How to Rent a House in Italy as an Expat

Originally published on The Unexplorer.

If you’ve looked into the requirements for your permesso di soggiorno once you arrive in Italy, you see that one of the requirements is to have a rental agreement for a home in Italy. (You can also have a receipt for a hotel or hostel stay of at least 30 days.)

This can be stressful to figure out when you’re still living in your home country! Here I’ve got a few tips to help you.

Look at a Short-Term Rental

As I’ve learned, it’s tough to get a sense of a town enough to know you’ll want to live there for a year or more when you just visit for a few days. And note: some towns primarily offer rentals for multiple years, so it’s a lot of pressure to sign a rental contract for three or more years when you don’t know if you’re going to love the town or not.

An alternative is to find a short-term rental. Airbnb is an obvious choice, but also check Facebook groups for the town you’re considering, because you might find a place for cheaper. Make sure, though, that the owner is willing to write you a contract because this piece of paper is very important in helping you get your permesso di soggiorno! A lot of Italians (I’ve found) don’t want to create a contract because they have to register it with the tax agency and pay…