Help - small towns
 

My boss has instructed me to find him a vacation home to buy in a small town in Italy, between Florence and Rome but closer to Rome, and I have no idea where to start! It needs to have rail access, and he prefers closer to the coast - does anyone have any suggestions or know where I should go fo find this?

If this is for real I honestly hope you can find something in the BILLION dollar range...fetching the coffee is one thing but this is crazy!

have you started by going to Google or Yahoo and typing in "Real estate in Italy"? you'll get many websites that will get you started.

Is this part of your normal job?

Is this boss the owner/president of the company? Is this function within your job description?

If no to both - google a list of real estate agencies in Italy and hand it to him. How would management feel if they knew he was wasting your time this way?

Surely you jest. Are you really going to take on this responsiblity? More to the point, is your boss really stupid enough to leave this kind of decision to someone else? Tell him to get a real estate agent and get real.

I will be happy to do the homework for a finders fee--how about 5%. Or, you could go to slowtrav.com and talk to the ex-pats there.

Just go on the web and print out a list of properties and also a list of real estate agents. You could also go to a large local real estate company and they will give you names and numbers of referral agents in Italy.
I think this boss is a "poser"...but you have to do what you have to do. Overload him with printouts..then at least he cannot accuse you of not doing your job.

well, this could be within the job description of a personal assistant to one rich person. One stupid rich person, as why would you tell someone who didn't know anything about Italy or buying real estate there to buy you a home in Italy? wow... this is like a Seinfeld episode, like that one where the Maestro said there was nothing to rent in Tuscany.

I think if you entrusted this to a personal asst. and you were Donald Trump, you would assume that they had the initiative to go out and find or hire a real estate agent with expertise in Italy or something, not that the asst. would be doing it themself.

Come in...wherever you are!

Obviously your boss doesn't know you very well. Otherwise he would never entrust such an important investment with someone whose first choice is to post such a query on a public travel forum (which she registered to do) rather than attempting to find a good answer from a wiser investment source.

Whatever made you think that Fodors was the place to come with such a question?

Someone is pulling our collective legs (or at least for the boss's sake I hope so).

This is really nutty, but here's a list of towns in Lazio. http://www.risorseimmobiliari.it/ita/com_lazio.asp

Throw some darts to pick a few, then click to see if there are properties for sale. You could pick the most expensive one, just for the hell of it, or, for fun, pick the cheapest most dilapidated fixer-upper you can find.

Or, here, pick another region and see what's for sale: http://www.risorseimmobiliari.it/ita/cerca_vendita.asp

Is this a game? Can't be a real-life assignment, can it?

well if this is for real tell your boss that you need an all expenses paid trip out to the area as you cannot get all the answers you are looking for over the net, you need to get the feel for a place or area to know whether it is suitable for him. Who knows he may just take the bait if he is naive enough to ask someone else to do the hunting for him.

I'm thinking that you are doing a little bit of leg-pulling here as well, Patrick. Nothing about this post suggests that this is anything more than <i>part</i> of the OP's &quot;research&quot;. And nothing suggests the intent to <i>buy</i> the property online, on eBay or on Fodors. Nor even execute a contract with a real estate agent from anecdotal online info alone.

We don't have any clue what is the context of this request from said boss to hm...

Anyone who has bought property in Italy presumably could have something worthwhile to share, in getting the search for information further into gear.

Best wishes,

Rex

Oh... and for my own pet peeve - - this posting has a rather poor message header. It's not really about the &quot;town&quot; so much as a search for information resources - - and it should mention Italy in the title (or perhaps better, specifically, Lazio, Tuscany, Umbria, Le Marche or Rieti).

I recommend that hm re-post - - and not even mention the circumstances that lead to the reason for seekig the info.

Not to play sleuth, but if this is the OP's first post here and it is work related, why the Hotmail account?

If this isn't a troll, well ... it's certainly one way to buy property in Italy. If I were you, I would be requesting trips to do first-hand research.

Several posters beat me to it (I didn't read the post earlier because of the vague title, like Rex pointed out).

Obviously you need a trip to Italy to scope out some of these towns. Near the coast and between those two cities isn't a terribly large geographic region to cover. Surely different small towns have different atmosphere and ammenities that you will best know by visiting them on his behalf.

&lt;&lt;why the Hotmail account?&gt;&gt;

Is there something suspicious about posting a hotmail address here? (an ironic question from you, heather, since you use one!)

And it seems quite understandable NOT to use the real e-mail adddress of the employer here.

No, Rex, given my email address, it isn't suspicious. For someone who seems baffled where to start the research and has never posted here before and has not responded to any feedback, it adds to my suspicion that it is a troll. It's just a comment, not an indictment. And, yes, I'm aware that I use a Hotmail address ... not that senile yet.

This is OT, but eighteen years ago, my then boss asked me to arrange his FOURTH marriage in Reno. Actually it was his fourth marriage, but the first one to take place in Reno.

It was the best (funniest) assignment that he had ever given me. I finally set up everything via telephone at the Little Chapel of The White Flowers and Happy Marriage Place (not exactly the real name, but something that sounded as silly as that). The arrangements were made with a very nice girl - Tawnee! Loved it.

It was hard to keep a straight face when I presented him with the info. He liked it, the bride obviously didn't. They were married locally (San Francisco)

They are still married - happily (?), who knows and who cares ;-)

The only good part, I met DH at their wedding and I think that we are still happily married.

Nina

This is OT, but eighteen years ago, my then boss asked me to arrange his FOURTH marriage in Reno. Actually it was his fourth marriage, but the first one to take place in Reno.

It was the best (funniest) assignment that he had ever given me. I finally set up everything via telephone at the Little Chapel of The White Flowers and Happy Marriage Place (not exactly the real name, but something that sounded as silly as that). The arrangements were made with a very nice girl - Tawnee! Loved it.

It was hard to keep a straight face when I presented him with the info. He liked it, the bride obviously didn't. They were married locally (San Francisco)

They are still married - happily (?), who knows and who cares ;-)

The only good part, I met DH at their wedding and I think that we are still happily married.

Nina