{"id":2222,"date":"2020-05-24T09:30:32","date_gmt":"2020-05-24T09:30:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rosiemeleady.com\/?p=2222"},"modified":"2020-05-25T10:40:56","modified_gmt":"2020-05-25T10:40:56","slug":"buying-a-house-in-italy-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rosiemeleady.com\/index.php\/buying-a-house-in-italy-part-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Buying a House In Italy Part 2 \u2013 The Offer"},"content":{"rendered":"

We hadn\u2019t really planned to find a house so early in our pre-preliminary-pre-search stage. <\/span><\/p>\n

But here we were, going to an estate agent to sign something, about something to do with buying a house with a lot of potential if you squint. <\/span><\/p>\n

We walked down the centre office aisle lined with five or six agents at their desks to a back glass partitioned office. I wasn\u2019t imagining it, they were definitely staring at us with awe and big smiles. I was having my red carpet moment, I felt there was a strong possibility of a spondanious standing ovation. \u2018Brava, BRAVA for buying the unsellable house, you are so brave \u2026 (or possibly stupid), but Brava anyway for taking it off our hands \u2026 you mad Irish.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

Mario the head Estate agent and Laura his assistant who also acts as translator, sits opposite us at the boardroom table.<\/span><\/p>\n

First we established that we want to include the field with planning in the sale. I fancy the idea of having a big garden with no possibility of someone else coming along and leaving a half built house beside ours. <\/span><\/p>\n

There is a four page standard, but very detailed, form produced by the estate agency to be completed, called the ‘Proposta Di Acquisto’ which means ‘Purchase Proposal’.\u00a0 We are thankfully given an english version. He starts to ask us questions, name, date of birth, country of residency \u2026 I know all these answers we are doing well. He hands me the Italian version to check the details. In the area where it says we commit to buy the property, the price entered is 130k. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis is incorrect\u201d I say. Laura translates.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe never offered 130, it was 120.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNo it was 130\u201d, he says via Laura.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNo it was definitely 120. I know it was 120, as I don\u2019t know how to say 130 in Italian so I couldn\u2019t have said it.\u201d I think that was a fair argument.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBut with the field and the planning and the wells the property is worth much more than this, 130 is more than reasonable.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe property is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it.\u201d says the wise Ronan. \u201cWe understand that it is a great property but we are only prepared to offer 120.\u201d I\u2019m nodding, he\u2019s so wise. Then he says, \u201cTake it or leave it.\u201d I stop nodding, I am screaming at him through telepathy \u201cNO don\u2019t say that!\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019m holding my breath incase they say, \u201cLeave it then\u201d. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYes I agree,\u201d Laura says nodding at Ronan. \u201cIt has great potential but there is A LOT of work.\u201d The three of us are nodding now, like we\u2019ve all suddenly developed Parkinson\u2019s. Laura is lovely and honest and seems to forget she is there working for the company and not for us.<\/span><\/p>\n

We\u2019re now chatting about the potential of the house.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mario interrupts, his voice is getting louder. He thinks Laura has been translating what he said and doesn\u2019t realise that we have been just talking about claw footed baths. <\/span><\/p>\n

Laura translates something we said, or is making up something we said, about the price staying at 120k. Mario\u2019s voice is getting louder he is gesticulating with his hands, Laura is getting red blotches on her neck, I feel bad for her caught in the middle. Mario is talking a mile a minute. We have no idea what he is saying, but his hands are flying all over the place and he\u2019s getting more and more animated. Every now and then he directs his litany at us forgetting that we don\u2019t understand a word, I just sit smiling at him. What else can I do? It is difficult to interpret how Italians are feeling by their tone of voice alone. They could be saying \u2018The weather is nice today, I think we\u2019ll go for a picnic\u2019 and it sounds like they are having a massive argument. The opposite also applies, they could be saying, \u2018I will kill you and all your family\u2019 and make it sound like an undiscovered melody. <\/span><\/p>\n

Mario stands up suddenly and drops or throws, I don\u2019t know which as I missed the movement, his pen on the table and walks out of the room. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s happening?\u201d Ronan mutters to me, he seems to think I have suddenly become fluent in Italian.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know!\u2026 Did he drop or throw the pen on the table? \u2026If he dropped it then perhaps he\u2019s taking a toilet break, if he threw it, then perhaps he\u2019s doing it for dramatic affect?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat is he doing?\u201d I ask Laura. <\/span><\/p>\n

She shrugs, \u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

We watch Mario stomp towards the front door. <\/span><\/p>\n

Not understanding Italian while house negotiating was in our favour. If we knew Italian,\u00a0 <\/span>we would have argued and then perhaps met in the middle or called him back to the room and caved just to calm him down, but at that moment we are unsure if he was trying to sneakily increase the agreed price by 10k on signing by way of a pretend tantrum at our preposterous offer, or if he has eaten a dodgy lasagne the night before. <\/span><\/p>\n

By now he has reached the front door and is standing outside glancing in towards the room to see if we are coming to pacify him with a better offer, but we aren\u2019t. He\u2019s at a loss as to what to do, so he starts to pick at the plants in the window box. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI am sorry you are stuck in the middle.\u201d I say to the rattled Laura, I am afraid she will get the blame for not persuading us and loose her job.\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cI have a solution, I will call Mick Kelly and get him to negotiate on our behalf.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Mick Kelly is a local architect we had talked to about the house before the meeting. His name is ‘Michele’ which sounds like Mick Kelly, and a likely name to see on the side of a construction van in Ireland. Mick Kelly has a wonderful soft voice. Not in a sleazy smooth way but soft and calming. He\u2019s like an Italian version of Jesus Christ, you feel you could trust him with anything. <\/span><\/p>\n

Before Mario gets back to the room I have Mick Kelly on the phone and I have explained that there was a \u2018misunderstanding\u2019 of the price and could he talk to the upset Mario. I hand the phone to Mario who rants for a full five minutes to Mick Kelly and then hands the phone back to me.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHe said the price agreed with the owners is 130 thousand.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBut we didn\u2019t offer 130, that price was never mentioned, and we told him our limit was 120, that 10 will pay for alot of windows\u2026 Do you think we should go up in price?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI think we try to stick with 120 and see what happens.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

I hand the phone back to Mario, we can hear the soothing tones of Mick Kelly\u2019s voice responding to Mario. I hear Mick Kelly mention the road, the train track, the 10 years of abandonment, the possibility of the house deteriorating into a ruin if left another winter. Mario is listening to his reasoning, drawing little invisible shapes on the table with his finger nail. Soon Mario is saying “Si\u2026 si\u2026”<\/span><\/p>\n

Then he laughs, Mick is sounding animated, but still in a soothing Jesus Christ way. \u201cSi, si, si\u201d says Mario, they are now talking like old buddies. If Mick Kelly was here Mario would be slapping him on the back.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mario hangs up and the change in his humour is nothing short of miraculous. He talks directly to Laura for a minute and they both stand up. He is smiling and leaning over the table to shake our hands. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt is agreed!\u201d Laura says triumphantly.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat is?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe price for 120.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

For the house and the land?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYes!” she exclaims. Mario\u2019s will call the six owners and get them to agree and then do up the new agreement which you will sign on Friday in your architect\u2019s office after his appointment to see the house.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

We\u2019re shaking hands and Mario is nothing short of cracking open the champagne.<\/span><\/p>\n

Six owners? I thought there were three? Never mind.<\/span><\/p>\n

The following Friday we are back in the house with Mario and Mick Kelly, who is impressed by the central staircase. The house is divided into four living quarters for the four families that once lived here; three similar apartments on each floor on the right side of the house and a two-up, two-down on the other with a walk in attic on the third floor on the left side of the house. <\/span><\/p>\n

A lot of old Italian houses were purposely built divided into separate living spaces so that when children grew they would have a marital home to themselves. Often it resulted in four generations living under the same roof but in their own self-contained living space with separate entrance staircases on the exterior usually. <\/span><\/p>\n

Mick Kelly likes the detail on the door surrounds, he dismisses the cracks in the stonework, it has stood for 100 years already. The roof will need to be completely replaced, not just repaired, so will the windows, electrics and plumbing. It\u2019s on mains water, sewerage and natural gas.<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019m starting to notice the furniture that has been left. There\u2019s a beautiful single wrought iron bed with an amber inset, that needs some TLC. There are about 20 saucer champagne glasses in a glass front 60s style-unit and a dusty bottle of champagne. There\u2019s a mix mash of veneered bulky antique style furniture, several sofas and armchairs, a marble table and chairs, and a lot of cheap furniture that was popular in the 60s and 70s. One room still has books and papers piled on a drawer unit. And there is the spooky room \u2013 a walk in attic with no light source but we see outlines of objects, including a bath and what looks like an old gramophone stand perhaps. Like the TV show \u2018Storage Wars\u2019, there could be gold in there or a lot of stuff that will end up costing us money to get rid of, we\u2019re buying it blind, only able to look in from the door but without the advantage of light.<\/span><\/p>\n

We go to Mick Kelly\u2019s office and sign the agreement. I learn that in Italy you must sign your full name and it must be legible. So if you have a doctor\u2019s scrawl style signature which mine has sort of turned into, you need to develop a new signature in an instant. I revert to the one I spent days perfecting in 1982 when, as a 10-year-old,\u00a0 I felt it was important to practice in preparation of becoming famous. It was an adaptation of my favourite celebrity’s signature \u2013 Miss Piggy. Luckily I <\/span>still remembered how to do it, just this time without the love heart on the \u2018i\u2019 and not so many swirls.<\/span><\/p>\n

This would be the first of many times that I use my Miss Piggy signature on the many pieces of paperwork involved when buying a house in Italy.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0GET OUR HOUSE IN ITALY RENOVATION UPDATES EACH WEEK FREE BY CLICKING HERE!<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We hadn\u2019t really planned to find a house so early in our pre-preliminary pre-search stage. But here we were, going to an estate agent to sign something, about something to do with buying a house in Italy with a lot of potential if you squint.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2223,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[232],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2222","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-a-house-in-italy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rosiemeleady.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2222","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rosiemeleady.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rosiemeleady.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rosiemeleady.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rosiemeleady.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2222"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/rosiemeleady.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2222\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2229,"href":"https:\/\/rosiemeleady.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2222\/revisions\/2229"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rosiemeleady.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2223"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rosiemeleady.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2222"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rosiemeleady.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2222"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rosiemeleady.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2222"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}