Thanks to Great Estate, Mr John Lecutier recently bought a lovely and charming apartment in the historical centre of Cetona. Here he talks about his passion for Italian lifestyle and Tuscany and his experience with Great Estate.
Good Morning,
I live in Newark, Nottinghamshire in the UK and I am retired.
I have been interested in the Italian way of life for many years, for example opera, food, architecture & wine, so my wife I decided to buy a property in Italy, where to stay and from where to start visiting other parts of the country at our leisure! We have been in Italy many times, mainly in Tuscany, but have also visited le Marche and Sicily as well as Rome and Ravenna! In 2016, I successfully completed with a friend the Mille Miglia and saw many beautiful towns.
We decided to buy a holiday home in Italy around 2 years ago and tried to contact a few Italian estate agents via internet, without any success. We then decided to visit Tuscany to have a look at some properties in order to gain some experience of what was available in the Italian property market. We chose a few properties which were being marketed by two estate agents: one of them was Great Estate.
We wanted a three-bedroom property in a small town or village where to find local amenities, so that we could walk to the shops and restaurants. After a paper search of many regions including the Marche, we decided to concentrate on Tuscany, as the year before our visit we had been to Lucca, Florence and Siena and enjoyed them so much! When we first came to see the properties on offer from Great Estate and another company we, on the recommendation of Roberto Biggera of Great Estate, stayed in a very good Locanda in Cetona, which was well located to view all of the properties. It was at this time that we realised that Cetona had everything we wanted, shops, banks, restaurants and a butcher and a baker, as well as many other facilities! The main square is a beautiful place and is in the historic centre of the village, which dates back to the 12th century.
We decided to purchase a 3-bedroom apartment in Cetona as we liked the layout and proposed finishes, which have kept the Tuscan style, yet provide an open modern interior which has greatly pleased us. We will use the property as a second home and stay there when we visit Italy along with our friends.
We were from the very beginning impressed with Roberto Biggera, he speaks good English and helped us every bit of way during the purchasing process! Through Roberto we were introduced to the building and refurbishment company, the CEO being Iuri Frullano, who was a very good and considerate person and made sure all was correct and according to our wishes! Roberto introduced us to an accountant to calculate out our IMU tax as well as an insurance agent and did many other things to help us, even when back in UK! Such help we would not get with a UK estate agent! Great Estate held our hand throughout the whole process as well as driving us to view the various properties and area in order to help us decide on our exact location. One very useful point was that he explained all of the clauses in the contracts that we would have to sign in the presence of our Notary, Mr Antonio Zorzi!
In conclusion we would certainly recommend Roberto Biggera and of course Great Estate to any potential Italian property buyer. Their service is exemplary and took all of the worry out of buying a place in Italy as we felt safe and in good hands. To add to this, Roberto has a good name in and around Cetona as being straight forward and honest!
John Lecutier
If you, as Mr Lecutier, want to buy a splendid property in Italy, entrust yourself to Great Estate Group: visit our website or contact our head office!
