Rustico/casale in Borgata Pessino
ARQUATA SCRIVIA - Nella caratteristica frazione di Pessino, in posizione strategica a pochi minuti dal centro di Arquata Scrivia, dai servizi principali e dalle grandi vie di comunicazione, si propone in vendita una proprietà indipendente di grande fascino e versatilità. Una struttura solida e ricca di personalità,…
What it really costs
Can you move in?
Not before the basics are done
Condition not stated in the listingMust be done first
- Damp
- Wiring
See what needs doing and what each job costs
At €254/m², the €49,000 asking price is close to the local baseline, but the property includes a 70 m² granary, tool-storage room and cellar requiring substantial work. Assuming roughly €700/m² for renovation and conversion, the effective cost is about €954/m²; the listing does not state the current condition or confirm that the ancillary spaces can legally become living area.
More on the house and the area
A highly characterful Piemonte farmhouse with handsome historic brickwork, arched openings, a green garden, and a lovely mountain-valley outlook. Inside, it is a real furnished house with terrazzo floors, kitchen, heating, and usable rooms rather than an empty shell, but it needs renovation and ceiling repairs. At €49,000 for 193 sqm, the price is compelling if the building systems and roof prove sound.
Certified wiring, water and drainage, a heat source, a roof that keeps the water out, one working bathroom. Facade, insulation, a second bathroom and the floors wait.
All the services redone, bathrooms, kitchen, windows. The structure is left alone.
Our read of the photos, €700/m², falls in this band.
Turnkey, facade and insulation included.
Materials only, work you may do yourself€38,000 – €68,000
Wiring, water and sanitary work of any kind, heating, air conditioning and gas go to a registered firm by law, and so do flues and the air openings for gas appliances. That labour stays in the bill. Yours is the stripping out, plaster, paint, floors, tiling and carpentry.
Labour is 61% of a renovation price on average and 67% at the median, across 191 items of the Emilia-Romagna 2025 public price list. Materials are the rest. An averaged price list, not a quote.
Materials you buy yourself carry 22% VAT; supplied by the firm doing the work they go at the 10% renovation rate. On a €30,000 materials bill that is €3,600 of extra tax.
Household wiring installed before 13 March 1990 counts as compliant if it has a main breaker with overcurrent protection, protection against direct contact and a 30 mA RCD. Having a firm bring the existing wiring up to that and certify it is the cheapest lawful route.
- The interiors are very dated and cluttered, with substantial cosmetic work needed.
- One room shows serious exposed ceiling damage and likely requires repair before full use.
- Only one bathroom is shown for a large 193 sqm house; utilities and structural condition should be verified.
Estimate from the listing and its photos, not a survey. Treat it as the starting point for your own quotes. An Italian builder's quote is normally written without VAT and without design fees, so add about a quarter to any figure a firm gives you.
The area around
Location score 52/100The area sits in the Scrivia valley at the meeting point between the lower Piedmont hills and the Ligurian Apennines. The Scrivia river runs through the valley. Within about 15 km are the wooded ridges and passes of the Appennino Ligure around Arquata Scrivia, Vignole Borbera and the Val Borbera side valleys. Libarna, the Roman archaeological site near Serravalle Scrivia, is the main local historic feature. Novi Ligure is the nearest larger town and has a substantial town centre and services. The landscape is known for valley-floor transport corridors and outlet-commercial development around Serravalle, with vineyard and hill country beginning nearby toward Gavi and the lower Apennine foothills.