Move to Rome

i’ve vistied briefly before, but i am going to rome for 2 weeks in february (this time of year starts at about $525 roundtrip, by april it is over $1000.), and plan to find a person to stay with through globalfreeloaders.com. hopefully i can learn enough in those two weeks about the city, and what area i want to live in to make the arrangements to move there when my lease runs up, here in america, in august.
things to think about: taking out loans to fund it, getting a work, student or freelance visa (for those want to stay more than 3 months in italy), insurance, learning enough italian to get around before you go, bank accounts, apartment/utilities, transportation (which is easier to deal with than in many cities), weather, and what to bring, bringing a pet overseas, applying for a european union pet passport (any vet in italy can set one up for you), getting your pet all required shots months in advance to be taken overseas.