Hariet Nijhuis and “La Bella Vista”: “a complex virtual sale that made me very happy!”

Remember the article about the six sales made by Hariet in the first half of 2021? Among them was the beautiful villa “La Bella Vista”: a completely VIRTUAL sale! The interview with Hariet.

On 25 June, an American couple of Italian descent officially became the owners of “La Bella Vista“, a characteristic Leopold-style residence in the countryside of Castiglione Del Lago, in an extraordinarily panoramic position overlooking the countryside of Umbria, Tuscany, and the village of Montepulciano. As you already know, the sale of this fantastic property was handled by our international consultant Hariet Nijhuis, who managed both the selling and the buyers.
A totally virtual sale that Hariet tells us about in this interview.

Welcome, Hariet. Can you tell us a little bit about the customers who bought “La Bella Vista”?

The new owners of “La Bella Vista” are a couple originally from Turin who moved to California, near Los Angeles, about 25 years ago, convinced they would never return to Italy.
However, in recent years, Alberto and Daniela’s ties to Italy have resurfaced and they wanted to buy a large house that could accommodate their entire family: not only their children but especially their future grandchildren who would grow up to know Italy, its culture, and its way of life.

So, on 29 December 2020, Mr. Alberto registered on our website to get more information about two properties, one of which was “La Bella Vista”. So, as soon as our back-office forwarded me his name and contact details, I immediately contacted him to arrange a zoom meeting to get to know each other!

I knew immediately that Alberto and Daniela were seriously motivated to buy.
In addition, they were well prepared, as they had already carried out several property searches, both independently on Google and through other agencies, with which they had not been at all satisfied.

The clients had clear ideas and immediately chose the property that was right for them: “La Bella Vista”!
In particular, they were impressed by the structure of the farmhouse, the classic Leopoldina.

In addition, they have fallen in love with the wonderful panoramic view from the property!
For now, Alberto and Daniela will do everything they can to spend at least six months of the year in their new country house in Umbria. As for the future … we’ll see!

Hariet, “La Bella Vista” was a completely virtual sale. Would you like to tell us how you managed the customers and the negotiations?

Of course. The management of the customers was totally “remote”.
Initially, we set up two zoom meetings during which I presented and explained “La Bella Vista” to them, using the contents of the property card on our website; then we agreed to carry out three one-to-one video call visits. In this respect, I would like to emphasise that I personally consider Virtual Visits to be a truly effective and powerful service, offering customers a very, very realistic view of properties that can overcome all distances, even the largest ones!

Can you tell me briefly how this video sale took place?

Immediately after the second zoom meeting, I decided to propose to the customers a one-to-one visit by video call: they immediately accepted!
I remember that on that occasion only Mrs Daniela was present.

Then, the following week, we organised a second one, in which Mr. Alberto also participated. Both visits were quite long: we were on video call for about an hour and a half! Following our second virtual visit, the clients decided to submit a purchase proposal and the negotiations took off from there.

One detail: we also adopted the virtual mode to verify the technical and urban situation of the property, a verification that was carried out through a zoom meeting in which Geom. Alessandro Lasagna, whom I thank very much, also participated.

So Hariet, from what you’ve told us the sale of “La Bella Vista” must have been a very important experience for you! Are you satisfied?

I am particularly happy and satisfied!
It was a complex sale: in fact, the whole process took place at a distance and this, in my opinion, requires a great deal of responsibility, as you have to try to tell, present, and explain the property as well as possible. All I can tell you is that Alberto and Daniela saw the house for the first time “live” only three days before the signing of the deed and that I only met them personally on that occasion … I must admit that the tension was definitely felt!

I remember that when the clients physically crossed the threshold of their new property for the first time, they were thrilled, telling me that they found it even more beautiful than they had seen in our video calls so far.
They found the structure of the farmhouse in even better condition than they had seen it from afar.

Moving on from the technical aspect to the more emotional one, I would like to tell you that, on the day the deed was signed, the sellers, having owned “La Bella Vista” and lived there for over 25 years, were particularly excited, as were the buyers.

The latter in particular were very satisfied with the services offered by Great Estate, as well as our competence, precision, and professionalism … even though they confided in me that I am not really a very good video maker!