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What happens to people like me - non-resident but have a holiday home in Italy, and nobody will be there until probably next year?  [So no mail picked up until then

I believe that as a generality. there are three types of 'user' of this forum, namely those who

• own property [holiday or permanent] in Italy
• are thinking of buying property in Italy
• general browsers

As a further generalisation, I expect that, owing to the current financial climate, there are less people who are thinking of buying property, and as these people are some of the most prolific 'raisers of questions' there is a drop off in issues raised here. Hopefully this will not stop the forum from existing - but it does mean that for the foreseeable future, there will be less 'traffic' here A

.......but it is beginning to look a bit like the ½ûÂþÌìÌà economy.

"It goes without saying that I have ID with me when I’m travelling (airports etc) but certainly not when I am sightseeing!ÌýÌý..... " Lets hope you never become unconscious when sightseeing.   I'm sure most people have some 'informal' ID on them most of the time- Bank Cards, Travel passes, office passes, Driving License etc - so why should they be concerned about having to carry formal ID such as a passport?.  I'd be the first to admit that I don't carry formal ID when in the UK - but have absolutely no concerns about doing so when abroad. I was 'stopped and searched' once in the UK [walking through a town at 6 in the morning with a holdall, and apparently there had been some burglaries that night] - wasn't bothered at all - nothing to hide.  Rather 50 innocuous 'stop and searches' than one 'missed miscreant'

This may be of help.

May give you some ideas

When we house hunted, in 2001, we arranged [by email from the UK] visiting 'sessions' [3 hrs -ish] with about 6 agents over the period of 4 days.  We gave the Agents our requirements, and left them to prepare a portfolio of places for us to view So, when we met the agents to do the visits, some of the place offered were totally unlike our requirements, and some we had seen already with other agents - so we didn't view them.  [One Agent was working for 2 companies, so wanted to show us all the properties again] So don't just blame the house hunters - the Agents may also be causing some of the problems Good luck with the sale   Alan

Would a neighbour [for a suitable small fee] allow you to make a temporary connection to his supply?  Where I am, we share a single water meter with 2 flats in the adjacent house - the owner of the house also owned our house until we bought it off him.   This is a semi-permanent arrangements, so we've split the costs each year [a lot lower than the UK] since 2003

 For your peace of mind, and to help any legal case later on, I'd suggest that you get your geometra to carry out a full survey and provide a report [inc photos etc] of the 'party wall' before works starts, and follow up with a full survey after works have finished to determine any effects the works have had on the property.  [In the UK this would be at the cost of the developer, but I don't know how its funded in Italy] Give the 'other party' a copy of the initial survey/report before they start so they know what the condition of your building is, and give them the opportunity to carry out their own survey if they want.  Keep them updated via your geometra - don't deal direct with them.  You may wish to consult a lawyer before work starts Good luck

When I bought my place [9 years ago now] the estate agent sorted out with the sellers [husband and wife] how they wanted to be paid at the Notary's office when we signed all the paperwork.  They would not accept anything other than ½ûÂþÌìÌà Bankers Drafts   The net result was that I paid in the following format:- One ‘non-transferable’ ½ûÂþÌìÌà Bankers draft for the declared value of the property Several ‘transferable’ ½ûÂþÌìÌà Bankers draft for the remainder - divided 50/50 between the sellers, and each was for less than Euros 10,000. [I understand this is because anything over Euros 10,000 going into a bank account triggers the taxman] Being transferable - they probably never went into the sellers bank account, but were used to purchase goods/services from others.  [I’m not sure whether ‘transferable ‘ bankers Drafts still exist in Italy today] Also paid Euros 200 for central heating oil by ½ûÂþÌìÌà cheque, with the name of the 'recipient' left blank , so the seller could use it to pay for something. All the 'transfers' took place in front of the Notary [he was paid by cheque