We arranged a second viewing and in the intervening days we visited the village and the surrounding area a few times. We ate at the village restaurant and the pizzeria. We had a drink at the bar and scoped out the shops. The village also has a church and a school. The vibe was good and the area attractive with a short and quite scenic drive into Lucca.
We went for the second viewing on 14 September and took lots of photos some of which you can see here. We tried to look at everything dispassionately as we were really there to decide whether or not to make an offer. Domenico was there again and we were able to ask lots of questions.
After the viewing, we met with Martina, the agent, in the village bar to discuss our situation and how to proceed.
We explained that we had never intended to buy on this trip and would not be in a position to do so until the summer of 2021. We also made clear how keen we were on the house and that we really wanted to buy it if at all possible. We asked her to discuss with Domenico whether he would accept an offer based on us paying about half on exchange of contracts (the compromesso) and the balance on completion (the rogito) next summer.
We held our breaths while Domenico discussed our offer with his sister and co-owner.