Has anyone purchased property in Italy as an American? We are very interested in doing it but would like to hear about over peoples experiences. This property would be leased out 90% of the time and personal use on a few occasions a year. We have visited a few times and are going again this year and we look at a few.

I don't recommend investing in offshore real estate unless you go there frequently and have language skills.  Alternatively, if you have a partner that you trust and fits the above criteria, then it may work.

Sounds cool to own a place in Italy, but if something breaks down, there is a legal dispute - and many more problems.... you'll have to converse in a different language and different circumstances.  You're not a local.

I am in the process of completing a purchase of an apartment rental/retirement/vacation home in Tropea Italy. I signed contract in April 2017, to be completed May of 2018. I'm hoping it will be done and ready for kitchen and furniture by March 2019. We will see...  

We have an apt. in Ravenna and have never rented it because the squatter laws are so bad. We fear the tenant will stop paying and never leave.  We may move to Airbnb or try a corporate lease.  Overall the investment its been poor and we only keep going because its in my wifes home town.

A friend and I talked about buying a big boat on Lake Texoma one year....and thankfully he was the smarter of the two of us.  We talked about how much we would really use it and decided renting would be a lot cheaper....than buying a boat, paying for a slip, for probably what would be very little use when you think about it.

When all is said and done, might be better to just rent a place....for the 1-2-3-4 weeks a year you might actually use it.  Then you have the flexibility of renting different types of places, different locations, and you're not tied to that one piece of property with all the headaches that might come with owning property in a foreign country.

Invest here in your backyard and use the profits for your vacation rental is probably a better idea in most cases.