New kid on the block

Welcome italanon Cool picture

Hi italanon. Welcome and I hope all goes well with your plans. You seem to be doing great so far!

You should be able to get your utilities registerd in that time in January, and if competant in Italian you may try and do this online via the ENEL site, but you will need to visit the Comune to do ICI etc or go to your local INAC office and they will help you.

Ive just come back from 5 days sorting out the remaining things in my flat. During that time there were three events that I could have done without: 1. Due to a misunderstanding, I only got to phone ENEL on the day I arrived (Tuesday) to have my electricity connected...would you believe we left on Saturday, still waiting for it? It was a bit on the chilly side even if it was Sicily! The normal timings I was told was between 2 hours and 5 working days. I'm sure there is something amiss...Will phone from here in a couple of days... 2. On Thursday morning I go down to the street and find that my rented car has been towed away - it was the day they 'clean the street' on that side of the road - had to pay nearly 80Eur .... grrrr [didn't notice the street was any cleaner - I think its done to supplement the council's income and create work. 3. When I took the rental car back - I was unable to return it with a full tank as there had been a petrol strike on - no one would have been able to fill up - I saw a few closed petrol stations and one in town had a queue that went round the blocks and caused traffic kaos. Yes - you guessed it ...they fined me for said contavention and I ended up paying over 80Eur for 20 litres of petrol I had used (of course they added IVA to the petrol cost and to the 'fine') But apart from that the flat is 100% ready :)

Are you part of a condominium with an official administrator to handle the service charge and maintenance? I understand that where there are more than 8 flats you are obliged by law to have an administrator. That's Italy anyway - don't know if it is the same in Sicily. We have condo meetings every few months and votes are taken as to what we should be spending our funds on next. I have to say there are always plenty of claims on the funds and you have to shout pretty loudly to get your voice heard (difficult if the Italian is limited!). However, our neighbours are very friendly and obliging, they explain it all afterwards - what we have voted to spend the year's service money on! Our administrator is excellent, and he doesn't cost too much either.

Yes, there are 10 flats in total. Its administered by a company that seem to do that for a living in Trapani. That was one of my jobs that got done last week - visiting them. They even have a web site so you can log in and see what's owed... It's a very old building (mid 1800's) - the majority of expeses seem to be obvious ones (water, electricity for stairs etc) rather then a bucket of funds to be used on projects. The current figure is 37/month for my flat - where mine has been allocated about 8.9% of the total due to its size with repsect to the others. Not sure how this compares to a modern condo with lifts etc.

Hi, am looking forward to your posts, have not yet visited Sicily, so advice and experiences most welcome.

Hi Italanon. Welcome to Italy and all the fines.

The law on condominium states that if there are more than 2 flats on a staircase you need to have a condominium with administrator, agm and all that. 2 or fewer and no condo is required.