Via Vincenzo Cervello, 15, Palermo
Via Vincenzo Cervello, 15, Palermo. Needs renovation, autonomo heating.
What it really costs
Can you move in?
Livable, but something basic is worn out
In the listingNeeds renovationMust be done first
- Kitchen
See what needs doing and what each job costs
At €35,020 for 155 m², the low purchase price is attractive, and Palermo within 5 km of the sea adds location value. However, estimated renovation brings the effective cost to about €926/m² versus a €482/m² local benchmark, making this a substantial renovation project rather than a clear bargain.
More on the house and the area
A very large, bright 155 sqm apartment with attractive wood-look flooring, recessed lighting, and broad windows toward Palermo’s hills. It is a real, roofed apartment with a finished bathroom, but the empty rooms and apparent lack of a fitted kitchen mean it is not yet move-in ready. The surrounding block is ordinary and visually worn, so the appeal is mainly space, light, and potential rather than Italian character.
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€31,000 – €55,000
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.
Bringing a house that has stood empty back into service: new water, sewer and electricity, plus the practices. The same sum on an 80 m² house and on a 300 m² one, which is why a €40,000 house is not a €40,000 project.
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Water 1,800 · sewer 2,500 · electricity 700–1,600 · CILA 1,000 · cadastral filing 500 · structural design 700 · Legge 10 report 900 · safety coordination 1,800
No mains drain: add €2,000–4,500 for a septic tank. Listings never say, so ask.
- Appears unfinished or recently stripped, with no fitted kitchen and limited furnishings.
- The apartment is in a dense, dated urban block rather than a picturesque Sicilian setting.
- Renovation status, utilities, and bathroom count should be verified; the listing reports it as needing renovation.
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 55/100This is within the built-up area of Palermo, so the lived setting is urban streets and dense city fabric rather than open landscape. Monte Pellegrino rises immediately above the city to the north, and the Tyrrhenian coast is close by with the Gulf of Palermo and the beaches around Mondello inside the local area. Palermo is the nearest major city and has a large historic centre, major monuments, port, airport access and full city services. Palermo Arab-Norman monuments and the cathedrals of Cefalù and Monreale are a UNESCO World Heritage Site, with several of the listed buildings in the city and Monreale just outside it. The area is known for its historic urban fabric, markets and seafront setting.