Buying a house to renovate in Italy: quotes wanted

If you are considering buying a property to renovate or customize here in Italy, you are about to have a Mission Impossible on your hands.

Any buyer wishes to know the cost and extent of the work before signing the proposal. I am well aware of that.

Before buying a property to renovate, you should know how much the renovation will cost. I could not agree more.

The problem is that, as you may have realized, obtaining that magic number is a surprisingly difficult task.

In all honesty, getting a number isn’t that difficult. Any real estate agent or professional who works in the construction sector will give you an estimate. The problem is figuring out whether that information is reliable, but we’ll get to that.

The limitations of Italian real estate agents

If you are in the market for a house to renovate in Italy, it is likely that your adventure will begin with looking up some ads from real estate agencies online.

After finding a property that tickles your fancy, you will call the office of the real estate agency that posted the ad and schedule your first visit to the building.

Be aware that the average Italian real estate agent is not an expert in construction, contrary to popular belief (I talked about it also in this other article). In fact, their areas of expertise are the bureaucratic, regulatory, and commercial aspects of a sale.

Therefore, they will surely provide you with a lot of useful information, but they will avoid getting involved with estimating the cost or extent of hypothetical renovations.

And if by chance they do, you need to ask yourself a few questions before taking their word:

• Are you sure you will receive a reliable examination regarding the state of the property and any necessary interventions?
• Are you sure they can be completely objective when giving their opinion, which could perhaps compromise the sale?
• And above all, does this person take any responsibility for the hypothesized figures?

The limitations of typical Italian Businessmen and designers

It is entirely up to you whether or not to trust the information you are given. Regardless, before signing any proposal, it is completely normal to want to hear the opinion of a construction expert, such as a craftsman or a designer (architect, engineer, surveyor).

Assuming you know one, you can fix another appointment to visit the property and take a trusted professional with you.

Well, as an insider, let me tell you something in confidence.

I worked in my family’s construction business for more than ten years, and I know exactly how these things work, so I’ll tell you this without many frills.

Your trusted guy will never tell you, either out of politeness or respect, but they are never happy at the thought of accompanying you to inspect the house you potentially want to buy.

They will probably try to come up with an excuse to dodge your request.

Not out of malice, mind you. It’s a very simple and pragmatic issue.

There is nothing less appealing for a business owner or for a professional (without exception!) than being asked for a detailed cost estimate for the renovation of a property that you do not even know if you will buy.

They hate that kind of request and here’s why.

Drawing up a reliable renovation estimate is not as simple as asking the greengrocer how much a kilo of oranges costs.

Getting that magic number that accurately represents the total cost of the work requires considerable time and energy.

Really. People do not realize how much work goes into budgeting renovation for a building, especially if your aim is to have a precise and reliable quote.

Think, for example, about the renovation of a simple apartment. I can assure you that it is a puzzle made of many small pieces that fit together, each with its own logic and specifications regarding measurements, timing, materials, installation, workers, costs, and so on.

A multitude of different people work on a simple renovation, and to obtain that famous magic number, it would be necessary to consult with all of them.

Going back to our apartment example, you would need at least a mason, a window maker, someone to do the parquet flooring, a tiler, a painter, a plumber, an electrician, a carpenter, a blacksmith, and a technical designer.

That is why making an accurate cost estimate requires hours of work and dozens of phone calls. It is also why no Italian construction business or designer happily accepts the job of estimating work on a property that you don’t even know if you will buy.

They consider it a waste of time, and if they are good at their job, many people are probably requesting their services. Therefore, they have no time to waste.

Considering all that, even if you find a good soul willing to visit the property with you, you won’t get anything more than a word of advice or a rough estimate of renovation costs.

They will tell you something like, “You will spend more or less a few thousand euros, then it always depends on what kind of work you want to do.”

That is the typical kind of answer you will receive. It will be very difficult to find someone who really puts effort into it without hedging their bets in case their estimate is wrong (especially if you intend to get an analysis on more than one property).

That will add up to the enormous effort it will take you to organize everything and convince everyone involved to agree on a date and time to carry out the inspection in order to obtain an accurate estimate within an acceptable timeframe.

Let me say that again, “within an acceptable timeframe”. Remember that while you wait for a quote, another buyer who is sure about the purchase could snatch the property from you.

“It’s always been like this!”

It is true. For a long time, that was how it was done, and even today, more often than not, there are no alternatives.

All this happens because the Italian real estate sector has remained stuck in the past when everything was simpler.

During the time of our grandparents (or even our parents), construction was a lot more frequent, and it was common to erect new buildings, feeding what we could call the new market. In that scenario, you only had a company dealing with the construction and a real estate agency taking care of the sales.

There was also less bureaucracy, and houses were much simpler, so there weren’t many details to pay attention to.

Nowadays, however, we deal a lot more with the used market, which is full of opportunities but less predictable and requires more complex evaluations.

When applying the traditional purchase setting to today’s market, at best, you find yourself dealing with the real estate agent for the sale and with the construction company or designer for the renovation work.

Putting together a complete and accurate framework of information before signing a purchase offer, as we have seen, is terribly difficult.

The solution

Modern needs require modern solutions, and making a big investment using traditional methods, such as involving a typical real estate agency or construction company, may not be enough or lead to unpleasant consequences.

For all these reasons, you need to hire a local experienced professional who speaks a second language and who is able to guide you through the entire process, from identifying the perfect property to carrying out the renovation work. Someone who stays focused on the goal, constantly keeping an eye on the expenses and the final result.

That is what I did with my company Result. With us, clients who want to buy property in Italy to restore it or customize it, find a real estate consultant who is an expert in construction and accompanies them from the beginning, every step of the way.

• Identifying the perfect property amongst the thousands on the market;
• Assessing the state of the building and the extent of the necessary renovation work;
• Assisting the client in all purchase practices;
• Selecting all the workers to carry out the work;
• Supervising the renovation until the day the property is ready.

Moreover, for non-structural work, we even provide a guarantee on the quota for the renovation cost we made during the purchase, meaning that you can really trust our estimate.

In this way, buying a property in Italy to renovate or customize it becomes a less complicated and much more rewarding experience.

If you agree with my analysis and want to know more about Result’s Integrated Real Estate and Building Consulting services, click here to see how we work, or contact us for more information.

Let’s do it!

Alessio Piccinato

[Technical Manager and Founder of Result – Integrated Real Estate & Renovation Advisory]

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