The Apartment Search

Buying any home is never an easy task. However it felt especially difficult in Bologna despite not having tried to buy a home anywhere else. 

I suppose nowadays almost everything can be done on the internet, however it seemed like looking for  apartments that were for sale was only done on the internet since it was the fastest way to see what was available, where, for how much, and with photos. And I'm not even sure if  personal realty agents exist. 

We looked on large sites like immobiliare.it or casa.it but we also looked on smaller specific sites like abitare bologna and santo stefano immobiliare however most of these listings where also on the large sites anyway. It is incredible what is out there and for sale and at what price. If you're ever curious just take a look. We looked, and searched, and hunted and about one possibility would pop up over every three months or so. 

So we tried to book a few appointments together to have a better idea of what our options are and see more homes.  After each visit the representative would usually ask what kind of home we're looking for. They'd take note and write it down and they said they'd keep their eye out. However, from dozens of visits, only two agencies contacted us with other options that more or less matched our criteria. So we had no help from an expert who would help us with the search process. 

Our "dream house" just wasn't possible. First of all, there weren't many options that matched what we wanted and second, if there was something it was waaay out of our budget. So we knew we had to let something go. 

Finally, after over a year of looking we saw a publication online that looked interesting. It was on the other side of town and it didn't have a terrace but it did have 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a studio, wood floor, an open living/kitchen space, and it was on the 5th floor with an elevator. However it was still over our budget. But we decided to take a look at it anyway. 

We visited it, and we both loved it! It was a beautiful place, with high ceilings, and our ideal kitchen even with an island! So we went back and had a second look just to be sure we really liked it. Then we called up the in-laws to come and see it too to get their opinion. They thought it was a great place too! Unfortunately there was still the problem of the price. But one must know that everything in Italy is negotiable. When you go house hunting you can expect to drop the price at least 5%. 

We said we wanted to put in an offer on the house about 10% less than the asking price. We stated our price and the representative said that the owner wouldn't even accept an offer that low. So we played the Italian game and waited and pretended to not show interest for a week. Sure enough we received a phone call saying the rep spoke to the owner and would take a look at our offer. Just a few days later we got the final phone call saying it's a deal! 

We arranged for everyone to meet about 6 weeks later to sign the papers and close the deal. From then on we had the keys to our new home! 

Thankfully we gave notice immediately to our landlord of the place we were renting in which we had to give a 3 month notice before moving out. We notified him at the beginning of February and at the end of April we were hauling car loads on over to the new place to get settled in! 

We've Moved! Goodbye Galvani

If you haven't heard yet, we've bought a house and we've moved! 

We had been looking for a place since we've been married so essentially two years and the housing market is no easy maze to walk in Italy. 

Houses aka apartments are very very expensive compared to the States. It was hard for me to look at homes and know that there could be something 5 times as big in Minneapolis for a quarter of the price. However that is in Minnesota and not Bologna, Italy. 

 Since I've been living in Italy, we've lived on the South side of the city. Bologna is essentially a circle with the train station at the north and the bolognese hills at the south. First we were in Via Castiglione and then we moved just a few blocks north to Via Cartoleria. This side of the town is called Zona Galvani. It is a really beautiful area but also rather expensive. 

This part of town is considered part of the historical center and it still has quite a medieval feel to it. We would have liked to continue living on that side of town but it's just too expensive. So now we're on the complete exact opposite side of the city near the train station. This area is called Zona Marconi. 

After living in the same neighborhood for two years you really start to feel like you belong there. There are definitely something I will miss: 

This pink church which we lived next to for a year, right under the bell tower. Even though the bells ring every half hour even through the night you become used to them and they are really helpful while you're getting ready in the morning or having a private lesson. 

Literally the best gelato shop in probably all of Italy- La Sorbetteria Castiglione. I think we definitely took for granted having such a delicious gelateria so close by. 

Not only was there an amazing gelatria there is also a delicious bakery- Regina di Quadri. We've ordered their incredible mille foglie cake more than once and have had our fair share of croissants.And also while walking to the bus stop early in the morning for work and smelling the waft of freshly baked goods. 

 Saying that I live near Porta Castiglione 

Which is right next to Giardini Margherita, the largest gardens in Bologna. This was definitely nice for going walking with friends and for taking Macchia. 

And living in a historically rich, beautiful part of town

However all of Bologna is beautiful and so I'm sure we'll soon find the places we really enjoy on this side of town. Our neighbor is the owner of the bar on the corner so we've already had breakfast there a few times and there is also a nice place to grab a piadina and sit out in the sun to eat around the corner. 

I'll write and put pictures up of our  new place in another post! But for now- Goodbye Galvani! 

Home Is Where the Heart Is.

It's almost exactly a year since I came to Italy having followed my heart. And it was then that Luca had met with Paolo and discussed subletting his apartment for one year has he headed off to England. So as a year approached, Paolo returned and was ready to move back into his home, and so we were on the apartment hunt. 

It wasn't as easy as we had hoped, and I would say that there is an apartment crisis in Bologna. Since there are so many students and living in the city is in demand, there are too many apartments that are in terrible condition at a ridiculously high price. These apartments are purposely kept in poor condition since they know students will rent them anyway and will probably cause damage. 

Where we were for the past year was actually owned by the Vatican and so we were technically paying our rent to the Arch Diocese of so and so of somewhere. This meant that we paying very low rent and was a great way to save some money for year, but also meant that we used to not paying very much for a relatively large space in a great location in the city center. 

After a month of looking we found our new home  just a few streets down. It's a little smaller than our place before, however it has two spectacular views of the hills of Bologna and has recently been renovated and we were spared that horrible 1960's decor that still common today in Italy. 

The apartment wasn't furnished and so we too many trips to Ikea trying to buy nice enough, but cheap enough furniture that hopefully we can sell in the future. It's so nice to be in a place that's actually ours, not subletting, with our own things. 

Selling Cars

So with the prospect of not spending any significant amount of time in the near future in the U.S. I'm trying to sell my white 1998 Honda Civic LX. It hasn't been so easy. It would be a nice relief to have the car off my hands and make some extra money.  It's been posted now for 2 weeks and the majority.... 99% of the interest has come from scams. Gotta just keep on hoping!