Although we have now become one of Sicily’s biggest real estate agencies, and the only one dedicated exclusively to the international market, Property in Sicily is still at heart a family-run business.
Based in the northern Sicilian province of Palermo, we have offices in Porticello, near the town of Bagheria, and in the picture-postcard beach resort of Cefalù.
We are registered as Realtors® with the Italian Chamber of Commerce and fully insured.
Helping make Sicily accessible to foreigners has been our mission for decades. When Thomas and Maria moved here (in Maria’s case, moved back home) from Germany in the late 1980s, they immediately became evangelical about the lifestyle they found here, sharing their enthusiasm with friends and family back in the north of Europe. These informal recommendations eventually became a full-time career.
Their first step was opening Solemar Academy, a boutique Italian language school right by the sea in Cefalù. Today language tourism is a huge industry, but at the time the idea of spending your holidays learning a new language was very innovative. The school is now one of the best-regarded in all Italy; a member of the prestigious ASILS group and accredited by the Universities of Siena and Palermo.
As the 90s progressed, Thomas became more and more interested in the vacation rentals business and Maria in a different strand of language education. She opened 3 bilingual (German/Italian) kindergartens, guided by the Waldorf philosophy.
Thomas took another step forward with the launch of the German-language real estate project Casa in Sicilia. He had begun to realize how many visitors weren’t satisfied with a vacation in Sicily, but wanted to capitalise on its affordable real estate market, buy holiday homes here or even relocating permanently to work or retire in the sun.
As time passed, their sons and daughter followed in their parents’ globe-trotting footsteps, travelling and working abroad, gaining important educational, cultural and professional experience.
One by one they joined the business. Valerio took over Solemar Academy and now heads our Cefalù office. Fabian started to lead Solemar Sicilia, a network of prestigious vacation apartments across the province of Palermo. In 2025 Italy’s second-largest newspaper named him one of Palermo’s “Lords of the B&B”. Maria and daughter Stella co-created Sicula Services, a relocation valet service for new arrivals in Sicily and the engine which drives our Welcome to Sicily after-salepackage. Their fourth son Romolo is now the CEO of the organisation.
Even new arrivals to the family have become key contributors to the story. Stella’s husband Gaetano is one of our agents and manages our office in Porticello. Valerio’s wife Chloé is an architect and designer who makes a vital contribution to many of our renovation projects. Fabian’s wife Claudia is a co-founder of Sicula Services.
Today Property in Sicily and its sister enterprises involve the whole family, creating a wide-ranging and constantly evolving project with an unbreakable unity of purpose. Together they open the door to Sicily to hundreds if not thousands of new arrivals every year.
Our five agents are just the tip of the iceberg that is our Property in Sicily staff. But they’re the people you’ll be dealing with most, so we’d like to introduce you to them! Click on their pictures to find out more…
Property in Sicily is the number one international Real Estate Agency in southern Italy.
We measure this not only by the number of properties sold, but by our presence at the most prestigious real estate exhibitions and conferences across Europe, and our ever-growing profile on our home island. Over 90% of our buyers are international, and our catalogue contains only listingsgeared towards an international audience.
At heart, however, we remain a family-first organisation. As you will see above, our own family has come together as one to take on the challenge of bringing a wider awareness to the opportunities of the Sicilian property market. We also want your family, whatever form that takes, to find as much of a sense of home here as we have.
Our philosophy – that of sharing our authentic passion for Sicily – is the same one with which Thomas and Maria began their work almost forty years ago.
We are legally authorized to call ourselves a real estate agency and to practice as Realtors®. We have passed rigorous state examinations and registered at the Italian Chamber of Commerce. All of our documentation and accreditation is available to view upon request.
We work exclusively in the Sicilian market because we are proud to call the island our family home and to contribute to its economy and culture in this way. We know first hand all the pros and cons of buying a property in the areas we work. It is our pleasure and our privilege to assist you from the first enquiry to the final signature on the deed of your new home – and we hope it brings your family the same joy and rich experiences that Thomas and Maria’s 1989 purchase brought ours.
Our truly international team offers the perfect combination of Sicilian hospitality and German professionalism. We work with native speakers of English, French, Russian, as well, obviously, as German and Italian.
Calling Sicily home for more than three decades has given us invaluable insight into how to deal with sellers, construction companies, public officers, architects and engineers. But we have also lived abroad, and in several cases have experienced moving to a new country first hand.
We understand the impulse that brought you because it was once our own. We would love nothing more than to one day welcome you here as our newest neighbours.
