook this aspect.
I’ll start by explaining how Italy is politically divided.
The entire Italian territory is subdivided into 20 regions (Tuscany, Liguria, Puglia, Lombardy, Valle d’Aosta, Piedmont, Veneto, Trentino Alto Adige, Friuli Venezia Giulia, Emilia Romagna, Marche, Umbria, Abruzzo, Molise, Lazio, Campania, Calabria, Basilicata, Sicily, Sardinia).
– Each Region is divided into Provinces.
Tuscany, for example, is divided into 10 provinces (Livorno, Pisa, Florence, Siena, Arezzo, Lucca, Grosseto, Prato, Pistoia, Massa Carrara).
– Each Province is divided into Municipalities.
Consider that in Italy there are almost 8,000 municipalities, way too many to mention all of them in such a small article
But, to find a property to buy in Italy.. why is it important to be aware of all this?
Let me show you a practical example to help you understand:
Before moving to Tuscany with my family, we lived in northern Italy, between Milan and Como.
I often came across foreign investors, interested in buying close by the Como Lake, but few of them knew that Como Lake covers 2 provinces (Como Province and Lecco Province) and almost 20 municipalities.
Almost all real the estate websites and private real estate agency sites offer foreign investors the same way of searching.
The procedure is, more or less, the following:
Suppose you intend to buy a property in Chianti, Tuscany.
You enter any real estate website, and the first information you are asked to provide to search for your ideal property is related to its geographical location.
The search menus ask you in sequence:
- In which region are you looking for?
- In which province are you looking for?
- In which municipality are you looking for?
You should know that Chianti includes 2 Provinces and many Municipalities.
So you should “search” on that web portal, one by one, each municipality to “find” your ideal property to buy in Italy.
You can realize how long and convoluted the search becomes if we also add that, in 90% of cases, these systems are not even programmed to allow the customer to perform a multiple search allowing to simultaneously extrapolate properties located in multiple provinces and municipalities.
When referring to the real estate portals dedicated to those like you looking for a property to buy in Italy, almost no one has yet thought of creating a system that would fit the needs of the ultimate user.
It’ s useful for you to know this aspect because, I’m sure, it will be very useful for your research.
Now you are 100% aware on how to find a property to buy in Italy! Continue to follow my blog dedicated to those who want to invest in Italy.
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