Moving from the U.S. to Italy

@next1225

Hello and welcome !

I would suggest that you read the Italy Guide and reach out to the Italian embassy closest to your country of residence. They will provide all first-hand info.

Hope members will guide you.

All the. best

Bhavna

Bhavna,

I appreciate you getting back with me. Thank you for the insight, I will read the Italy Guide.

Regards,

Matthew

Hii Matthew, good plan, taking a couple of trips first is definitely the right move.

On the budget, just to be honest: 20–60k near the beach and already livable is quite difficult in Italy. You might find something in southern areas (Puglia, Calabria, Sicily), but usually a bit inland or with some work needed. If you’re okay being 15–20 minutes from the sea, you’ll have more options.

For stays, as a U.S. citizen you can be in Italy 90 days every 180 days without a visa. Long-term, most retirees go for the elective residence visa (based on passive income).

One quick tip: try to understand the visa/residency side early, it’s more confusing than it looks. I ended up using [link moderated]just to get clarity on what actually applied to my situation.

Visiting a few times like you planned is the best thing you can do

Your budget is far too low to live near a beach and have land.   Certainly in Sicily, Puglia etc.    Without a residential visa you can stay for a maximum of 90 days in one visit.   Ignore all the 'experts' on instagram and the like -

My advice is always drive around, decide where you want to be then start looking - and hone in on an area - use idealista.it and casa.it to get an idea of prices and then zone in even more.   For you budget you will be inland, with a house which needs at least some work.  Gardens are pretty few and far between compared to other countries.   

I just saw  a youtube video of someone getting a mortgage for a property in Italy as non EU citizens and she ended up paying 35000 eur extra with all the costs added on, on top of the original asking price, eg notary fees were about 4000 eur.

@next1225

Matthew, first of all be careful with those that call themselves consultants who charge an arm and a leg to help you find a house , they mostly have videos about houses on you.tube. Please understand not all are bad, I had an unpleasant experience. you can find rentals and for sale properties on Idealista.it which has both English and Italian for your preference.

I am assuming you do not have Italian citizenship and therefore you might consider applying for an elective visa to the Italian consulate in your area because they have all the information you need online. Buying a property does not give you residency and as a tourist you can only do 90 days in 180. Also the consulate is super slow so start there because it may take a year or more for the appointment.

Visiting the location of interest is a great idea so you can see if that is what you want and then zero in on that. While visiting you can even meet with a real estate agency, some are great others not so much.