9368 Where to Buy?

Hi there - my husband and I spend over 30 years travelling to Italy and always wanted a house there. We visited relatives most years and spent much time sat on peoples settees or being 'organised' by them! We wanted our own place to do our own shopping and cook the wonderful produce we found in local markets. We always wanted to live around Rome, where most of our relatives live - and at one point decided on the Castelli Romani just south of Rome. However the prices rocketed and we had to move our ideas further away. Thank God we did - we found Umbria. We now own a wonderful home in the centro storico of a fantastic hilltop town (Spello) - superb facilities and great neighbours. In fact I can highly recommend the area - food, culture second to none. If you can, try seeing the infiorata at Spello on evening of 24th May and morning of 25th May - the atmosphere is wonderful. With regards the moving process, we can recommend a good Italian Lawyer if you need one. Let me know. Good Luck with your search.:yes:

I went to look at some property in the Tuffilo area yesterday for a friend who also wants to move here. Tuffillo is a very nice and unspoilt village its apparently the last village in Abruzzo if you cross the river you are then in Molise. It took us about 20 minutes to drive there from the coastal towns of Vasto/San Salvo . There where houses there for as little as 20 to 30 thousand some of them in not bad condition as well.
The veiws of the surrounding countryside where excellent.

Well, Cardi, you mention your trip to Florence and Sienna as the one which changed your mind... then, I think that it is Tuscany what you like. Have you had a look at properties in the Bagni di Lucca - Val de Lima area? We also sold a house in France and looked for a property in Italy during a couple of years, mainly in Liguria or Tuscany. We finally found what we wanted in Bagni and we are very happy with the purchase. Prices are still reasonable, you are only 25 minutes away from Lucca capital and within an easy distance from Florence, Siena, Pisa, The Cinque Terre, Bologna, the Versilia Coast and the snow fields at Abetone. Good transport links and Pisa airport has reasonably priced flights throughout the year. You will have plenty of information about houses for sale in the Property Section of Italymag, actually, this is the way we bought ours. Also, have a look at information for the area at [url=http://www.valdilima.com]Val di Lima - The guide to Bagni di Lucca and around - Start here![/url]
We are delighted with our decision. Happy hunting!

Fully agree with suggestion to look up in the Garfagnana. It's not an area I know particularly well personally but it will certainly tick all the boxes if you're looking for good value property, possibly out of the way and certainly with dramatic scenery. Also, if you ever need it, there's also a growing expat community around Bagni. Plus it's well situated for the major towns in northern Tuscany and the coast.
Re buying here, it's not really that different to France (have lived in both countries). If you buy through an estate agent many are supposedly qualified to do a lot more than they would in France so some people (wrongly in my humble opinion) don't feel they need to use an English speaking lawyer. I can never understand that as surely agent represents both buyer and seller so conflict of interest could occur? Anyway. Bureaucracy isn't that much worse than France and the great thing about this country is that people always try to find a solution to problems. Banks not as user friendly as in France and charges far higher. I don't think the public utilities are as well managed either, I dream daily of so efficient France Telecom as Telecom Italia not quite as customer focused, nor is the service as reliable! Utility prices similar, perhaps electricity a bit cheaper even. Used to think the cost of living was much cheaper here than France but that has changed in recent years and food especially is becoming a lot dearer. Obviously, would recommend you start learning the language if you don't already. That said, unlike the French, Italians don't write you off instantly as being a blithering idiot unworthy of your time if you don't speak their language fluently. I love France deeply and doubt I'll ever speak Italian as well as I speak French (studied there for years) but as I've posted here before, not a day goes by when we don't comment, "that would have been so much harder to handle in France"! The people alone in this country are worth moving here for. Good decision.

There were a number of discussions on this matter in this thread; you might light to take a moment to ponder some of the points raised..............[url]http://www.italymag.co.uk/forums/property-sales-rental-advice/1597-advice-italy-property-virgin.html[/url]

Having owned a house in the Pyrenees Atlantiques area of France for 4 years I agree with what Violetta says. We are also happy about our decision which also gives us a chance to travel more than before. Enjoy the experience!

Agree about the Castelli Romani and the high prices - pushed up by the Italians working in Rome and commuting not by the expats as in Tuscany etc.
Recent article in Italy magazine about the Ciociaria. A really nice area and you can be remote if you like and not too dear and abt one hour from Ciampino and Rome. Fiuggi is a bit like the capital of this area but there are a lot of v. interesting towns thereabouts. Where do I live? just on the edge of the Ciociaria but that's all I'm saying.