Cairo Montenotte - soluzione semi indipendente
La proprietà si sviluppa al piano terra con una cucina, due locali e un ulteriore ambiente di servizio, mentre al primo piano troviamo tre locali e un bagno. Gli ambienti, grazie alla distribuzione su due livelli, offrono la possibilità di creare una soluzione abitativa funzionale e accogliente, sfruttando al meglio…
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
At €242/m², the €29,000 asking price is well below the €538/m² baseline, but the stated renovation need adds an estimated €84,000, bringing the effective cost to about €942/m²—above the local benchmark. The 120 m² size, private outdoor space, cellar and 18 photos are positives, but Cairo Montenotte is 19 km from the sea and the renovation burden is substantial.
More on the house and the area
This €29,000 Ligurian townhouse has appealing stone-and-plaster façades, old tiled roofs, a courtyard, private land and rustic outbuildings with real historic character. However, most interiors are stripped back or seriously deteriorated, with unfinished brickwork, damaged ceilings and only a minimally equipped bathroom, so it is a substantial renovation project rather than a beautiful usable home today.
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€24,000 – €42,000
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.
Show more
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.
- Substantial renovation is required throughout, including unfinished brick areas and deteriorated plaster.
- The bathroom appears very basic and incomplete, with no kitchen or clearly usable modern facilities shown.
- Moisture, ceiling deterioration, old timber structures and possible structural issues require professional inspection.
- The property is attractive as a restoration project, but not realistically move-in ready.
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 62/100The area sits in the Ligurian Apennines, on the upper Bormida valley between wooded hills and low mountain ridges. The Bormida di Spigno runs through the valley. The Parco naturale regionale di Piana Crixia lies nearby, known for the badlands landscape around the mushroom-shaped erosional column called the Fungo di Pietra. The nearest sea is the Savona coast, but it is beyond the immediate 15 km landscape. Cairo Montenotte is the nearest main town and has the services of a small inland centre with a historic core; the wider area is known for woodland, mixed farming and the Bormida valley routes linking Liguria and Piedmont.