Rent a flat or a house in Tuscany

Having moved to Tuscany almost 7 years ago, I've rented an apartment for the first 2 years, after that we've bought one.
I also deal with apartment rentals for my work (lodging for traveling personal) so I've got some experience in renting a flat.

Going through the questions:

1. It's very easy to find a house/apartment for rent in Tuscany. There are many free real estate magazines being spread through the cities with a lot of rental opportunities. Also, almost any real estate agency will be happy to introduce your their variety of places for rent.

2. The prices vary a lot from province to province. Generally you may find many houses and villas in Lucca area very affordable. Normally, they will be located somewhere in the mountains.
In the city, for example in Livorno, where I've rented a flat the price for a 2 bedroom apartment is from 900 Euro and up (seldom 800). Toscana is almost double expensive than the south of Italy!
I've outlined the calculation for other additional costs when renting a flat in Tuscany(travel-to-tuscany.org/tuscany-real-estate-agency.html)here very detailed.

3. The formalities mainly include signing a rental contract by both parties (the owner and the renter) and registering this contract in Agenzia delle Entrate, to let the Italian state know that you're renting. There's another fee for that, by the way.

Other apartment rental in Tuscany tips:
- The rent amount (Euro) may change (read - increase) once a year, when you rent long term. This is due to the market variations.
- The security deposit you pay when you start your renting contract you'll get back vary rearly... I believe this is something from the Tuscan culture. You'll really have to fight for it.