There are pros and cons to taking on a renovation project. If you asked me the question 7 years ago I would have said there were probably more pros than cons, but not these days. I think there’s a much stronger argument against restoring. Let me explain.

There are far fewer houses for restoration on the market

Not much comes on the market these days. All the good restoration projects have been bought (some do come up occasionally). The temptation might be to restore something that has good potential but is a compromise on location. That might be fine until one day when you decide to sell.

Cost of renovating a house in Italy

Builder were cheaper in the past. They did a lot without paying taxes so prices were lower. Now everything is checked by the tax office. You can’t draw more than €1,000 from your bank account without the Taxman writing you a nice letter expressing how much he’d like you to visit his office.. to pay a fine.

Now the potential problems. I’ve known plenty of people that have taken on restoration projects and most say the same thing - 'if they knew it was going to be so hard, so stressful, then I never would have done it'. The bureaucracy here can be challenging and restoring ancient stone houses that are held together with mud can be trouble. Estimates generally end up being half of the real cost and time estimates the same.

Life is short! Buy a house that’s ready to move into

The alternative is to buy a house that’s ready to move into. A lot of people have restored and some areas of their houses might be a little unfinished. Great! You get a project and when it’s done you’ll still be in love with it. No painful memories! And house prices are lower now. €450,000 can get you a very nice house, with furniture!