I Nearly Bought a Home in Italy. Here's Why I Walked Away.

I came close to buying a property in Lucca, Italy.

The asking price was €330,000. It was inside the historic city walls, had an existing short-term rental history, and looked like the kind of property I could potentially own while continuing to live in Los Angeles.

I took it seriously enough to travel to Italy, open an Italian bank account, work with a mortgage broker, hire an attorney, and arrange for a local geometra to inspect the property.

Then I walked away.

Not because I'd changed my mind about owning property in Italy. And not because the financing was impossible.

The more I investigated, the less comfortable I became with the risks I would be taking on from thousands of miles away.

That experience taught me more about buying property in Europe than another six months of browsing listings probably would have.

The Lucca property appealed to me for several reasons.

It was inside the walls of a city I genuinely liked. It had an established history as a short-term rental, which mattered because I wasn't planning to relocate to Italy immediately.

I needed to evaluate it as a property I could own from the United States, not just as a place I'd enjoy spending time.

The owner provided rental financial information suggesting the property could roughly cover its costs, or potentially do a little better, depending on the assumptions.

And financing looked possible.

For the €330,000 purchase scenario, I received terms based on a €198,000 mortgage at a 3.54% fixed rate over 25 years.

That would leave €132,000 of the purchase price to fund myself, before taxes and transaction costs.

I'd gone from casually looking at Italian real estate to having an actual property, actual numbers, and professionals involved in the transaction.

But a property making sense on paper isn't the same as a property being a good purchase.

One complication was that I couldn't personally view the interior during my visit.

The property was occupied by a weekly rental guest.

My geometra was able to inspect it, but I didn't get the firsthand interior walkthrough I would normally want before making a significant purchase.

That made the other available evidence especially important.

I began looking more closely at the property's rental reviews.

Across multiple years, guests had mentioned issues involving water, leaks, odors, and musty conditions.

Those reviews didn't prove the property had an unresolved structural or moisture problem. Some complaints may have reflected issues that had already been repaired.

But repeated references over time were enough to raise questions.

During his inspection, the geometra also noticed a faint odor.

He didn't establish that there was an active leak or confirm a hidden mold problem. His observation was another piece of information I needed to consider alongside the guest reviews.

The seller indicated that the issues had been addressed.

Maybe they had.

But I couldn't independently establish that the underlying concerns were fully resolved.

And that uncertainty mattered more because I wouldn't be living nearby.

I've worked in real estate in the United States for years, and I own rental properties outside California.

I'm comfortable with the idea of owning property somewhere I don't live.

But owning an apartment in Italy introduces a different set of practical questions.

If a moisture problem returns, who investigates it?

If a guest reports an odor or a leak, who determines whether it's a minor maintenance issue or something more serious?

Who coordinates repairs, verifies that the work was completed, and tells me whether the problem has actually been solved?

A property manager can handle many operational responsibilities. But hiring someone doesn't eliminate the owner's responsibility to understand the property's condition, the management arrangement, and the costs.

And in an older building, some problems may involve neighboring units, shared structures, or other owners.

The important question isn't simply whether I can find someone to manage the apartment.

It's whether I understand the risks well enough to own it responsibly when I'm not there.

In Lucca, I wasn't comfortable that I did.

One of the most valuable parts of the process was assembling people who could evaluate different aspects of the purchase.

I worked with an Italian mortgage broker to understand financing.

I hired an attorney to help evaluate the legal side of the transaction.

And I brought in a geometra to assess the property.

A geometra is an Italian technical professional whose work can include property measurements, cadastral matters, building documentation, and technical assessments, depending on the engagement.

That isn't identical to hiring a standard American home inspector.

It's important to understand exactly what your professional has been hired to investigate, what falls outside that scope, and whether additional specialists are needed.

My attorney also raised concerns that I might be paying too much for the property.

That became another important part of the decision.

The question was no longer whether I liked the apartment or whether I could finance it.

It was whether the price justified the property, its condition, and the uncertainties that remained.

For me, it didn't.

There wasn't one dramatic discovery that ended the deal.

It was the combination of several things.

I hadn't been able to personally inspect the interior. There were recurring complaints in the rental history. My geometra had noticed an odor. I couldn't establish whether the reported issues had been fully resolved. And my attorney questioned the value.

None of those facts, individually, necessarily meant the property was a bad purchase.

Together, they made it a purchase I wasn't willing to make.

I had already spent money traveling to Italy and hiring professionals.

Walking away meant those costs wouldn't result in a property.

But spending money investigating a purchase isn't a reason to complete it.

The point of due diligence is to give you enough information to make a decision, including the decision not to buy.

In this case, I believe the process did exactly what it was supposed to do.

The Lucca experience changed the order in which I want to approach another European purchase.

Before becoming attached to a property, I want clear answers to several questions:

Those aren't necessarily questions that can all be answered from a listing or during a single property visit.

But I want the answers before I'm financially committed beyond a level of risk I'm comfortable accepting.

I still want to own property in Europe.

Lucca didn't change that.

What changed was my understanding of how much of the purchase decision happens outside the listing itself.

The financing matters. The location matters. The rental numbers matter.

But so do the people investigating the property, the information they can verify, and the systems that will have to work when I'm back in America.

I didn't come home from Lucca with an apartment.

I came home with a much better understanding of what I'd need to see before buying the next one.

And that's valuable, even if it wasn't the outcome I'd originally hoped for.

This week on European Chapter

This week I'm also looking at how differently Americans and Europeans think about driving distances, what I still don't know about Italian popular culture despite years of visiting, and what people unexpectedly pick up after moving abroad.

On Sunday, I'm taking a deeper look at how buying property in Europe from the U.S. has changed what I look for.

If you're evaluating your own European chapter, my free 30 Questions to Ask Before You Build a European Chapter guide is available at europeanchapter.com.

See you next Thursday.

— Joe Steele
European Chapter

Disclosure: This article describes my personal experience evaluating a property in Lucca, Italy. The financing figures were specific to my circumstances and were not a final guarantee of loan approval. Guest reviews and inspection observations raised concerns but did not establish that the property had an active leak or confirmed mold damage. Property transactions, legal requirements, financing eligibility, and professional responsibilities vary. Consult qualified local professionals before making a purchase.