10857 Timehare in Italy

I live in Australia, approaching retirement, would like to live in Italy.
I don't know where yet, or even when. So I am doing a lot of homework.

I mentioned my plans to a cab driver here in Perth, because recently I have had to use taxis frequently, and I have found cab drivers always offer good unbiased advice on any subject, from how to prevent wild ducks from disturbing my vegetable patch to the true location of the lost city of Atlantis. Cab drivers in Perth are well informed on any subject!

This Cabbie told me to get into timesharing. He sung all the virtues of timesharing overseas. And it all sounded jolly good.

My question is, should I spend any time researching timesharing in Italy, or should I do what I usualy do when offered advice by Cabbies.

Phil.
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Category
General chat about Italy

If a company called RCI offer Time Share in Italy then as they have a sound reputation, check them out. Check the options they offer once you own a RCI Timeshare. I am speaking about 5 years ago but my somewhat tight fisted but smart business partner, (we are now retired), had a passion for Spain. She bought the very cheapest time share option going, I think it was a basement apartment but never ever went there, because with RCI she could go almost anywhere during the weeks she had chosen to buy and they had a wide choice on offer.

I deduced Chaib is wanting to know if setting up timeshares in Italy as a business is viable rather than living in one as he wants to retire to Italy.

OOOHPS! Well I have seen upmarket time share apartments offered in Toscana but sounds like investing in a mine field in the present climate.

Timeshare, from what I hear can be expensive and even despite solid sounding legal stuff can all turn pear-shaped that's if you want to buy a time-share or do you want to set up a time share business? If so you will find people VERY wary these days . If you want to live in Italy consider renting accomodation first and then if you don't like it then not so much lost, as for making a living, well no one is going to hand it to you on a plate particularly if you are foreigners and - how's your Italian?
What is your USP? make the best of it.

We are trying to flog our timeshare in portugal as we can't get there from Itlay without it costing an arm & a leg. We only really got it to be able to swap our weeks to come to Italy (with RCI) hoever even with 2 years notice & being very flexible on when & where we would go we never managed it so unless you want to purchase timeshare in Italy (& it's very expensive compared to many other countries to do so ) I wouldn't bother. The only place we could ever seem to get in (apart from Portugal) was Spain

I live in a village that's very popular with Italian weekenders and I know of two couples that in the last few years have sold their holiday homes here and are now renting on an annual basis, a weekend place instead. The economics makes amazing good sense if you hunt hard, but it will require local insight. Forget the timeshare business, come here, rent short term, look for renting longer and you'll be quids in. V

Interesting Violetta - I came across a couple of Brits recently who had taken over the lease of a rather nice casale from an American chap who had rented it (from the Italian owner) for at least ten years. Having the year round availabilty of 'a nice pad' at an extremely reasonable (long term) rent does indeed make sense. You can rent it out/lend it to friends when you aren't there, and often very desirable 'holiday' properties are located in places where a regular rental income isn't available from Italian clients.

But this isn't anything to do with timeshare, nor with the UK obsession with 'home-ownership'. It just makes sense.