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Holiday or Viewing Trip?
By admin | August 4, 2008
If you are serious about buying a property in Italy it is pretty obvious that you have to physically see those places that are of interest to you. But don’t make the mistake of trying to view during August! There are many reasons, the main ones being:
1. It is too damned hot! Most people do not realise just how debilitating it can be traipsing around houses and gardens in temperatures over thirty-five degrees celsius. You will get fed up, the agent will get fed up and the owners will get fed up. Do everyone a favour and go to the pool or beach.
2. It is well-known that the vast majority of summer holiday viewers never buy. The vacation euphoria leads nicely to the sudden idea of buying a property. When you walk into an estate agency in your shorts and sun hat, maybe wiping the last traces of your ice cream from your lips, do you think that you will be taken quite as seriously as you should be? Any such visit should be simply to introduce yourself, register your details and requirements - then get out. Few agents will appreciate being asked to drop everything there and then to take you to visit suitable farmhouses. Even if the vendors would permit access!
3. If you are on holiday, why shouldn’t others be? I mean, let’s say you have rented that lovely Tuscan farmhouse with pool for the first two weeks of August; isn’t it likely then, that the lovely Tuscan villa with pool you want to view is also let out to a similar family? Would you be happy for viewers to come and crawl all over your belongings and disturb your hard-earned fortnight’s rest?
4. August in Italy means annual holidays. August 15th is ‘ferragosto’ - the big one! This is not a time to be on the roads under any circumstances. Many Italian businesses close - yes, CLOSE - for all or part of the month. August is a time to relax in Italy, to enjoy the sun, the clear skies and balmy nights. It is not for doing business in. Just turn up and you may well find the people you hope to meet are not there. (It’s not just Italy. I remember a couple years ago in the Spanish interior looking in the window of a small estate agency purely out of professional curiosity. There was a sign in several languages saying ‘ We are closed all of August for annual holidays. See you in the autumn.’)
What you should do, if you really can’t relax for your entire fortnight, is have a gentle tour around and try to identify where you might like to buy. Jot down contact details for agents who are clearly active but currently lying by a pool somewhere avoiding sunstroke. Then when you get home and the euphoria dies down, if you all feel the same, start to work those contacts! You will be clearer, you will be treated with serious respect and all the protection you will need for your weekend viewing trip is an umbrella!
Topics: Essential reading, Miscellaneous, The buying process, Uncategorized |