Ideas/Suggestions about buying an apartment in Scalea/Abruzzo

Are you Italian? American?

You need to research the internet on how difficult it is to purchase an apartment.

I have good friends who did it. Took years.

There are a number of Facebook groups that you might find helpful. Look under Americans Living in Italy, Expats in Italy, etc.

Hello ziegelaa2001, and welcome to the boards, this is quite a question to start off with.

There are many things you should know about your plans to start off with:

• Are you an Italian/EU citizen? If not you will be restricted to 90 out of every rolling 180 days in Italy (the entire Schengen region actually) unless you apply for a visa that allows to stay longer than 180 days.
• If you stay for 183 days in Italy you will be considered an Italian tax resident and will need to pay taxes in Italy. There are currently tax benefits to buying in some southern Italy cities so you might look into that.
• If this is not your primary house you should expect to pay about 10% over the list price in taxes and fees as a foreigner.
• There are several good Italian real estate sites - https://www.idealista.it/en/ and https://www.immobiliare.it/ - but real estate is not the same as in the states where there is a central listing of everything for sale in one place. It depends on who your agent is and who they may know and the process can take much longer than it does in the states.
• Be sure you are aware of the condition of what you are actually buying and it is in the contract. Often things like kitchens are removed by the previous owners in Europe so do not assume the kitchen and fixtures you see come with the sale.
• You can open a bank account without being a citizen but many banks do not what the hassle so look for a large one that will create and account for you.

I have a friend who went through this process and bought a place in Verona after many years of visiting there and even with friends in banking and legal it was a more complicated process than she would have wanted.

This can be a complicated process. If after considering everything it seems worth it to you then good luck with everything.
=Tod

Be aware that as a tourist, unless you are a EU citizen, you are restricted on the amount of time you can stay in Italy (90 days over a 180 days rolling period).
You can start with the two websites listed above. Immobiliare is the No. 1 in Italy, while Idealista is number 2. Scalea is in Calabria and is small town, Abruzzo is a very mountainous Region on the Adriatic Coast almost the size of Connecticut. So maybe you should decide on the area more precisely first. You can search by area, municipality, or even neighborhoods in either website. Once you zero in on some properties you should contact the agent and visit onsite however. You shouldn’t buy a house like you buy a pair of pants on Amazon.
The procedure is somewhat complicated but not any more complicated than purchasing property in California, if anything it is cheaper for both the buyer and the seller as the fees and commissions are lower. A lawyer is not necessary but the deed is finalized before a NOTAIO (notary), which in Italy is a Public Lawyer. A real estate agent is also not necessary but it is advisable especially for someone living abroad.
You can start from here but there are many websites that describe the process, also in English.
https://www.immobiliareitaliano.com/buying-process/

During the pandemic I wayched several YouTube videos by the Super Savvy Travelers, LLC. They are still being made. The woman who does these videos is very well connected to the real estate market for foreigners. She works closely with an Italian lawyer. You may want to check her out. May be helpful.