E and dear friend of mine lives in a borgo on top of a mountain and has a view you can only dream of. When I visited him in the summer of 2020, I didn't know that I would ever own my own house in Italy...

The borgo, and of course the stories and experiences I received from him, made me create my own dream. I could already see myself sitting in optimum form in the farmhouse for sale at the foot of the same mountain. The large barn would become a study and through the French doors that I had placed I could drive out the grand piano and give concerts on the terrace.

Well, there would still have to be a few years of work, but something like that is part of the dream, and it gets an extra romantic touch. At the first contact with the selling party, however, it soon became clear that there can be many vipers in the grass when buying a house. The selling party, for example, consisted of a large number of brothers and sisters, who were therefore all owners. They lived all over Italy and disagreements about the amount they wanted for it emerged in the first sentence during the telephone conversation. According to the spokeswoman for the family, the price would really be 50% higher than her brother had believed. So my search continued, and soon I noticed that I was very easily carried away by my dream. I thought my friend's borgo on top of the mountain was wonderful, but the question arose whether I would have chosen this somewhat barren and desolate mountain landscape without my visit to him? Would I like to have my house in the middle of nowhere, where I could study in peace, or would I prefer a small village or a small town as a base, where I can have a cappuccino with a cornetto alla on the corner in the morning? could consume cream?

The purchase should also function as a kind of old-age provision and then you should not be stuck in the mountains with a walker. And last but not least, what would Claudia, my partner, think? Where could she settle? It was indeed my project, with some money received from my mother, but in the end she will also be a part of this adventure. That is why we started deliberating together, and we looked for alternatives on Idealista and Casa.it. We even traveled to other parts of Italy to see if we might feel more comfortable there. But yes, where that is the case, you really have to be financially stronger than in Le Marche. Through a friend of my friend in the borgo I got the telephone number of Marieke Boot. "Go and talk to that, just orientate", I was advised. And I did. Marieke immediately tried to get a clear picture of my vague idea. So difficult. But living in Pergola, Marieke could tell me a lot about the houses we found. Every house that was beautiful in the photo turned out to have a caveat. In the meantime I had my eye on a semi-detached house in Liberty style on the edge of the old center of Pergola, located on the river Cesano. Coincidentally, that house was offered through Tombolesi, for whom Marieke does a lot of work. She reacted soberingly to my idea of ​​doing odd jobs in that house: everything that is changed must be reported and approved. After all, a house cannot be sold if the reality does not correspond to the drawing included in the land registry. In addition, it is important to hire a broker, so that the paperwork and the order of administrative actions to be performed is correct. Clearly: the official way. Buying a house without a broker, directly with a bag of money or a handful of hands, those times are over.

And that's a good thing. Marieke started the process that would lead to the purchase of this house. Only now it became clear that as an outsider you have no idea how that process works, let alone know about the differences in culture and mentality. Add to that the fact that you do not speak the language and you are beyond helpless without mediation, doomed to go home empty-handed, or sit in your ruin with empty pockets, having bought the cat in a bag. Marieke immediately drew my attention to the possibility of being able to renovate, heavily subsidized, via the 110% scheme, which had been created by the state since October 2020 to prevent vacancy and deterioration of houses, and to stimulate the local economy in revitalize the construction industry. I soon came into contact with the local geometra, who are now also taking care of the renovation. Fortunately, Claudia speaks fluent Italian and acts as a spokesperson. On December 10, 2020 I signed the preliminary purchase contract, translated into Dutch by Marieke. The transfer would go until June 14, 2021 and last because of Corona, but also because of the aforementioned point: the reality did not correspond to the drawing in the land registry. And so my geometry and that of the selling party had to solve this with each other and the municipality.

In the meantime everything has been arranged, even the mortgage on the renovation through the local bank. This would never have been possible without Marieke Boot's mediation. Then I was either at home empty-handed, or financially stranded in a years-long renovation process on my own, with a reality at the end that does not correspond to the drawing included in the land registry. No, the reality is really different now. Thank you, Marieke Boot!