AUSTRALIAN expatriates WINNIFRED COZIJIN-ROSSER and her husband David Malloch run a successful bed and breakfast from leased premises in Polinago, Italy. Last year they took the plunge on buying a house for their B&B. Their first guests at the new Cherry House B&B arrive this month. Winnifred takes up the story.
NO easy ride into retirement for us. One day as we were walking the dog we noticed a sheet fluttering from the top floor window of a building we had initially looked at to rent and use as a B&B.
Scrawled across the sheet were written the words Vendesi o Affittassi (for sale or rent). My husband and I looked at each other and said "shall we just see what they want for it?" It really would suit our needs as it consisted of three apartments, one on each floor, and had a large garden with a vacant block of land next door.
On closer inspection, we saw the building was in good condition, although stuffed with furniture, and with pictures of former popes and crucifixes on the walls throughout (two maiden aunts had each had a floor). The garages were crammed with old bits of timber.
There was also three-legged chairs, a Singer treadle sewing machine, and what looked like one of the first Olivetti typewriters.
Mountain people are known for their frugality and fear that it may just come in handy one day. So, everything is kept.
We knew here was an opportunity to remain in Polinago, a town we have come to enjoy and where we are putting down roots.
Yet no matter how right the property was, there was still the problem of finance at our respective ages of 68 and 64. We went to our bank to see what we could do. The manager was most helpful, and we thought, no problems, we will be in within a couple of months and by the beginning of 2018 we will be on our way!
However, this is Italy.
We submitted the paperwork and waited. And waited and waited. After several months we received a call asking us to resubmit some of the paperwork as it had gone missing. At this juncture we asked if they wanted more information, as what we had submitted seemed rather scant, and we suggested perhaps a business plan.
"No one reads the fine print as a magnifying glass is required to do so."
Yes, that would be a great idea, to which we were shown a one-page business plan from someone wishing to start a honey production business in the area. So, we set to and put together a 10-year plan, which admittedly took time, and it was November 2017 before all was in the hands of the bank.
Of course, Christmas was on its way and although this is not the high holiday season like Australia, there is generally still a short break between Christmas and New Year.
With all the delays we postponed the date of settlement three times. At one point when I was about to lose it, the bank manager looked at me and said sagely, "You know in Italy there are only two certainties - one, that you are going to die; two, that you don't necessarily know how".
Buying a house and home loans is done very differently here. Initially, once you decide to buy a place either via a real estate agent or directly, the services of a geometra and a notary are required. A geometra is a cross between a quantity surveyor and a project manager, ensuring that the building complies with regulations and that the property boundaries are correct. For a handsome fee, the notary ensures all documents are in order and there are no outstanding loans on the property.
In this case, the property was a deceased estate, as are many property sales in Italy. Real estate generally does not get bought and sold quickly the way it does in Australia; people tend to stay in the one house all their lives, as their roots are deeply embedded within their communities.
Also, the laws of succession follow Napoleonic Law and generally there is no need to leave a will. If one half of the couple dies, the remaining partner inherits half of the property with the children receiving an equal split of the remaining half. Should one of the children have died, that part is then split between any surviving partner and children that person may have.
In the case of the place we were buying, we were dealing with nine people, all of whom were inheriting varying fractions of the value of the property.
On the day of settlement, everyone was at the notary's office including the two of us and our geometra. In all, 13 of us were crammed in a room beneath an extremely large, ornate, low-hanging chandelier, which belonged more in a ballroom than a modern office.
As Napoleonic Law dates from the days when most people could not read or write, the full document - in our case 12 pages - was read aloud very rapidly by the notary (we fortunately had received a copy beforehand so we could read it at our leisure to ensure there were no errors).
Half-way through proceedings the notary announced we could all go and have a coffee for an hour while he completed the documentation for us all to sign. By the time we all signed our names in full, across each page, there was barely any room within the margins.
We also had to spend two hours at the bank while the payments were transacted. We had mistakenly thought that as the payments were being done electronically, our presence would not be required. Not so. Forms had to be completed for each transaction and each signed.
Italy is drowning in paper. On one occasion my husband had to sign his name 24 times in a single document. All documents, including utility bills, are covered in fine print consisting of the relevant law covering whatever use of the document. No one reads the fine print as a magnifying glass is required to do so. Electronic payments are now available for most bills but all the fine print is still there.
The day after settlement the renovations began. When doing substantial renovations such as adding bathrooms and changing kitchens, the owner is required to also upgrade all the plumbing and wiring. As we discovered with our last premises and now this one, there is no earthing for the electricity. Many of the pipes are corroded or leaking, and we are not talking about ancient buildings.
Also, one of the bedrooms in our new property had a shower stall and laundry tub in the bedroom!!
We need to have all the building works completed and be moved into our new B&B by the beginning of June. And it is snowing!
Here we are in a foreign country we now call home, at an age where most of our friends in Australia have retired, are travelling, helping families with childcare, attending University of the Third Age or volunteering.
We once again have a mortgage to service, workmen to keep tabs on in a foreign language, and we must keep our earning capacity up as upon seeing the countless pages of the application for an Australian pension, I thought no way, I don't have time.
Retirement: what's that? Thankfully we are in good health, laugh a lot, eat well and, in the case of my husband, enjoy a good bottle of red wine. Our respective children shake their heads at us and ask why we can't just be like everyone else's parents.
We are busy, involved and certainly on most days don't feel old. As one Italian friend said recently, "You two cram more into your lives than most of the locals under 40".
If you go...
POLINAGO is a small town in the Province of Modena in the Italian region Emilia-Romagna, about 50km south-west of Bologna and about 40km south-west of Modena.
Email: winnifred@ozinitaly.com