Hi everyone! Today I got a congratulatory email from our agent, Jim. He said we are now the owners of Via Grilli 5 in Umbertide Umbria, Italy! So excited. Right away I printed out the COMPRAVENDITA REPUBBLICA ITALIANA or the final sale agreement. I wish I could have attended the closing. I heard it is not to be missed. Lots of stamping, and reading out loud all the documents in both languages. Sounds very Italian to me!

We have an appointment at the Italian Embassy next week on Wednesday where we will again present our documents, this time with the proof we own a home in Italy.

After the sale we had our agent let the seller know we would buy 3 of her furniture items she offered for sale but at a much reduced price that she asked. We shall see if she accepts. If not we’ll just go to IKEA in Ancona. We would have to go there anyway to get many other items we will need.

We just heard from our agent. Closing is set for May 13th. They will then send the ownership papers to us and we will schedule an appointment at the Italian embassy for our Visa. Getting closer!

So, I just got online and checked our Italian bank and the funds have arrived safely. We transferred the purchase price plus the fees and then some extra euro for necessary upgrades, furniture, and some running money in Euro. Too bad the exchange rate is not in our favor at all!

I sent a note to our agent (who is in Croatia on holiday). He will return tomorrow and I hope, will set up a date to close very soon. We are not sure how we will receive the final registered ownership document. Once we have that we can make another appointment with the Embassy.

Other things we are doing

The owner of the apartment, Elizabetta, has sent a list of furniture that she has decided she wants to sell to us. Her prices are very high. We may counter with lower prices. It is to her advantage to make a deal so she will not have to move it out. But if she won’t lower her prices I have alternatives. I did some research on Italian sites, primarily IKEA. I can get furniture that I like well enough for reasonable prices so that will probably be the way we go. We will need a sofa, chairs for the dining table, a double bed set with wardrobe and dresser and another dresser at a minimum. Then a desk for the computer and probably a sofa bed to put into the 3rd bedroom/office for extra guests and seating.

We also listed our house for sale here in Virginia. I spent a lot of time getting rid of things from all the closets and it looks pretty good now. We had some painting done etc. I hate living in a “staged” house but it must be done! Cross your fingers that it will sell soon!

We had 3 cars at the beginning of this year. As of this week we will be down to one car.

I am waiting a little while more before renting our UPackWeShip containers. In these we will bring some household goods and clothes. It is only 100 square feet so we can’t bring anything very large.

I am also renting a mailbox from an online company. It is interesting, they receive your mail and then scan it. You access a dashboard where you can view your mail. Then you can flag anything for the trash and have them send whatever you need to have physically in Italy. I hope it works!

I have chosen a moving company to pack up and move several items that we do not want to give away or sell. We will have them put into to a storage unit. These are family antiques etc. Who knows how long they will stay in storage.

I still need to have our cats microchipped and have the forms filled out by our vet. Another whole adventure, moving 2 cats to Italy!

That’s a short recap. Back soon!

Funny thing we noticed about Italians. They won’t call an apartment an apartment. It is la casa. I am not sure why. I always thought that was house. I guess technically it is. It also means home. Maybe that is why.

Several people have asked for more pictures. I am posting some below. They just don’t really give the feel of the place. Mainly the big living area with soaring ceiling. I just couldn’t get that in a picture.

This is the room from which you enter the kitchen. I think it would make a splendid kitchen. I’d put the cabinets where the long metal cabinet is. I’d like the floor to be tiles. I’d keep the table in here.

See back on the right side? That is the arched entry through a 3 foot thick wall into the tiny kitchen. The entry to the terrace is next to it.

This is the kitchen.

This is the closed up fireplace in the same room. I think it could be prettied up and opened.

This is the big picture window in the dining end of the living room space.

This is the pellet stove in the living space.

Entry up stairs. Down at the bottom is the front door. Ownership starts there. Notice the closet to the left. Closets are very unusual in Italy.

Arched entry into living room space from entry hall.

Master bedroom

Living room. Sofa end opposite picture window dining area.

The first part of the adventure is done now. I counted up that we saw 21 houses. Of those, 6 were of some interest. It was never assured that we could actually find a place and make an offer in the almost 3 weeks we had but in the end, we did it.

Now come the crazy times.

After we go home we will have our work cut out for us. For me, I have to get ready for my hip replacement surgery. It is necessary and I want to have it done by the time we move to Italy. That will happen on February 12.

After I recuperate there are hundreds of things to get done. And hundreds of things to have accomplished in Italy before we arrive. I am sure the apartment will not have the things we need to get started like bed linens, towels, all the kitchen equipment, plates etc. I am not sure how we can get some of the basics before we come. Perhaps Simona can help. After the closing I am thinking of asking Susan to take the keys so she can give them to anyone who needs access. We would like to get the screens installed before we come too.

If closing happens on May 30 as stipulated we cannot start to get our visas until then because we have to have the house papers to do so. We may go to the embassy early to see exactly what we’ll need and that may simplify the process after the sale. Because the amount of time needed for this process is unknown we won’t be able to get our flights over and since it will be summer by then that could be an issue. We will have to think about the logistics of it all.

Also we will need to put our house on the market and deal with all our stuff. I don’t think it will take long to sell it – it will be at a good time of year – but one never knows. I have found a company called You Pack, We Ship who will send 50 cubic feet of stuff over for a pretty reasonable price. We intend to do that. It is kind of hard to know what we can fit into that space but I am mentally making a list. We will only take what we won’t want to bring back when we come home as I don’t intend to ship back.

We will also need to rent a storage space and have the larger items that we want to keep moved to it by a moving company. Then we will have to give away or throw away the rest of our items.

Since I am a total planner my mind is spinning! But I’ve done it before so I can do it again.

I will update this blog as relevant events take place.