Illegal House Purchase In Italy (heartbroken)

I have some news about the house um please uh when you can call me so we can talk and I can explain you everything bye-bye have a nice day he doesn't sound happy it doesn't sound good oh no we are currently in the process of buying an Italian House in a small village in Sicily today we found out some bad news we discovered that the sale is actually illegal obviously isn't what we thought we were buying it's hard because we've been sold on a dream but before we tell you about all that let us show you around the region that we hope to be calling home soon we have come to this lovely Farm in the middle of beautiful Sicily to celebrate are moving to Sicily and also next week we are getting married so it is just a celebration week a week of celebrations and what a place to do it this place is absolutely gorgeous you guys now I know that we are very much in the honey moon phase of moving to Sicily so we're just very much in love right now but I also want to Revel in this enthusiasm and just show off this awesome place for example I now love big doors I'm not sure we'll get one that big on our place I'm afraid slowly [Music] slowly this is a fully working 18th century farm that has been passed down through four Generations I can't imagine how much work must go into a place like this so much they have Vineyards they have fruit trees they have livestock they have everything and I'm pretty sure they make all of their own stuff like um pasta olive oil wine all on site so I cannot imagine the team of people that they need to keep this thing running bye bye [Music] yeah [Music] good funny enough before we decided to buy a house in Sicily we really considered doing something like this not on this scale but running a little farm and maybe little AGR tourism company but as things have progressed in our lives we've realized that maybe we just enjoy it to come and see yeah because we still love travel so much and if you have something like this it's going to tether you to that place there's no way that you can just go off and leave it for 6 months of the year like everything the idea in reality is very very different I'm sure running the farm versus having to live on the farm all the time versus going off and coming for like a week just to enjoy it's kind of the same as like going to live in another country like we're going to do now is that going to be better the idea is better than the reality well I think for living it'll be it'll be great honestly but it's never going to be like a holiday I think that's where the danger is is if you think that going to live in a place like this is going to be like a year- round holiday of course that's not realistic I think for us we don't know what life is really going to be like on the other side of buying the house and living here but the stakes are so low that it isn't scary and I'm happy to make the jump yeah we're not moving to the other side of the world or anything it's just a few hours really from where we're living now so I feel like if all goes tits up we just sell up and go back [Music] home life on the farm was exactly as we'd hoped we were able to fully imagine our future life in Italy soaking in the beautiful surroundings and enjoying the Fantastic Sicilian home-cooked food everything felt like it was falling into place the next day started beautifully with a slow morning until everything went wrong we just had a voice note from Luca guys how are you I have some news about the house um please uh when you can call me so we can talk and I can explain you everything now bye-bye have a nice day he doesn't sound happy it doesn't sound good oh no we'd like to take a moment to talk to you about mental health and better help who are the paid partners of today's video over the last 12 years as a couple we have gone through some ups and downs in our own mental health Journeys Emma unfortunately with depression many years ago and me with burnout on the lead up to the birth of our son becoming parents has really highlighted to both of us how important it is to work on ourselves individually for the sake of our son but also for the sake of our relationship it really is true I always think of that phrase about how on an airplane you need to put your own mask on before helping others and that is essential when it comes to your own mental health and well-being talking with friends and family is brilliant but I do think that speaking to an unbiased professional therapist who understands exactly what you're going through is also incredibly useful that's why I've chosen to speak to a therapist in the past and it's why we continue to partner with betterhelp if you go to our link betterhelp.com /rael beans and answer a few questions better help will match you up with a therapist that they believe will best suit you every single one of their therapists is credentialed has a master's or doctorate degree and has spent over 3 years and over 1,000 hours speaking with people like you join over 4 million people who have used betterhelp to live a happier healthier life visit betterhelp.com trvel beans or choose travel beans on checkout to receive a special offer on your first month we have just had had a phone call about the house that we did not want to have I mean out of the blue we've just been so excited I know for days well for months really yeah and uh we've just been told that basically there's been like a sort of inspection that needed to happen um to make sure that the floor plans match what's on the deed so legally when we got to go and sign for everything that it all matches up and then yeah we can then legally buy it and it turns out there that the floor above the kitchen like the mini floor which is very quirky and unique and and weird but it was actually one of the reasons that we really loved it because there was quite a lot of potential we had some really fun ideas for that floor it was actually one of the things that we kind of loved about the place because we've never seen anything like it anywhere else and we can consider turning this into a BNB in the future and we love the unique selling point for other families to have this awesome children's room because that's kind of what we're looking for when we're traveling is these amazing experiences I love to have done that so now it has to be demolished and that mean not the whole house just the floor yeah but the floor has to be demolished yeah and then it becomes like a normal house which is still lovely yeah like the house is lovely but it is disappointing not having it exactly as we thought we were going to be having it so we fly back home tomorrow and now we're kind of unsure as yeah it's just a spanner in the works so the good news is is that we've paid a deposit and we've signed a contract which effectively says that if the deal doesn't go through by the middle of October um if it's our fault then we have to pay Lo our depit BAS we lose our deposit but if it's their fault which in this case it is currently um they have to give us double the deposit yeah so we could make money but that isn't lose the house no yeah so I think now also I to fully understand the situation that we if we don't go through with it not sure if we would lose our money but if we do go through with it then they have to knock it down at their cost and they have to do it extremely quickly which is which is great that we're sort of protected in that sense yeah and I guess it's one of those things that I think if we'd plan to take it down and demolish it anyway it would be kind of a great situation right because we'd be getting the work done for free essentially but we weren't planning to demolish it we were planning on making an epic kids room we're going to we're even contemplating having a slide going from the kids room down to the kitchen it would have been so much fun we've spent the last couple of years looking for a place so to find the place I didn't realize how much decision fatigue I had and the second we committed to it like I have been like as a little feather yeah it's been really really nice just knowing what we're we're doing and having it all kind of set out and planned it's been a relief to say the least but now you know chucking back in a decision uh for example when we went to Sweden we went into a bidding war and we almost bought a place and since then when that fell through we haven't been back to Sweden so we're leaving Sicily tomorrow so is this the end of our time in Sicily we're the kind of crazy impulsive people that will If This falls through will'll be buying a house in Kenya next week or at least bidding on one oh my God we've left it as it stands that we are going to sleep on it give it 24 hours because obviously we're leaving and so we need to make a decision before we leave um yeah and kind of see how we feel about it and let them know because the sooner we let them know the better because if we are going to carry on with this and keep the house then they need to get working on ASAP so watch the space I feel super grateful that we have our friends lucer and Sara kind of holding our hand through this whole experience as it does kind of take the stress away yeah especially with the language barrier and everything it and obviously like the whole system being completely different in Italy than what it is in the UK and the technicalities and yeah the legalities the fact that we're so protected within this is amazing cuz I think if we'd have gone down this Rabbit Hole ourselves I'm sure we would have got ourselves into some kind of H Jinks or we would have I love that word we would just be more stressed I think so after that shocking news we decided to visit nearby Village to relax a little bit while we try to figure out our next [Music] steps slow the good news is is if our house falls through there is kind of unlimited beautiful Villages here in Sicily there doesn't seem to be a shortage so we' just come to the closest one to where we are here you can see that the house prices are very very cheap and that's in the estate agent window which is where it's considerably more expensive cuz I think the real Bargains are through word of mouth if it falls through do you want to move here um no why not because I like our village it's so nice I can't imagine it being not our village so although there are lots of choices I think we have fallen in love specifically with one it's kind of like when people say there's plenty more fish in the sea it's like yeah but I really liked having sex with that fish oh my God not good analogy disgusting um you always there's a line and if Al's not Crossing it he's not happy we decided we wanted to be by the Sea so out in the middle of nowhere isn't that exciting to us and also we got the last one in the village for sale that has a view of the Mediterranean there's something about that view it just it sings to me it's so so nice and I can't imagine now being able to buy a place that doesn't have a view that at least lives up to that view yeah like I said the fish and Allergy Rings true [Music] prior to having Noah I don't think we ever would have looked for farmyard animals on an Airbnb listing I mean fully grown adults would be pretty weird well maybe not but like it seems you're really into farmyard animals but now I feel like going forward is definitely something that's going to sell a place to us more because seeing him enjoy en joy and interact with all the animals has been such a lovely added bonus to the stay here and as huge lovers of wildlife we really want to force that onto our son to enjoy the same things that we do and so doing it in a nice safe environment like this is something so nice to be able to share with him and then in the future hopefully we can get him up to the big guns we can get him riding elephants in Thailand oh my God petting sleeping tigers Dr absolutely not and all the other great animal experiences out there but it would be really nice to be able to take him on you know hikes through um the US Wilderness looking for moose and stuff like that which we were doing prior to his arrival um yeah this has been such a lovely little bonus I think AGR tourism now is something that we will actively be searching for and looking to experience with Noah and it's something that we never considered prior to this so maybe if there's any other forms of Tourism that you can think of that you think we would like please leave it down in the comments below cuz we'd love to hear your thoughts and after 12 years of travel we are still finding different things to go and do like cruises or staying on farms so I'm sure there's loads of little pockets that we never considered [Music] yeah one thing that I'm not sure if we'll ever get used to when we live here is just the Italian drivers and the organization of everything this here is to go through a toll road and it is Mayhem Mayhem it's like three or four different Lanes all trying to like cram in at the last minute it's um a bit much you learn very quickly that if you're not forceful can you show any sign of weakness they will get you they will get you whatever that me we just lose out don't you cuz like you'll just end up sitting there and never getting anywhere on okay I'm going to this guy behind is having none of bit just keep moving you're literally in direct line with the thing so if you don't move people will have to move out the way right waa after a lot more stressful honking and waving in traffic we arrived in our village to meet Sara and Luca we just had to see our house again to visualize everything and make sure we still want to go through with the sale in your opinion what do you think we should do about this okay so we spoke with the engineer and the laws here they say that you need to have 2 m and 60 we also remove all the stairs which it's a shame because they were beautiful and uh when they will remove it it will look like this basically so will need to beaster and uh you know you have other option want to buy the house and if they want to sell the house so so they can't sell it to anyone without doing and so they will front the cost they will pay for everything to knock this down yes so it's like a free extension exactly so it's a free job guys you don't need to do this in the be and it's included in the car so okay I just spoke with the owners and they told me that since also this height is the same height also this uh this toilet needs to go and need to be removed because of this height I see the goalposts keep moving since we've decided at this place so when we went to go and see the house the other week the kitchen was different than we expected from when we'd last seen it then we find out about the roof and then now just while we're here we find out about the bathroom and it's not like yeah I love the bathroom but having everything change already so quickly is very unnecessarily stressful when you're putting money cuz then do I have confidence in other aspects of the house if it's just sort of unraveling like this so unfortunately the process is not as easy and carefree as we expected but I know buying a house is a stressful experience anyway it's hard because we've been sold on a dream so uh my guts like no big deal like we have the dream of living here we can roll with any punch which is true but I also don't want to be naive and just kind of be walked all over as things keep changing constantly it also means more work and more money for us because it's not going to be like finished made look nice so they're just going to knock stuff down just to be able to get it off their hands and then do you trust the work that they do because they're just going to smash this [Music] down what do you think of the bathroom situation it's hard to um not start to get a bit down when everything seems to be changing you know like at first it was oh the kitchen's completely gone and then it's oh and that whole floor now is going to be completely gone oh and we're going to lose one of our two [Music] bathrooms it's just obviously isn't what we thought we were buying at first yeah we thought we were going to be be able to like move in straight away you know and of course we thought we would have to be buying like a washing machine and a fridge and all that kind of stuff and the furniture but I wasn't expecting this room to be such a building site when we move in mhm it's really hard I think before getting here after leaving the farm I was thinking that yeah I'm I'm still okay with it like it's a shame we're going to lose Noah's room up there but it it's okay cuz we still love the house and we love the dream of living here but when it's slowly Chang just like it's being chipped away at next thing we know you don't get upstairs or the balconies have to come down and they take the tiles away my beloved tiles unfortunately our time in Sly ended before we made a decision and we would really love to hear all of your thoughts about what you would do if you were in this situation yourselves please make sure to subscribe and hit the notification Bell to join us on this journey and check out our link to better help down in the description if you're interested thank you so much for watching beans out [Music]