Case Studies

The Brief

This was to find an apartment or small house, possibly rustic. The property had to have a minimum of 2 bedrooms which could be used at any time of the year that would accommodate two very different requirements, the childrens and her own. The property had to be within easy reach of Florence for shopping and evenings out with her friends and space for the children to play out with a small garden and away from traffic. To be lived in approximately four months of the year, i.e. December, April, July and August. Possibility of occasional let to friends was also a consideration. She also expressed a desire to look at property in Montecatini and Vinci.

What was discovered was that the client’s brief was actually very wide. Firstly, how does one interpret 'within easy reach of Florence' for us, we felt possibly a 15/20 min drive, but what did the client have in mind.

Please read on to see what our client has to say, after the event.

The Client’s Testimonial

"I visited Tuscany for the first time in April 2003, and was so captivated by the area - the scenery, architecture, atmosphere, people, style, food, character, landscape, art, restaurants, drama, shops, history... need I go on? I simply had to become a part of it. From that moment my search for a property had begun. Upon my return to England I scoured internet sites looking at hundreds of properties, concluding that I would have to return to explore the areas and view any properties of interest.

At first, I engaged a UK based Agent who put together a short list of properties, assuring me that I would be impressed with the areas he had selected. His confidence of this fact grew as I told him more about the type of facilities, location and property I was looking for. A trip was planned and, armed with a map, hire car and a list of addresses, off I went in search of my piece of Tuscany.

Three days later, I returned home, having driven 700 kilometers, been lost on numerous occasions and having apologised to various estate agents for wasting their time. I wondered why the properties selected for me were so unsuitable. How for example, when I had repeated my desire to be close to Florence, had the Agent selected properties high up on a hillside, totally remote and well over an hour and a half drive away? Only afterwards was the reason clear - I had been steered solely in the direction of where this company had contacts, regardless of my brief.

By chance I was put in touch with Linda at Intouch Italia. The way she handled my search was different from the start. During our initial telephone conversation, we chatted about the kind of place I was looking for – and I could tell from her questions, she was building a clear understanding of what I wanted.

On the morning of our viewing day, Linda talked me through the short listed properties, explaining why she had selected them. My optimism was reinforced. Each of the properties I saw closely matched my criteria, and even those that were unsuitable, served as a useful illustration of what was available in a certain location, within a particular price band.

The seventh, and last but one property we viewed, had the all important ‘wow factor’ - we’d cracked it! Achieving this result was hassle free, inexpensive and swift, for the simple reason that I had found a very good service.

Since choosing the property, the back up and support I have continued to receive from Linda has made the whole purchasing process much easier and I aim to move in my new home at the end of this year.

Quite simply, without this service, I do not believe I would be at this point. I did not have to deal with estate agents in order to find properties - Linda did this for me whilst I remained in the UK running my business. I did not have to drive to appointments and, therefore, wasn’t distracted by deadlines and directions (believe me some of these places are very difficult to find). I was free to concentrate solely upon the properties being shown to me. I did not have to make repeat visits to Tuscany, incurring additional time and costs, as Linda had put together a schedule of 10 properties to view.

For those who have realistic expectations, and really want to find a home in Tuscany, this service will help you do just that."

Elizabeth Riding
Nottinghamshire
August 2004