If you are following the same route as tens of thousands of Brits before you and have fallen head-over-heels in love with a rustic Italian villa, you may now be wondering how you can go about purchasing a slice of this idyllic way-of-life. This will pose questions such as do you leave your entire life behind in the UK, or are you going to try to stay on the housing ladder back in Blighty, and own the Italian villa as a second home?
If you decide to up-sticks completely and leave the UK, you may choose to sell your current property and use the money to buy the Italian property outright. You may even choose to investigate the possibility of a mortgage and would therefore need to do your homework on the Italian laws in place. Some people may even decide to rent a property in Italy, which is often a far less scary option.
If you decide to keep a property in the UK, an equity release scheme could prove to be a very good idea. However, really do your homework in this regard if this seems to be your best way forward. You may also decide to rent-out the property and this is where you will need to track down the services of the best letting agent in your area.
Some people decide to rent-out their property in the UK for a couple of years and then rent a villa in Italy to gain an overall appreciation of whether this way-of-life is truly for you or not. This is always a far safer way of going about things.
You may even decide to sample several Italian regions: perhaps by staying in an area for up to six months at a time. This way you can see which area suits you best and then, when you are ready, you may wish to look at purchasing a villa.
