Need info/advice from those living in or recently lived in Italy, please!
May 21st, 2012, 08:26 PM
#1
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Need info/advice from those living in or recently lived in Italy, please!
I'm starting to make preparations for a move to Italy.
I have four indoor-only cats. If I have to, I may be able to find someone to foster the two younger cats. But I'd really like to take them all with me. I plan on living in Italy for 2-3 years.
I need to know a couple of things.
1) Do landlords in Italy generally charge extra for pets, like the US does? If so, what approximately is the "pet deposit"? or is it an additional dollar amount per month?
2) Am I less likely to find a landlord that will let me have four cats? Would two be doable?
3) Do apartment rentals (and I should state that I am leaning toward Rome) work the same way there as US? Like, you sign a 6-month or 1-year lease and pay month-to-month? Is there generally a security deposit? If so, is it like here, and usually one month's rent?
4) Does rent normally include furniture? Water? Electricity/Gas? Garbage pickup?
Thanks! And please chime in with any other information you think will be useful!
I have four indoor-only cats. If I have to, I may be able to find someone to foster the two younger cats. But I'd really like to take them all with me. I plan on living in Italy for 2-3 years.
I need to know a couple of things.
1) Do landlords in Italy generally charge extra for pets, like the US does? If so, what approximately is the "pet deposit"? or is it an additional dollar amount per month?
2) Am I less likely to find a landlord that will let me have four cats? Would two be doable?
3) Do apartment rentals (and I should state that I am leaning toward Rome) work the same way there as US? Like, you sign a 6-month or 1-year lease and pay month-to-month? Is there generally a security deposit? If so, is it like here, and usually one month's rent?
4) Does rent normally include furniture? Water? Electricity/Gas? Garbage pickup?
Thanks! And please chime in with any other information you think will be useful!
May 21st, 2012, 08:45 PM
#2
There have been some episodes on HGTV for Rome rentals. Here's one you might watch to learn a bit about the process. It also lists the website of the agency they used.
http://www.hgtv.com/house-hunters-in...ome/index.html
http://www.hgtv.com/house-hunters-in...ome/index.html
May 21st, 2012, 11:34 PM
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You might try looking here:
http://rome.angloinfo.com/information.asp#16
... however very little in Italy is standardised - and you're more than likely to be at the absolute whim of the individual property owner!
Quite probably though they'll not want you to take over the accounts for the various services, especially if 'hiding' the rental from the city authorities and/or the tax man - or maintaining that they themselves occupy the property!
It's amazing how many broken homes there must be - looking at the number of families from whom one spouse is resident in a vacation resort, whilst the other lives in a city somewhere?
Peter
http://rome.angloinfo.com/information.asp#16
... however very little in Italy is standardised - and you're more than likely to be at the absolute whim of the individual property owner!
Quite probably though they'll not want you to take over the accounts for the various services, especially if 'hiding' the rental from the city authorities and/or the tax man - or maintaining that they themselves occupy the property!
It's amazing how many broken homes there must be - looking at the number of families from whom one spouse is resident in a vacation resort, whilst the other lives in a city somewhere?
Peter
May 22nd, 2012, 06:07 AM
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Perhaps someone at the Torre Argentina cat sanctuary could answer your questions. http://www.romancats.com/index_eng.php
Good luck, I couldn't imagine being separated from my cats. Personally, I'm in the don't ask, don't tell camp.
Good luck, I couldn't imagine being separated from my cats. Personally, I'm in the don't ask, don't tell camp.
May 23rd, 2012, 07:16 AM
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I'm Italian and I live in Italy so I can tell you for sure that :
1) you don't have to pay extra money for animals (I live in a flat with two cats and I don't pay an additional amount for pets.
2) yes, you can rent a flat for one year and usually you pay month per month . Usually there is also a security deposit to pay in advance.
3) you can find both furnished flat or without . Sometimes you can find apartment with all bills included .
If you have more questions, please free to ask. ciao Alessandra
1) you don't have to pay extra money for animals (I live in a flat with two cats and I don't pay an additional amount for pets.
2) yes, you can rent a flat for one year and usually you pay month per month . Usually there is also a security deposit to pay in advance.
3) you can find both furnished flat or without . Sometimes you can find apartment with all bills included .
If you have more questions, please free to ask. ciao Alessandra
May 23rd, 2012, 07:42 AM
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Sarge, I am jealous. You are probably already aware of expat websites. But, just in case, http://www.expatsinitaly.com/
Also, this site is a blog from a couple that was featured in HouseHunters. They rented first in LeMarche and then purchased in Basilicata. May not have info helpful for your particular case, but might add to your preparation.
http://2italy.blogspot.com/
Also, this site is a blog from a couple that was featured in HouseHunters. They rented first in LeMarche and then purchased in Basilicata. May not have info helpful for your particular case, but might add to your preparation.
http://2italy.blogspot.com/
May 24th, 2012, 11:48 AM
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Thank you all for your replies.
Alessandra, I would so much appreciate being able to chat with you a bit via email. If you don't mind, please contact me at [email protected]. Grazie!
johnny- wise thought. "Don't ask, don't tell"?
socaltraveler- If I take only two, then two carriers. They must fly in cargo for overseas flights. If I take all four, three carriers, as the two young boys are littermates and get along well enough to be in one carrier. Regulations state no more than two per carrier. I wish the first two could share a carrier, but one of them does not get along with any of the other three. (of course!)
Alessandra, I would so much appreciate being able to chat with you a bit via email. If you don't mind, please contact me at [email protected]. Grazie!
johnny- wise thought. "Don't ask, don't tell"?
socaltraveler- If I take only two, then two carriers. They must fly in cargo for overseas flights. If I take all four, three carriers, as the two young boys are littermates and get along well enough to be in one carrier. Regulations state no more than two per carrier. I wish the first two could share a carrier, but one of them does not get along with any of the other three. (of course!)
May 24th, 2012, 12:47 PM
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Hi sarge56. We moved to Venice 12 weeks ago and have rented a flat. The process was much lengthier and more formal than in the UK, but one thing that surprised us is that we never heard any mention, with any of the flats we looked at, of a restriction on pets. Even though our ultimate landlady was a very nervous first-time renter and kept coming back with extra stipulations, she never mentioned pets & they are not mentioned in our contract.
(Before we came, we had aspired to get a Venetian cat; but wouldn't want a litter tray & sadly our current flat wouldn't work for letting cats out
)
Btw, although it may not be relevant, in many years of renting flats in the UK I never paid extra for cats - each owner either would or wouldn't allow them. So maybe paying for them is just a US thing?
As regards the standard for rental periods, it seems to vary from place to place. I can only speak for Venice where the norm is either a residents' contract of an initial 4 years renewable for further periods of 4 years, or a transients' contract for a year which may be renewable. But individual owners may have different requirements. Some will only rent for shorter periods - more like long holiday lets.
Re the rent & deposit - paying rent monthly is normal and we were given to understand that a deposit of 2 or 3 months' rent is usual, in Venice anyway. We actually offered to pay a year's rent upfront as we really, really wanted this flat & could understand the owner's nervousness about handing it over to 2 unemployed Brits with no local connections
Re the inclusion of furniture - some flats are advertised furnished & some unfurnished.
I have to admit that when I was researching our move, I found the various expats' websites pretty useless. The info was of course always only based on people's personal experiences, and quite often the info/advice given was out of date as the law has changed.
We initially rented a holiday flat for 2 weeks ahead of moving, then rented another for what ended up being 10 days while we were getting our long-term flat sorted out. For a long-term flat I looked at various online websites, the local weekly property paper which came through the door & looked in at a few bricks & mortar estate agents. In Venice anyway, there seem to be so many estate agents, every other person must be involved in the business! But all our best leads came from www.casa.it - from me initially enquiring about specific flats advertised & then (& more successfully) putting an advert up myself & being contacted by agents. I think it's a country-wide site & it has a good search function.
Re the inclusion of bills - some owners prefer to keep everything in their name & include the bills in the rent, others don't.
Presumably you've worked out what you need to do re applying for a Permesso di Soggiorno etc, and are happy you can meet the requirements, are you? Some of it does seem to be pretty much at the whim of your local comune who can impose additional requirements. Even as EU citizens, for whom the Italian national immigration portal makes the process sound very simple, it's taken a while & the jumping through of various hoops for the Venice comune.
(Before we came, we had aspired to get a Venetian cat; but wouldn't want a litter tray & sadly our current flat wouldn't work for letting cats out
)Btw, although it may not be relevant, in many years of renting flats in the UK I never paid extra for cats - each owner either would or wouldn't allow them. So maybe paying for them is just a US thing?
As regards the standard for rental periods, it seems to vary from place to place. I can only speak for Venice where the norm is either a residents' contract of an initial 4 years renewable for further periods of 4 years, or a transients' contract for a year which may be renewable. But individual owners may have different requirements. Some will only rent for shorter periods - more like long holiday lets.
Re the rent & deposit - paying rent monthly is normal and we were given to understand that a deposit of 2 or 3 months' rent is usual, in Venice anyway. We actually offered to pay a year's rent upfront as we really, really wanted this flat & could understand the owner's nervousness about handing it over to 2 unemployed Brits with no local connections
Re the inclusion of furniture - some flats are advertised furnished & some unfurnished.
I have to admit that when I was researching our move, I found the various expats' websites pretty useless. The info was of course always only based on people's personal experiences, and quite often the info/advice given was out of date as the law has changed.
We initially rented a holiday flat for 2 weeks ahead of moving, then rented another for what ended up being 10 days while we were getting our long-term flat sorted out. For a long-term flat I looked at various online websites, the local weekly property paper which came through the door & looked in at a few bricks & mortar estate agents. In Venice anyway, there seem to be so many estate agents, every other person must be involved in the business! But all our best leads came from www.casa.it - from me initially enquiring about specific flats advertised & then (& more successfully) putting an advert up myself & being contacted by agents. I think it's a country-wide site & it has a good search function.
Re the inclusion of bills - some owners prefer to keep everything in their name & include the bills in the rent, others don't.
Presumably you've worked out what you need to do re applying for a Permesso di Soggiorno etc, and are happy you can meet the requirements, are you? Some of it does seem to be pretty much at the whim of your local comune who can impose additional requirements. Even as EU citizens, for whom the Italian national immigration portal makes the process sound very simple, it's taken a while & the jumping through of various hoops for the Venice comune.
