@Adam: Proceed with great care! Buying property, in a foreign country, can be a nightmare. You would need a local lawyer and if you are not fluent in the language, you are a "pigeon". This particular deal--the renovations can cost more than a new house. Plumbers/ electricians/ builders can tell you anything--and you don't speak Italian? In the deep South of Italy you have the mafia-clans--not to be ignored. When foreigners (pigeons) appear, prices double and triple.

@Adam: The South is beautiful. Tourists tend to avoid it. If you wish to visit, stay in a good hotel--relax, with no worries.

@Joonas: When hitch-hiking, in France, long ago the constant harassment from French police: "Papiers!"; "Papiers!": no "s'il vous plait", of course. These days they're a bit more polite; but, then I'm older and better-dressed with shorter hair.

@Joonas: Is Helsinki a friendly place or do you have to buy a dog?

@tony It is, but some areas are too urban for keeping a dog if you ask me.

@tony That's indeed worth taking into account. The overall circumstances are very different in Southern Italy than what many are used to.

Thanks for the tips. It's likely I'll never get around to actually doing something like this because it's unlikely I'm going to even travel to Italy very soon, but who knows. Think of all the electrical adapters I'd need to for my guitar amps.

@Joonas: What are your experiences of French people--"Papiers!"?

@Adam: The cost of getting all of your guitars to Italy? I don't want to think about it.

@Adam If that ends up being the greatest difficulty, things are great!

I'm not sure what the Italians think of electric guitars. Somehow I connect them more to the traditional acoustic type.

@tony My experiences in different countries differ largely due to the different activities I've had there. I lived in Paris for a month, and there were quite a few bureaucratic hurdles and instances of miscommunication when it came to practical arrangements.

The French appeared less willing to help me with my French than the Italians with my Italian. The best service I remember getting there was in an Italian restaurant when I switched to speaking Italian.

It shouldn't be discounted that I speak Italian better than French.

@JoonasIlmavirta Judging by the large number of Italian prog rock bands (and more), they're also quite fond of eletric guitars.

@Adam I have to admit that's a scene I'm unfamiliar with. That may bias my assessment.

@JoonasIlmavirta I'm not very familiar with it either, other than knowing that it exists. I'm only really familiar with the band Goblin because they did the soundtracks for some Dario Argento films.