Hello and help please!

Like any transaction that involves large sums of money , you need to be clear that you are not buying a 'pig in a poke'. Good legal advice will ensure that your obligations i.e. maitenance contracts, etc. are fair and binding also it is important that you understand fully your costs and charges. Only you will know if the advice is worthwhile, but unless you trust these people implicitly then I would think Good legal advice will be money well spent in the long run; if only for your peace of mind.

Re your question about empoying a solicitor. I would strongly advise you to as there can be many hidden problems. We put a deposit on a property only to find via our solicitor that the vendor didn't own the land, the Church did! Employ an English speaking Lawyer too! If you want the name of a good one, email me. Good luck.

We used an English speaking lawyer.  Her most used phrase became: "in Italy there is a law...".  It usually concluded with some problem or other.  She was also remarkably good value, charged us a lot less than our lawyer charged us during the sale of our house in the UK.  She told us about potential problems, because our building is listed and potential take-over bids from farming neighbours.  She also calmly discussed how much we should under-declare the price by in the presence of the notary and the vendor.  So money well spent!

If you are buying in a foreign country and you do not speak the language it is always advisable to have a lawyer to check all documents. It will give you peace of mind and , as Heiko stated, it is money well spent.