Janet and her husband had been thinking about buying abroad for quite a while, both as an investment and as a bolt hole for holiday use.

“We finally decided on Italy as my Mum is Italian,” says Janet. “I speak the language plus I have had a longstanding love affair with the country. Having a home there means that now we can go out fairly regularly – we spent Christmas there and plan to go out for Easter too. We bought in a gated community so we could simply ‘lock up and leave’ – it’s far safer that way when you are living at a distance from the property.”

The couple decided on a small apartment in the Pizzo Beach Club in Calabria. The gated resort also offers a football pitch and tennis courts for those sports fanatics plus a clubhouse with restaurant and bar facilities as well as swimming pools and communal gardens – plus the beach is only a few minutes walk through a lovely pine and eucalyptus forest.

Janet had sourced the Overseas Guides Company on the Internet and had read their comprehensive Property Buying Guide on Italy: “I had dipped in and out of the guide and that helped a lot – it gave me the confidence I needed and I felt well equipped,” she remembers. “But what I did find is that you really do need a trusted person on the ground, and in this respect word of mouth is a good way to go.”

Janet found that people, once abroad and out of their comfort zone, are sometimes far too trusting and also perhaps embarrassed to question estate agents, vendors or developers and this can have disastrous consequences. “It is essential to do your homework before you even think about purchasing abroad,” she adds. “Make sure you have all the relevant information about the country you are purchasing in, plus the legal and tax implications of the country. Although locals can be helpful, don’t rely solely on them, do your own research. A trusted agent or local is advisable for anything that needs attention, especially when trying to deal with matters from the UK. And always allow for a good 10 per cent over and above your budget.”

Janet goes on to suggest that it sometimes pays to deal with the builder direct. “Not easy,” she admits, “but if you can do this you may end up paying considerably less for your property. Remember, everyone wants their money as soon as possible, especially a builder who is waiting for a return on his investment, so it’s worth looking to see if a deal can be done…”

Janet found the bureaucracy endless. “There are always obstacles,” she remembers, “more so when you are dealing with matters in Italy – and I speak the language! Heaven help those who don’t understand what’s going on!” She elaborates: “The property company we dealt with was terrible and most of their clients will bear me out here. Their customer care and aftersales left a lot to be desired, for instance the fridges for all apartments just never materialised. Emails and complaints addressed to management were totally ignored.” She goes on to advise: “I would urge anyone to get everything in writing, and even then – as we found out to our cost – it is not always honoured.

“You also need a really good agent,” she continues, “both to help you with the buying process and to handle the management of your property once bought if you are not going to be living in it full time – luckily we found a person located in the area that is brilliant.”

“A word of warning,” continues Janet: “don’t order ANYTHING until you have completed on your property and are ready to take delivery.” Unfortunately these are words gained from bitter experience: the company that they ordered their furniture from in Italy went into liquidation. Janet elaborates: “We ordered and paid in advance and – with the benefit of hindsight – it was a foolish thing to do, but with the completion date fast approaching we bought on the understanding that we would let them know our delivery date within a short space of time. We lost all the money we had paid for the furniture. I have now bought in UK and will be transporting it all to Italy with the ‘man and van’ recommended by our wonderful Italian management agent.”

For details of more property for sale in Italy, visit the Italy listing 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’