As we walked away from our first sighting of the town house we were about to buy in Casalbordino, Abruzzo, Italia, my wife, Arnna said ‘I think I need a drink!’

It didn’t help that we had done what every sane home buyer is told not to do!

We’d bought property online. Exclusive Property, ensconced in nearby Vasto, and more specifically – Romina and Mila - were the agents that had drawn us into the somewhat complicated web of Italian real estate. Before we'd met face to face we had sent the deposit!

To any NZ property speculator this would appear to be sheer lunacy. Were we actually raving mad? Was the frequent question.

The answer? No as it turns out. Mila and Romina are 2 of the most generous and humble people to enter our lives, and directly responsible, along with Tina and Richard our builders, in realising our Italian property dream.

Coda Fiscale, Tassa Riffuti, bank accounts, water and gas connections, you name it- they have helped carve the straight route through the Italian bureaucracy that can bog down even the savviest of international buyers.

The official house purchase day in June 2016 deserves its own story, but in summary, Exclusive Property arranged everything: Notary, Power of Attorney, English translation, eyewitnesses; 11 people in total, with the whole process taking a speedy, single hour. In true Italian style, we drove our agent to the sale venue! I was even complimented on how quickly I’d adopted the Italian driving nuances.

As the ‘before’ pictures will tell you, what had greeted us was not a pretty sight.

Black mould on the walls, a fuchsia pink and mint green colour scheme, and testimony from one of the workmen clearing out the mess from the previous tenants in broken English, “This could be character, or this could be s#$t!

The 125 m2 house that was advertised, was actually 250!

When we returned later that summer, the heating units and hot water cylinder had also gone in the clear out, leaving holes in the outside walls!

That said, Richard, our local builder had advised us well and came to the same conclusion as Exclusive Property. Our 400-year-old house, first built for the Bishop of Casalbordino, had good bones.

Every project he has undertaken for us (usually scribbled on the back of a train ticket printout!) has turned out amazingly.

Two new bathrooms, a kitchen/living area switchover, and currently a basement apartment, have all realised our vision of keeping the traditional Abruzzese style and marrying it with modern amenities.

After Richard’s major reno work, we have done all the renovating ourselves –abbiamo imparato molto!

Ask a local!

If there’s one piece of advice you should listen to, that would be it. And that extends from agents to hardware supplies. If they additionally speak English, as Richard, Tina and Romina do, even better.

Our decorating and hardware store owner, Marco, has advised us correctly on everything from paint on stone walls and ceilings, metal balcony rails, plaster, even clotheslines, with the additional bonus that we now use Google Translate less!

A family love affair with renovating has ensued. Arnna has found a particular passion for terracotta tile wax, which banishes that gritty underfoot feel for at least a year!

Mollie, Abbie and Elliot have all learnt the benefits of marine polyurethane over outside door stain and how it means no more touch ups each summer!

Me? Well, Arnna’s sense of style is amazing, so I just adopt the labourer role to whatever she wants- and proudly say, I love it! Thanks to our belief in Romina and Mila, our Italian dream has become a reality. Romina took this picture of us walking to our house for the first time as owners. What it conceals is that in Arnna's left hand she carries a picture of her mother (may she rest in peace), busy with the family laundry as she always was. It also conceals the silent tears that flowed just prior as Arnna recounted this story to our amazing agents. Maureen Rosa Myra Graham’s dream was to visit Italy. Placing that photo, albeit in a quiet cupboard at the time, fulfilled that dream. She now hangs surveying the scene in our airy, well-lit kitchen, smiling and approving of our Abruzzese choice. Romina e Mila infatti tutto il team Exclusive Property, tu sei il migliore!

We had been thinking about buying a house abroad for a long time and we had fallen in love with Italy. We had actually been looking at houses for sale online for a couple of years until in the fall 2020 we found this agency. We fell in love with one house and hoped it wouldn’t be sold until we had right time to buy it. In the summer we went with Romina and Mila to look at the houses and started trading about the house of our dreams. Very good experience, it was the first time we bought a house from abroad, we were able to do almost everything from Finland and they took care of things in Italy and the information worked well. We got help wherever we needed and the everything went well. Best regards from the happy house owners, Peppi and Joonas from Finland.

In 2021 I started looking for a vacation home in Italy. I always wanted to have some property on the Adriatic coast. I live in Brazil and I started to search for available properties through the internet. The first thing I thought was how difficult would be the whole process for acquiring a property since we were, that time, under great travel restrictions due to the pandemic. In the end I found the house I wanted near Termoli, Molise, which was for sale through Romina and Mila’s agency. In fact everything was easy to procced, they were excellent in preparing absolutely all needs for the whole process of buying the property without my presence in Italy. I strongly recommend this agency, for its reliability, efficiency and friendliness.

Dear Exclusive Property,

I promised and intend to write an objectieve review of our professional activities during the process of byuing a house in italy.

Byuing a house long distance feels like taking a boattrip. The destination feels somewhat unknown.

So every boat needs a good and experienced captain to guide you through the next bend in the river.

With Romina Bergamo of the Exclusive Property I immediatly had the sensation everything would turnout right.

Every question that popped-up along the slow curving river of real-estate was professionaly answered for.

Romina even made a videoshoot of my future house! Using the RIA payment for it was a new experience too.

The whole byuing process long distance turned out very succeful.

I felt very lucky with this. Today i am the proud owner of my dreamhouse in Italy.

The captain onboard Exclusive Property delivered me on this daring journey to my frontdoor.

Thank you Exclusive Property.

Thank you Romina Bergamo.

After enjoying a number of holidays in Italy (both with friends, and alone), a friend sent me a post about $1 houses for sale in Italy. As I am not skilled in home renovations - this idea did not appeal to me at all. As Google does, once you start browsing sites, others sites are suggested, and this is how I found Romina and Mila at the end of 2019. The property purchase process in Italy is well documented on a couple of different Estate Agent's websites, but I've never been one to trust everything you read on the internet.

Browsing Exclusive Property, using different filters and making note of property reference numbers, I compiled a list of properties that attracted me. My first email to Exclusive Property was quickly answered. It was great to receive a personal reply from Romina and not to get a "system" generated auto reply, and soon I started planning my trip to view properties (any excuse to visit a country I love).

And then... the big C! My trip was booked for the end of April 2020, and up until mid March I still believed lockdown would only be 3 weeks. I packed away my dreams thinking that the properties I'd earmarked would very likely be sold to an online buyer. I wanted to be able to see the villages, feel the atmosphere when seeing the properties I was interested in.

I had the opportunity to travel again at the end of 2021, to visit a friend near Venice and renew my plans. I emailed Romina a shortened list of properties I wanted to explore and we made a date to meet. Mila and Romina patiently took us to see the different places. As we drove into Celenza Sul Trigno - the first thought was - "This is so clean, neat and pretty" - and the house in that town was exactly what I was looking for.

Thank you so much Romina and Mila for your excellent service.

My husband and I had always wanted to live near the coast in a place that was warm and sunny. We made a list of essential criteria to inform our choice. A list that included a spacious home with a large garden for our dogs and land to grow our own vegetables. After a process of elimination we finally settled on the Molise and Abruzzo region in Italy as it is such an affordable area and ticked almost every box. Our online search started during lockdown in 2020. We were finally able to travel to Italy in June 2021 to view houses. A daunting but exciting undertaking of viewing 16 houses in 2 weeks. Our new home was the final property we viewed in Molise. 10km from the coast near the beautiful beaches of San Salvo, Vasto and Termoli. Romina and Mila assisted through the whole process from the the offer to buy to the final day when we received the keys. We cannot express how important it is to have someone who can communicate in English and inform us of progress each step of the buying process.They continue to offer their assistance after the purchase was completed. Molise is an undiscovered gem with warm and friendly locals. Neighbours who come bearing baskets of fruit and welcoming smiles. Beautiful weather and delicious food. Dreams do come true!

After 25 years of traveling in Italy, we decided it was time to buy a house in Italy. We saw an ad on exclusiveproperty.com for a lovely house, but the house was located in Abruzzo, which was not on our list. However, we decided to give it a chance and contacted Romina and Mila. Then things started to move quickly and soon we were already looking at the house. As soon as we drove into the yard of the house, we knew, this is it!House sales were done quickly and professionally. Our village Villanlfonsina has welcomed us well and we have gotten to know wonderful, friendly and helpful people. We like to be here and also our relatives and friends. We are so happy that we dared to realize our dream in the previously unknown Abruzzo and a big thank you to Romina and Mila for making it happen.

Lovely people to deal with have had a positive experience with buying our forever home here in Monteodorisio thank you for all your assistance.

Great agency to work with from beginning to end find my Italian dream home, they helped me find it for the right price. This agency worked to make my house purchase as simple and successful as possible. I would recommend them to anyone.

Like many people, my wife and I enjoyed planning an extended visit to Europe and for that we wanted a base to operate from. We searched for many months online in various countries, and eventually visited France and Italy to decide. Our Italian visit was hosted by Romina, and we visited several houses before going on to France. Well, the memories of the warm Italian people and the beautiful countryside made us decide to purchase through Exclusive Property in Italy, and Romina assisted us to do it all remotely, explaining patiently all the way through, getting the right people and dealing with our nervousness. She was very professional and we now have a lovely little house in Carunchio we are delighted with at a steal of price. Very recommended!

Romina and Mila have helped me to sell my original property in Italy and purchase a larger one, which has been complicated at times, but throughout the process I have always found them to be supportive, professional and quick to respond to any queries, aswell as keeping me informed throughout of the progress.

Romina & Mila you must be one of the friendliest and helpful estate agents I have had the pleasure to do business with, you make house hunting in Italy a happy experience. And you are friends of mine now, if you want to work with someone that you could trust, contact them.

I would recommend to anyone thinking of buying a home in Italy to contact Romina and Mila, I live in Scotland and purchased a house there, they handled every part of my purchase with the least amount of effort for me, they work ethic and honesty,I feel like I have friends in Italy that looked out for me and gave me peace of mind.

Exclusive Property staff team were very supportive and provided us with very welcome advice on buying a property in Fraine. We provided Romina with s short list of properties we wanted to view and Mila, Romina and Adelio drove us around to view the properties - nothing was too much trouble. Communication by e mail and by telephone was excellent. We were kept well- informed at every stage of the purchase right through to completion in April 2018. Their support did not stop there - they helped us get the water and electricity connected including opening a local bank account. Even Mr Caserio helped and used his influence to get the water account opened for us. The support and advice post purchase is outstanding - nothing is too much trouble for Exclusive Property. Grazie Mila, Romina and Adelio.

From the start Romina and Mila were very responsive through email and with a lot of needs in our new home due to having horses they were able to show us around several properties that suited our requirements and we knew when we got out of the car at our new home in Atessa that it was the one. The land was perfect the house was a project but that’s what we asked for! They helped find the right notario and helped liase with the clients who were selling they joined us at the notaio office and just made the whole process a lot easier we couldn’t recommend them more to other house hunters xxx

I recommend Exclusive Property if you are looking to purchase Italian property! When my family and I went to Italy to look at properties, we were received with kindness, patience and unexpected help! We were shown properties in various areas of Abruzzo and Romina was very attentive to our interests and needs. Car rentals were much more expensive and difficult to find than we anticipated. Romina was able to use her connections to find us a rental car dealer that was not only reasonably priced, but so generous and kind! They (Sabo Motors) made us feel like neighbors versus foreigners. Although we have not settled on a property yet, Romina still checks in and is always available. We are looking forward to settling down in Italy in the future and to our next trip and chance to find our dream home with the help of Exclusive Property!

Romina and Adelio the English speaking agents could not have been more friendly, accommodating and knowledgeable.

We started our search for a home in Italy online and came across many websites with listings but Exclusive Property had the best options for what we were looking for. What really stood out was the communication provided by the team - they were quick, informative and thankfully spoke English well (a huge plus for us!). Romina was incredibly helpful through email and was so patient with us as we narrowed down our options. She really made us feel confident about the decisions we were making and the listings we chose to see. If we had a question about anything, they were able to provide helpful answers and even recommendations. After finally seeing a handful of homes in person, Romina and her team helped us with making an offer, payment logistics and administrative paperwork. They handled everything! We even settled some paperwork through the mail and it could not have been simpler. Even after we closed and started renovating our home, Romina was still there to help us set up our utilities (water, electricity, etc.). Truly above and beyond service that we were so delighted and surprised by. Our experience of buying a home abroad could not have been possible without the Exclusive Property team!

With regards, Cassie, Alex and Emmy.

My husband and I purchased a home in Fraine, Italy using the services of Exclusive Property, and specifically we were blessed by the frequent and responsive communication of Romina Bergamo. She answered all our questions and when the first home we found through Gate-Away turned out to be smaller than we wanted, Romina worked hard to help us find the perfect home in our price range. Once we had watched a video tour of the home and decided to make the purchase, Romina walked us through all the requirements necessary as non-Italian speaking foreigners. We went to Italy to visit the home in person and we were greeted by Adelio, a local English speaking Sales associate, who remains a great friend to this day. Romina continues to be a support for us when we visit Italy and Adelio continues to be of great assistance when we have needed help to remodel our home. The collaboration between this agency and making a connection with a local English speaking Italian citizen was a definite advantage to us. Our experience was fabulous and we recommend Romina and Adelio to all our friends. If you are considering the purchase of a home in Italy, they are the two people we most highly recommend.

Sincerely, Jewel Devet

I am so happy to have found Romina and Mila. and their Real Estate company. My name is Mary we live 30 minutes west of Boston USA my oldest Son Chris and I were looking for a home to buy for an inheritance for all my children I have six boys and their families to vacation in Italy. It was a dream of mine for decades.

Thank God I found the right company and agents they were the best most professional and always quick to respond at every question. They walked us through the process and they took care of everything, if you're fortunate enough to be able to buy a home in Italy. I hope you work with Romina and Mila.

My oldest son and I worked together. I'm a real estate agent and my son and I have done a lot of real estate transactions in the United States, so I can tell you with that background and fully understanding the complexities of purchasing real estate, especially in another country we could not be more pleased. I could go on and on all day about how awesome they are again we are extremely fortunate to have found them and to have worked with them, we are the proud owners of a home in Italy in the Abruzzo region and look forward to the renovating and furnishing of our new family home. Thanks to Romina and Mila.

Thank you Chris & Mary

We have worked closely with Exclusive Property, in particular Romina, over a number of years to find a property in Italy, we have found and secured the property even in the most difficult of times over the COVID restrictions. Romina was outstanding in facilitating our transaction during these restrictive times. Would highly recommend!

Best regards Grant and Paula

I spent five summers looking for a store of a home in Italy. I traverse the country until I settled on the Abruzzo region in 2017 Romina showed me a historical property which checked all of my boxes. The property needed updating, but its bones were solid. When I walked through the door, I just knew it was the home of my dreams, over the next few months while finalizing the property, Romina and Mila arranged everything and made the purchasing process far less stressful than it could’ve been. With the reassurances and hard work, I was able to sand the sale of the home within a few months. I would highly highly recommend both of them.

We first encountered Exclusive Property on one of our many internet searches looking for property in the Molise region and had been looking for a suitable property for around two years at this point. We encountered the website and Were impressed with the range of properties, locations and quality of descriptions. Each property had a golf range of photographs and a lengthy description enabling us to get aodfeel for the property we were interested in. We emailed the agency and were surprised at the speed of response to our request for further information on several properties. We must have driven Romina crazy with the multitude of questione around the properties and the legal position with buying property in Italy, however she never tired and Always managed to answer our questions promptly. We eventually settled on a property and arranged a visit to view several during our weeks stay, Romina very kindly arranged accommodation and recommended places for us to est etc. Unfortunately this was in January in the year which Italy recorded ita heaviest snowfall for ten years which meant manu of the properties were un-accesible. Again Romina was very helpful in putting us in touch with another agent to view properties in Bari so the time was well spent. Towards the end of the week we were able to visit some of the properties we had chosen and Romina supplied us with the Keys to view the property we were most interested in at our leisure. We decided to purchase our property and confirmed our offer with Romina, however this was declined in the first instance but after several weeks of negotiation on Romina part a price was agreed with the owner. Romina guided and supported us throughout the entire purchase, supplying notario, Witness as we were non-Italian speakers and coordinated everything flawlessly, it was a completely painless experience. Once se completed Romina arranged for all utilities to be connected and introduction to our local commune, whenever se nave any issues Romina and Mila are Always willing to help when considering our purchase was completed in 2017 se truly del that they have provided us with service,support and reassurance over and above what one would normally expect.

Kind regards

Paul & Louise

I had a pleasure to purchase a small house in Civitacampomarano, Molise, through Exclusive Property, in 2021. The decision wasn’t spontaneous; I have been thinking about it for a while, but Covid prompted to make a decision faster. As peculiar as I am, I started shopping online, frequently checking a few real estate agencies for their inventory. Exclusive Property came along, although their website was rather difficult to navigate (sorry, CI). What prompted checking it out often was a small property that I fell in love with immediately. To my disappointment, the house hasn’t been listed for long and disappeared rather quickly. Romina was quick to respond saying that the owner took it off the market with no reason to be given. Approximately 6 months later, the house popped up again in the feed. I didn’t question it for a second and connected Romina right away. My interactions with Romina were efficient and to the point. She always responded promptly. She even went to the village to film it for me. I got really excited. Romina helped out with explaining the process, fee structure, timeline, etc. She was straightforward and honest with any questions I had. Her English language skills were superb to move things forward. By the time we completed the preliminary agreement, the summer in Italy began, so we had to postpone the notario finalizing it until September. I have since visited the village three times. Every time I stayed in Civitacampomarano, I knew the decision was right. The house was a move-in condition; I only needed to dust it off on my arrival. The villagers received me well. I will be continuously indebted for their welcome and support. Romina was instrumental connecting my house to utilities and negotiating contracts on my behalf. Having this extra support from the agency was essential and I’m grateful for this touch. I have not met Romina in person until the last visit in April 2023. It was purely a coincidence as she was in Civitacampomarano to show properties. We have finally met after almost two years. I strongly recommend Exclusive Property in Vasto to anyone who wants to invest in preserving small Italy of Molise and Abruzzo.

My wife and I had a crazy dream as we talked. One day we would like to have a small house with a garden in some warm sunny country that is further south than our Slovakia. After a long search, our attention began to focus on Italy.

We started searching real estate agencies' offers on the Internet, studying the realities of the Italian real estate market. Most often we searched for houses on the portal https://exclusiveproperty.com/. There was all the necessary information with a very rich description of houses with photos. We were very pleasantly surprised by the communication with Romina and Mila, who always promptly and tirelessly answered our emails. And there were not a few of them... We very much appreciated her human friendly and helpful approach to us.

We liked a couple of the properties we wanted to look at as well. We arranged viewing dates with Romina and Mila. We only had a few days to do it, but thanks to the girls we made it happen. They were very accommodating. This crazy dream of ours started to take real contours. It was time for home viewings. Although we had some idea of the condition of the property from the photos of the houses, a photo doesn't capture everything. It doesn't capture the smells, the colors, the temperature, the humidity, the cleanliness of the environment, the dynamics of these factors. It does not capture the genius loci - the atmosphere of the place.

We have looked at all the selected houses. During some of the house tours we were accompanied by another member of their team, Adelio, who also deserves a big thank you for his valuable information and very helpful and friendly approach. Of course, the great advantage of the whole team was their knowledge of English, as we did not speak Italian. The house we finally chose in Castelbottaccio was love at first sight. Beautiful village, nice and friendly people, beautiful nature. The genius loci had worked and the decision was made.

After a verbal agreement, we went back to Slovakia. The other hard work was left on the shoulders of Romina and Mila. They kept us informed of the ongoing processes and answered every question. After half a year, everything was checked and ready to sign the contract at the notary and we arrived in Italy again. We received the keys to our new house in Castelbottaccio. After signing the contract, Romina and Mila helped us to rewrite all the utilities and we could start enjoying our crazy dream in Italy.

Once again a big thank you for everything Romina, Mila and Adelio.

Pavol & Ivana

S manželkou sme si pri našich rozhovoroch vysnívali bláznivý sen. Raz by sme chceli mať malý domček so záhradkou v nejakej teplej slnečnej krajine, ktorá je južnejšie ako naše Slovensko. Po dlhšom hľadaní sa naša pozornosť začala sústreďovať na Taliansko.

Začali sme prehľadávať ponuky realitných agentúr na internete, študovať reálie talianskeho realitného trhu. Najčastejšie sme hľadali domy na portáli https://exclusiveproperty.com/. Boli tam všetky potrebné informácie s veľmi bohatým popisom domov s fotografiami. Veľmi milo nás prekvapila komunikácia s Romina a Mila, ktoré vždy promptne a neúnavne odpovedali na naše maily. A nebolo ich málo... Veľmi sme ocenili jej ľudský priateľský a ústretový prístup k nám.

Zapáčilo sa nám zopár nehnuteľností, ktoré sme si chceli aj obzrieť. Dohodli sme si s Rominou a Milou termíny obhliadok. Mali sme na to len zopár dní, no vďaka dievčatám sa to podarilo. Boli veľmi ústretové. Tento náš bláznivý sen začal naberať reálne kontúry.

Nastal čas obhliadok domov. Hoci z fotografií domov sme mali nejakú predstavu o stave nehnuteľnosti no fotografia nezachytí všetko. Nezachytí vône, farby, teplotu, vlhkosť, čistotu okolitého prostredia, dynamiku týchto faktorov. Nezachytí genius loci - atmosféru daného miesta.

Prezreli sme si všetky vybrané domy. Pri niektorých obhliadkach domov nás sprevádzal ďalší člen ich tímu Adelio, ktorému patrí takisto veľká vďaka za jeho cenné informácie a veľmi ústretový a priateľský prístup. Samozrejme veľkou výhodou celého tímu bola znalosť angličtiny, keďže taliančinu sme neovládali. Dom, ktorý sme si nakoniec vybrali v Castelbottaccio bola láska na prvý pohľad. Krásna dedinka, milí a priateľskí ľudia, nádherná príroda. Genius loci zapracoval a bolo rozhodnuté.

Po ústnej dohode sme odišli späť na Slovensko. Ďalšia náročná práca ostala na pleciach Rominy a Mily. Priebežne nás informovali prebiehajúcich procesoch a odpovedali na každú otázku. Po pol roku bolo všetko skontrolované a pripravené na podpis zmluvy u notára a my sme opäť pricestovali do Talianska. Prevzali sme si kľúče od nášho nového domu v Castelbottaccio. Po podpise zmluvy nám Romina s Milou pomohli prepísať všetky siete a mi sme si mohli začať užívať náš bláznivý sen v Taliansku.

Ešte raz veľká vďaka za všetko Romina, Mila a Adelio.

When I first met Romina on a parking lot near Vasto to do a few site inspections in nearby villages, I immediately felt to be in good hands. With my little knowledge of Italian she was a great help when meeting the local owners and discussing details of the properties and potential contracts. Romina and Mila guided us dependably through the Italian acquisition process and the respective contracts and provided English translations where needed; thus we were finally able to acquire our new home in Torino di Sangro. There is still a lot of work to do on the house and the plot of land but thanks to Exclusive Property we felt safe when we made our decision to become a home owner in Italy.

Having decided that Italy was for me, I searched through numerous websites and narrowed down the areas I was interested in. I wanted a reasonable restoration project to get my teeth into. I researched the process and knew I would need a recognised estate agency that could manage the process from start to finish. I contacted Exclusive Property as they seemed to have numerous properties in the areas I was interested in. An early response was received from Romina, she communicated in a friendly and informative manner and I felt from the outset that she had my best interests at heart. We agreed on a list of properties to view, with others Romina thought I might like in areas I had not considered so far. No question was left unanswered during the viewings which were managed professionally and I knew the right place was just around the corner. I secured my project property with the help and direction of Romina and staff at Exclusive Property. Their attention to detail, and more importantly their ability to find solutions throughout this purchase was second to none. I have no hesitation in recommending their services to anyone else.

Hello Exclusive Property Team,

Thank you for your support and all the help from the time of the showing and after the closing. It is very scary for a lot of people to buy a property in a foreign country and coordinate in a foreign language. I was worried if I would actually be able to pull it off. You guys took an entire day out to show various properties in Fraine and Molise area. Also thanks for connecting me with a local in Fraine who can speak English. He has been a great friend since then and has been helping me in finding the best labor prices to renovate the house. Also million thanks for helping me with the water and electricity connection. I just received my first water bill and finally, it feels like I am ready. It was not possible to pull this off without all the help from Romina. She has been super nice and calm. I might have asked her like ten thousand questions and she has always been very helpful and calm. It has been 3 months since we closed on the property and she is still helping me coordinate everything with local resources to ensure everything is set up when I fly there for my vacation.

I want to sincerely extend my gratitude to your entire team for making me feel welcome and going beyond and above what was expected from an agent.

Thank you.

We looked through countless real estate ads until we found what was undoubtedly going to be our home. An old stone house with unique features. When we arrived in the charming mountain town of Castelbottaccio, we felt like we had stepped back in time. We were blown away by its beauty and serenity. And the atmosphere was warmed even more by the community and hospitable people. Agent Romina was very helpful throughout the entire process of buying the house. Even now, after its purchase, the agency helps us with related questions, and always responds promptly. We are very grateful to them for their help.

And we still can't believe we're going to live in this amazing town in Italy!

Celenza Sul Trigno - Theperfect Italiantownfor a family.

Our Journey to Italy

For the past 7 years, we have called Ireland home after emigrating there from the United States in 2016. Ireland is an island and with that comes increased costs for everything - housing, food, utilities, transport, healthcare, etc. During the height of the pandemic we started to feel complacent and isolated from the rest of Europe; we started to wonder if we could make the move to Europe. Italy was a natural contender on our list because I have Italian roots, we hold Italian passports and the cost of living is very affordable. So, in 2021 we began our research and tried to go the work route with a job transfer; however, work was in Milano and that is not where we wanted to be. We really saw ourselves in Central or South Italy and focused our sights on Abruzzo.

In January of 2023, after months of research and scrolling through property adverts, we stumbled across a listing for a house in Celenza Sul Trigno. The house was listed by Mila & Romina and their description of the house was thorough - it seemingly ticked all of our boxes. The house was large at 180sqm, 3-4 bedrooms, an outdoor space (balcony), walking distance to the central part of town, and to top it off a million dollar view. It was also HABITABLE! I quickly contacted Mila at Exclusive Property hoping that the house was still available, and within 24 hours I had a response that it was! Since we are more comfortable speaking English, we dealt directly with Romina, and I can honestly say that made a world of difference. There was nothing lost in translation, we felt that they were honest with us throughout the whole process and were able to provide their opinion on what houses were suitable for us or not.

In February, we arranged to have a live video tour of the house and were able to ask our questions in real-time as Romina and Mila walked through the house. We never felt rushed and they took their time showing us everything. The video tour was over a WhatsApp call with Romina while Mila followed with a camera to send us a recording of the house on the day of the tour. For us, this was extremely reassuring. Other agents we had dealt with in the past would send us a video tour, but it was a recording from when the house was first listed and not in real-time. A lot of the houses in Italy, especially the smaller villages and towns, have been empty for quite some time so it is extremely important to get updated photos and videos. After the video tour, we watched the recording from Mila multiple times, zooming into corners and compiling a list of questions to ask; which they always answered promptly and thoroughly. The layout of this house worked well for us so we decided to take the next step and get a home inspection, which Mila and Romina helped arrange for us.

In April, we viewed the house in real life and placed an offer. The process to purchase the house was fairly straightforward and relatively quick. Mila and Romina helped us a lot and walked us through the process, making it very seamless. In June, we had the keys and were able to explore a little bit of Celenza Sul Trigno. The photos online do not do this place justice. It is stunning! The town is small, but large to us, as we were living in a rural village of ~200 people. Celenza has a population of ~900 which increases to over 1000 in the summer months as there are many people with summer residences here. Celenza Sul Trigno ticked a lot of our boxes - there is a school, playground, football pitch, a pizzeria, bars, gelateria, markets, doctor’s office, bank, post office, pharmacy, a weekly market, agriturismo and some smaller businesses/shops. It is only a 30-40 min drive from beaches and 25 min drive to the larger town for the big shops. What makes Celenza so wonderful is the people! We immediately felt so welcomed and have made some wonderful friendships in the few weeks we have been here.

Morning walks in the cooler mountain air, being greeted by everyone we see with a big smile, evenings in the piazza with a drink and friends, kids running around and playing - this is Celenza. Our kids have made some wonderful friendships in the first few weeks of us being here and will be starting school in September. The people in Celenza have gone above and beyond to ensure that we are settled and help us enroll the kids in school, register for sports, find doctors, etc. For families, especially young families, I think there is a lot of opportunity here. It is a really safe town where everyone looks after each other, the class sizes are small so there is more attention and support for our children to learn Italian. Celenza is also in a central location for weekend excursions - Rome, Naples, Pescara and Bari are just a few hours drive or train ride away.

We are so excited to call Celenza Sul Trigno home, and feel that it would not have been possible if it hadn’t been for Mila and Romina. They really took the time to understand our needs and priorities with a house and town, and always gave an honest opinion. There are some beautiful houses in all of Italy, especially in Abruzzo and Molise, but Celenza has the amenities that a lot of other towns do not. The only way to ensure that Celenza Sul Trigno does not lose the amenities is to have more families keep the town alive.

When we were looking for a house in Abruzzo that would suit our needs in 2018, among other things, we also contacted the Real estate Exclusive Property. We drove with the real estate agents Romina Bergamo an Mila Caserio to various houses in the surrounding area. Unfortunately, since we hardly speak Italian, we were happy to be able to talk to Romina in English. She was always available for questions and support. We Finale found our dream house, which we are still very happy about to this day. We also felt very well looked after during the sales process. This agency is recommended.

Als wir im Jahre 2018 auf der Suche nach einem für unsere Bedürfnisse geeigneten Haus in den Abruzzen suchten, gelangten wir unter anderem auch an die Agentur Exclusive Property. Dabei fuhren wir mit den Marklerinnen Romina Bergamo und Mila Caserio zu diversen interessanten Häusern in der näheren Umgebung. Da wir leider kaum italienisch sprechen, waren wir froh, uns mit Romina auf Englisch unterhalten zu können. Sie war jederzeit für Fragen und Unterstützung erreichbar. Schliesslich fanden wir unser Traumhaus, über das wir bis heute sehr glücklich sind. Während des Verkaufsprozesses fühlten wir uns ebenfalls sehr gut durch sie betreut. Diese Agentur ist empfehlenswert.

Buying a home in Italy was one of our dream and I can say that Romina and Mila made this dream come true and we were able to buy our house in Montenero Di Bisaccia (Molise region). Romina and Mila went far and beyond in answering our questions step by step all the way. They responded to our questions and inquires in timely manner. For every property I inquired about, Romina would provide details from the condition of the property to the surrounding areas, shops, transportation, holidays celebrations, etc,. At the beginning, we wanted a vacation house but once we get there to finalize the sale process, we fell in love with the area. Romina and Mila welcomed us with open arms and helped us with the process which went very smooth. From the first encounter over the phone, to schedule viewing of the property, Notary, Power of Attorney, recommendations, etc.. Romina continues to answer any question and guide us through the process in every way she can. I recommend Exclusive Property to any one interested in buying property in the Molise and Abruzzo region. In Summary, we were so lucky to have Romina and Mila. They are amazing, professional, knowledgeable, humble, responsive all the time to any question or concern and amazing loving people. Now that we experienced the Molise region charm and beauty, we are considering to retire there soon . I would recommend them to all my friends and family. Thank you!

I have always enjoyed Italian culture, cuisine and architecture, taking many holidays over the years with my wife, and also many cycling trips. We started to consider buying a small holiday home. Many happy hours of internet searches highlighted Abruzzo and Molise as ideal regions. They are blessed with superb scenery: hill-top villages, mountains, and many lovely sandy beaches. Despite this, the area is unspoiled and relatively untouched by tourism. Houses there make affordable holiday homes, due to the depopulation of the villages. There was a good selection of houses on the Exclusive Property website. Their slogan is "Your Dream House Becomes Real". We liked the photos and information about one village house in particular due to its location, being not too far from the Adriatic and its scenic hilltop location in the heart of the village. As a bonus, there was no garden to maintain, but it had a terrace and balconies for sitting in the sunshine.

We arranged a February holiday to the area in sunny weather but unfortunately our dream house was now under offer. We did visit the village, however and the beautiful village church and immediately felt at home there.

After we returned home, we heard from Romina that fortunately for us, the original offer had been withdrawn, so we decided to make our own offer immediately.

Exclsive Property will provide all the assistance required to purchase a property in Abruzzo or Molise. You will receive clear instructions at each stage of the purchasing process. Romina patiently answered all my numerous questions by email and later on by WhatsApp. The notaries and Romina's team were helpful and it was nice to meet them and the vendors at the notary's office.

Help was also provided to set up the necessary utilities. We look forward to hopefully enjoying many more holidays in our quiet hilltop village, with fantastic beaches only a short drive away.

Kind regards,

Peter and Julie