Meet Italy Buying Guide reader Dave Garrison, who moved from the UK to Tuscany just five short months ago. Now fully settled in, Dave discusses the emigration process and what advice he would give to others who are looking to do the same.
Moving to Italy had been a plan of mine for several years. I chose Italy simply because I have always enjoyed visiting the country and I enjoy the culture and environment. Tuscany has it all – mountains, beaches, a national park, wonderful cities, airports and good road and rail connections.
The Overseas Guides Company provided me with a well-established, tried and tested framework for emigration. When scouring the internet looking for advice, many websites I came across advised me to check out the Italy Buying Guide that they produce. I received excellent support from the staff, the impartial advice that I received was invaluable and most importantly, it worked!
I chose the area that I wanted to move to by spending hours scanning the internet and on the advice of OGC, I decided that it would be a good idea to visit the area a few times. I wanted to find an area with a strong and reliable infrastructure of public services which, to me, is essential when establishing a new home.
People looking to move to Italy should be aware that the buying process is a lot different from the UK. However, as long as you follow all the steps advised to the letter and employ a reliable solicitor – you will be fine.
The most important bit of advice that I can give is to enlist the help of Smart Currency Exchange to move your money abroad. I had an excellent service and I still receive a good service from the whole team whenever I need to move money between the UK and Italy. Smart delivered exactly what they said they would do and on time. They were very easy to do business with.
My advice is, treat buying a property in Italy as you would a property in the UK – pay just as much attention to detail. If you do that, all will be okay.
It’s absolutely essential to conduct your own independent research. You will need to have a certain degree of faith in the foreign system but employ the right people to help you and they will be able to guide you through the whole process without any hiccups.
Take your time with your planning to make sure that you are making the right decision for you. It’s essential that you learn the language. Try to enjoy the process, language lessons are a great way of meeting people in a similar boat and learning can be fun!
For details of property for sale in Italy, visit the Italian listings on Rightmove Overseas. One way to save money when buying and restoring property in Italy is to use a currency specialist when transferring your pounds into euros to complete the purchase. For more information on this, contact Smart Currency Exchange.
To understand the full step-by-step process to buying a property in Italy, collect The Overseas Guides Company’s ‘Italy Property Buying Guide’
The views and comments herein are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of Rightmove Overseas, Rightmove Group Ltd or Rightmove Plc