Casa colonica in Borgomasino
Casa colonica in Borgomasino. Habitable, autonomo heating, garage, balcone, cantina.
What it really costs
Can you move in?
Livable, but something basic is worn out
In the listingHabitableMust be done first
- Kitchen
See what needs doing and what each job costs
At €37,000 (€389/m²), the home appears habitable but an estimated €19,000 of upkeep brings the effective cost to about €589/m², well above the local €263/m² benchmark. The garage, balcony, cellar and heating add value, but the price is not compelling for a rural Piemonte farmhouse.
More on the house and the area
This is a genuine, solid 95 sqm home with functioning-looking heating, bathroom, terrazzo floors, balcony and garage—not a renovation shell. It is plain and dated rather than dreamlike, but the €37,000 price and broadly habitable condition make it an unusually practical low-cost Italian base.
Decoration, tired fittings, a bathroom or a kitchen. The house is liveable as it stands.
Our read of the photos is €200/m². There is no published price band below €350/m², so the range is that figure widened by the spread of the lightest band.
Materials only, work you may do yourself€6,000 – €11,000
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 kitchen appears stripped and will need cabinets and appliances before full use.
- Interiors are dated, with old bathroom finishes and some visible wall/ceiling wear.
- No notable landscape or scenic view is shown; the exterior is mainly a shared-looking access balcony and garage frontage.
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 61/100The area sits on the Canavese plain at the foot of the Serra d'Ivrea, the long morainic ridge left by the ancient Balteo glacier. Lake Candia is within this radius, and the Dora Baltea runs nearby through the Ivrea plain. Ivrea is the nearest town of size, with a full range of services and a well-preserved industrial city core linked to Olivetti; Ivrea is on the UNESCO list for the 20th-century industrial city. The area is known for mixed farming, vineyards on the morainic slopes, and the transition from the Po plain to the Aosta valley approaches.