Monzone Alto – Lunigiana
Nel caratteristico borgo collinare di Monzone Alto, immerso nella quiete della Lunigiana e con splendida vista panoramica, Reale Italia Immobiliare propone in vendita appartamento con ingresso indipendente, disposto su due livelli e in buone condizioni generali. La proprietà è facilmente raggiungibile a piedi…
What it really costs
Can you move in?
Livable, but something basic is worn out
In the listingNeeds renovation- On the market for a long time
Must be done first
- Damp
- Kitchen
See what needs doing and what each job costs
Price €48,000 plus estimated €400/m² renovation (~€44,400) gives an effective cost ≈ €92,400 or ≈ €832/m², above the regional median €659/m². The property has been listed 235 days (stale) and the text claims “buone condizioni” while the condition is marked Needs renovation, creating uncertainty.
More on the house and the area
Lovely, authentic borgo apartment with dramatic valley views, balcony/terrace, working fireplace and a large cellar — the setting is the main attraction. Structurally sound and with gas heating and intact floors/roof, it’s a genuinely liveable home that only needs cosmetic modernisation to become a charming primary residence or holiday house.
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€13,000 – €22,000
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.
- Cosmetic updating needed (kitchen and bathroom appear dated).
- Some plaster/finish repairs visible in photos.
- Check access/parking in the steep borgo (likely pedestrian streets).
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 74/100The north Apuan Alps rise immediately around Fivizzano, with the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines close to the east. The area is cut by the Rosaro and Aulella valleys, tributaries of the Magra basin. Part of the territory falls within the Parco Nazionale dell’Appennino Tosco-Emiliano, and the Apuan Alps Regional Park is also nearby on this side of Lunigiana. Cerreto Laghi and the Cerreto Pass ski area are the nearest established lifts, roughly an hour to an hour and a quarter away by road depending on the hamlet. Fivizzano itself is a small service centre with a historic core, and Aulla is the nearest larger town in the valley with rail connections and supermarkets. The wider Lunigiana area is known for stone villages, chestnut country, and a dense scatter of castles, with Pontremoli and other centres of the Magra valley not far away.