Your house-hunting trip to Italy — with Nick beside you, not on the phone.
There's what a town looks like online, and there's what it feels like on a Tuesday morning. Stage 3 puts a trilingual, Abruzzo-born advisor in the passenger seat for the days that decide everything.
Start with a free one-hour callIn-person support in Italy, for the days that can't happen over video
Some decisions need boots on cobblestones: walking the house, reading the room in a negotiation, seeing whether a town has life in it at 8 p.m. This is that stage.
Viewings, together
Nick walks every property with you — asking the agent the questions you wouldn't know to ask, in Italian, and telling you afterward what was said and what was meant.
Town immersion days
Not just houses — lives. The morning market, the drive to the hospital, the coast in twenty minutes, where the espresso is and who's drinking it. You leave knowing whether you could live there, not just sleep there.
In the room where it happens
Meetings with the notaio, the geometra, the agent, the comune — with Nick interpreting, keeping the process honest, and making sure nothing gets agreed to that you didn't understand.
Negotiation, in person
Offers land differently across a table than across an ocean. Nick knows what homes actually sell for here, how Italians negotiate, and when walking away is the strongest move you have.
The paperwork gauntlet
Codice fiscale, bank appointments, document runs — the errands that take a stranger three trips and a local one. Done together, in order, while you're here.
An honest second opinion
Sometimes the most valuable sentence of the whole trip is "don't buy this one." Nick has no commission on any Italian property — so when he says walk away, it's for your sake, not a sale's.
A scouting trip with a local advisor covers in one week what takes strangers a month
Travelers to Italy see the Italy that's shown to travelers. Buyers with a local beside them see the rest: which street floods in November, which "quiet village" is empty by October, which agent's "special price for you" isn't — and which town will still feel right when the vacation glow wears off.
Nick was born in Abruzzo and speaks the language twice over: Italian, and the older dialect of handshakes, introductions, and knowing whose cousin to call. When you show up with him, you're not a tourist inquiring — you're somebody's guest. Doors open differently.
The month is built around your trip: itinerary planned before you fly, full days together on the ground, and a clear debrief after — so the flight home is full of decisions, not confusion.
Travel within the Abruzzo region is included in the monthly fee. If your search takes us outside Abruzzo, travel is quoted separately, in writing, in advance — no surprises on an invoice, ever.
What On the Ground includes
- In-person days with Nick during your time in Italy
- All travel within Abruzzo — included, no mileage math
- Interpretation at viewings and meetings — English, Italian, Spanish
- Viewing itinerary built and confirmed before you fly
- Coordination with agents, notaio, geometra, and the comune
- Evening debriefs: what we saw, what it means, what's next
- Written trip summary with decisions and next steps
Before, during, after — a trip that earns its airfare
A great scouting trip is mostly built before the plane takes off. Here's the shape of the month:
Before you fly
The itinerary
Properties confirmed, viewings scheduled, towns sequenced sensibly, appointments booked with the professionals you'll need. Your week is planned to the half-day.
While you're here
The days together
Viewings, towns, meetings, meals where the real information comes out. Nick drives, translates, negotiates, and tells you the truth at the end of every day.
After you land home
The debrief
A written summary of everything seen and decided, offers progressed if you found the one, and a clear next step — whether that's an offer, a second trip, or settling-in support for the move itself.
Your trip to Italy: what people ask us
What does "travel within Abruzzo included" mean?
Exactly what it says: when we're working together inside the Abruzzo region — viewings, town visits, meetings, appointments — Nick's travel is part of the monthly fee. No mileage charges, no day rates stacking up. If your search takes us outside Abruzzo, we'll quote that travel separately, in writing, before anything is booked. Your own travel to and within Italy — flights, lodging, rental car — is always yours.
How long should a house-hunting trip to Italy be?
Seven to ten days is the sweet spot for most buyers. That's enough to see a serious shortlist of properties, spend real time in two or three towns — including the unglamorous hours that tell you the truth — and still have room for a second look at the front-runner. Shorter trips work when the shortlist is tight from Stage 2 searching; longer ones mostly add fatigue, not clarity.
Do you translate for me at viewings and meetings?
Yes — Nick interprets at viewings, negotiations, and meetings in English, Italian, and Spanish, which changes both what you understand and how you're treated. For formal documents like the purchase deed, Italian law and good sense call for certified translations and, where required, an interpreter at the notaio's closing — we coordinate those licensed professionals as part of the process.
Can we look at towns outside Abruzzo?
Yes. Abruzzo is home turf — it's where Nick's deepest network lives and where travel is included — but the same support works anywhere your plan points. We'll be honest about the difference: inside Abruzzo you get relationships built over a lifetime; elsewhere you get the same diligence and the same advisor, with local professionals brought in as needed and travel quoted in advance.
Do I need Stage 2 before booking On the Ground?
No — the stages are independent. But arriving with a vetted shortlist makes every on-the-ground day count double, which is why most clients run the property search first and book Stage 3 when there's something worth flying for. If you've already done your own searching, we can start here: send us your list and we'll build the trip around it.
What does Stage 3 cost, and how does billing work?
Stage 3 starts at $4,500 per month, built around your travel dates, with travel inside Abruzzo included. It's month to month — most clients need one month per trip — and you're never billed for anything you haven't started. All payments go securely through Stripe. Questions before committing? Write to us or book the free call.
See Italy the way you'll live it — with someone who already does.
Tell Nick when you're thinking of coming. He'll tell you what a week on the ground can settle — and what it can save you from.