Terratetto plurifamiliare in Arcola
PIETRALBA – ARCOLA In località Pietralba, nel comune di Arcola, proponiamo in vendita un ampio appartamento di tre locali situato al piano terra di una soluzione trifamiliare, dotato di ingresso indipendente con accesso privato al giardino di proprietà. L'immobile si apre su una luminosa zona giorno open space con…
What it really costs
Can you move in?
Not before the basics are done
In the listingNeeds renovationSee what needs doing and what each job costs
Price is 1123 EUR/m2 vs town baseline median of 521 EUR/m2, so it's roughly 2.2x the local median for a property that admittedly needs renovation. Ground-floor apartment in a 1970 triplex with independent entrance and a ~200sqm private garden is appealing, but the numbers don't justify the premium. Note the contradictory description: it calls the unit '3 locali' with an open-space living area plus a matrimonial bedroom, yet the facts list only 1 room/1 bed; the storage room is also grezzo. Photos include AI/rendering illustrations, not actual state. Renovation of ~400 EUR/m2 for cosmetic modernization plus finishing the grezzo storeroom. Habitable and freehold, but priced well above market.
More on the house and the area
Ground-floor unit in a three-family building in Arcola, Liguria, priced at €82k (€1,123/m2) for 73m2. Actual-condition photos show tired but sound interiors with terracotta tile floors, dated pink bathroom and basic kitchen area needing renovation. Several polished images are explicitly disclosed AI/rendering mockups of a potential renovation, not the current state. Genuine pluses: an open hilltop view over green Ligurian valleys and hills, plus a ~200m2 private garden with independent entrance. Overall an ordinary fixer-upper with modest appeal; the main draws are the view, the outdoor land and the low price rather than any standout architectural or historic 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.
Our read of the photos, €400/m², falls in this band.
All the services redone, bathrooms, kitchen, windows. The structure is left alone.
Materials only, work you may do yourself€9,000 – €14,000
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.
- Multiple photos are photorealistic renderings, not actual condition (disclosed in listing)
- Needs renovation throughout
- Cramped, empty rooms in actual state photos
- No energy class listed
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 72/100The cluster sits on the lower Magra valley near the Ligurian coast, with the Montemarcello-Magra-Vara Regional Park within the area around the river mouth and the low hills above it. The Magra River is the main natural feature here, with the Ligurian Sea and the Gulf of La Spezia a few kilometres away. The nearest town of size is La Spezia, which has a full range of services, a railway junction and port facilities. Lerici and the villages around the east side of the gulf are nearby, and Tellaro is listed among I Borghi più belli d'Italia. This part of eastern Liguria is known for the transition from river plain to olive and vineyard hills at the edge of the gulf, and for access to the Poets' Gulf coast.