This was my FIRST international real estate purchase and I have learned a lot from the experience that I thought I could share with the community. I purchased this apartment in a small Italian village for 25.000€. The apartment was sold "as-is", and the deal was negotiated and translated primarily through family. (I'm a lucky girl!)

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

Campagna is the village where my Great-Great Grandfather was born, so the transaction is more of personal significance to me. The apartment was listed at a very good price, and my worst-case scenario is that I can sell and make a small profit in a year from now if I choose to leave.

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

My Zio's best friends nephew was selling the property. He needed a quick sale because his mother was in poor health, and I had the ability to make that happen through a cash sale.

How did you finance this deal?

I sold my business in February, and paid for the deal with cash from that sale.

How did you add value to the deal?

I was able to speed up the process by paying with cash and using family to translate documents rather than third parties.

What was the outcome?

I am now living in my adorable 1 bedroom apartment in Campagna, and putting the final touches on the unit! There was no furniture whatsoever, so I have now constructed and installed the kitchen and apartment furniture. There are just a few more final touches, and I hope to be able to list the apartment as a short-term rental.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

This is ITALY. Everything takes plenty of time. I negotiated the deal on October 12th, and although dealing with a motivated seller, motivated buyer, sitting vacant and purchased with cash - did not take possession until November 2nd. At that point, there was a further wait for essential utilities (electricity and water) and I was not able to move into the unit until November 18th.

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

The only "professional" involved was the Notatio - they were ok to deal with, but nothing special. They did not speak English. I used family to translate legal documents and processes.