John and Betty contacted me in October 2025 with a request that was, on paper, very simple: “Barbara, we want to buy a house in Penne.” I asked the obvious question. Had they ever been there?
No, they told me. But they’d watched a documentary about the town, and they were convinced — before setting foot in Italy — that it was the right place for them. They’d already found a few properties online. Could they come in fifteen days to see the one they thought was perfect?
Meeting in Penne
They organized their trip. I organized mine. Mid-November, we met in Penne, where I’d arranged viewings with two local agencies — Daniela and Luca, both excellent professionals to work with.
There was, however, a complication.
The property John and Betty had set their hearts on belonged to Daniela’s listings. While they were still in the air, on their way to Italy, Daniela called me: the property had just been sold.
Panic, briefly. Then a question — Daniela, do you have anything else, not yet online, that we could show them?
She did. A property just a few meters from the one they’d wanted, more exclusive, not yet listed, no price attached. The owners — foreigners themselves, though the family had held the property for generations — weren’t fully decided on selling yet. Daniela assured me it would fall within budget, and promised to keep me updated.
Landing, and the News
John and Betty landed. I told them what had happened. I watched the frustration cross their faces — the house they’d traveled for, gone before they’d even arrived.
Sometimes things happen for a reason. We walked into the other property, and it was love at first sight.
We saw a few more houses after that, mostly out of thoroughness. But by then, they knew. And so did I.
From a Handshake to an Offer
We said our goodbyes, and my work began in earnest — call after call, with them and with Daniela, working toward a number that made sense. We landed on a price. The offer was accepted.
Due Diligence, and a Day I Won’t Forget
The due diligence, once again with Marco, started at 4am and somehow got worse from there: a delayed rental car return, a FIAIP Estero call squeezed in mid-inspection, and a return flight nearly canceled. We got home at 4am the following night. Marco drove. I would have fallen asleep at the wheel.
The due diligence came back clean. We were cleared for the deed.
Three Things That Taught Me This Job Is Not for the Faint of Heart
Twenty days before the deed, John and Betty asked about financing the purchase through an Italian bank — something we’d never discussed. Italian mortgage timelines run a minimum of three months. Twenty days was not three months. We found another way.
The day before Easter, I wrote to confirm the schedule for the days following the deed. That’s when we discovered they’d gotten the date wrong — they were arriving on the 13th of April, not the 10th, as planned. We resolved it with a power of attorney.
And then, almost as an afterthought, we were given the wrong address for the notary — the office in Pineto instead of the one in Pescara. Notary Marco Faieta, excellent and fluent in English, sorted it all out. Highly recommended, if you’re ever in that part of Abruzzo.
As if that weren’t enough, I arrived in Pescara to find the entire area in the middle of a water emergency — a scheduled infrastructure maintenance that left the whole zone without running water for four days. Deed signings, it turns out, don’t pause for that either.
Deed Done. Utilities Done. Everything Done.
Or so we thought.
Walking up to the house afterward, John and Betty told me the key wouldn’t turn in the door. I stood there, genuinely confused — it had worked every other time. It turned out “someone” had left a second set of keys jammed in the lock from the inside, while they were holding the only working set outside.
The locksmith arrived at 1:05pm — five minutes after my call- Incredible! Two hours later, the armored lock still hadn’t budged. In the end, we broke the reinforced glass of a window and climbed in.
It was an adventure. And, honestly, a genuine pleasure to have shared that journey with them.
“Choosing to work with Barbara Bersini was simply, without a doubt, the best decision we made when deciding to buy a home in Penne, Italy.
She is experienced, knowledgeable, thorough, patient, persistent, always responsive and calm throughout the entire process. We had decided where we wanted to buy, and she accepted that and worked on our behalf to make that possible. She never tried to steer us one way or another, always being guided by the wishes of her clients, us. That said, as a native Italian who speaks English fluently, she knew Italy well. We did look in several cities we were curious about, even though we knew that Penne is where we wanted to be just to make sure we had considered all the options. She arranged all that for us too.
Barbara worked with us on our schedule, not hers. At times it seemed as though we were literally her only clients because she spent so much time working on our dream. She spent time getting to know us as people so that she could find the right place for us. In the end, that is exactly what transpired. With Barbara’s help we found the perfect home in the perfect city well within our budget.
The real estate market in Italy is set up entirely in favor of the seller. This can be catastrophic as an American trying to negotiate the legal and financial processes while also negotiating the price of a property all done without any Italian language skill. If you, as an American, do not have someone advocating on your behalf, you are not going to have a pleasant experience. Barbara takes care of everything. She has her own geometra. She handles the Codice Fiscale. She made the appointment at the bank in our new town so we could get that established. She gets the rubbish service arranged. She gets the utilities transferred (the same day we signed the deed, so we could move in that day!). She doesn’t miss a thing.
Nothing in Italy is linear. The bureaucracy is legendary worldwide. Barbara’s command of Italian processes and procedures made everything go like clockwork.
So, if you are considering a home in Italy, whether it is an apartment in a city or a villa in the country, you are in a position where the question you should be asking yourself is “Who can help me do this, not How am I going to get this done?” The answer is Barbara Bersini. She is the Who to get the How done for you.”
Thinking about buying property in Italy — maybe somewhere you’ve only ever seen in a documentary?
Whether you already know exactly where you want to be, or you’re still exploring,
you deserve:
Technical protection
Clear communication
Coordinated local support
Emotional steadiness
Because buying a home in Italy is not just a legal act.
It is a life decision.
✨ If you are considering purchasing property in Italy, let’s talk.
👉 Book your free discovery call → Your House in Italy – Contact Barbara
