Finding an Italian Apartment
We knew we’d need an apartment lined up for us upon arrival in Italy.
After thinking about Italy for the past year, I was eager to settle down into an Italian apartment for awhile. Beyond the benefits of having a semi-permanent place to park our travel-weary bones for awhile, it’s important that we establish residency while applying for dual citizenship.
I guess it sort of means we’re going from digital nomads to expats. We’ll still explore the world, but at a slower pace and with a home-base in Italy.
Renting Sight Unseen
Some people land somewhere and then look for a place. But others like things lined up beforehand. I fall into the latter category and especially so because of our dual citizenship process. The sooner we had our name on a lease with utilities set up, the better.
I learned from reading about other people moving to Italy that it’s not uncommon to rent something sight-unseen, crazy as that might seem. Well, we were about to do that ourselves.
With help from ICA (the group guiding us through the citizenship process), we were offered the option for a 3-bedroom apartment. This was exciting because it meant more space and we could invite guests to stay. I always just imagined we’d end up in a 2-bedroom, but with a 3-bedroom option, I was cautiously giddy. Remember, it was sight unseen.
It was close to the town center (really important!), and it was only 700 euro a month plus utilities and internet. I wasn’t sure what to expect to pay, but I knew northern Italy could be more expensive than southern Italy. So far we’d been paying close to southern Italy prices (in Portugal and Croatia), and those weren’t three bedrooms. However, they were through Airbnb, which always costs more.
Our Italian Apartment
Via email, we received pictures of the kitchen and bathroom. It had a washing machine, and it was recently renovated. We didn’t see pictures of the bedrooms, but we were told there were beds, nightstands, and wardrobes. We were also told that a couch would be there by the time we moved in. But text-based assurances and two photos just couldn’t tell the whole story.
But, 3 bedrooms?!
I was excited. Like I said, that meant guests. I confidently started to invite people to come visit us in Italy!
This Italian apartment had promise. My gut said to throw caution to the wind – fuck it! – let’s do it. It would give us a place to land immediately upon arrival and should make things easier. We signed the 1-year lease and trusted that everything would work just fine.
Besides, I was eager to get this off my to-do list. I loved the idea of landing somewhere and being able to jump right into making our home.
How Did the Apartment Turn Out?
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