12049 Why did you choose your Italian location?

I wanted to be near the mountains and chose my first house due to the house rather than the location. It was in the countryside but with neighbours and a tarmac road up to it. I never got to live in it unfortunately so I don't know if it was a good or bad choice.

I did get the chance to choose again as my ex got that house and I bought again but this time in a town in the centro storico. Definitely a better choice for me. Next time it will also be in a town again but right in the mounains with the countryside at my front door but with neighbours and a bar, a restaurant and a shop (minimum of one of each) within walking distance.

I chose this area because it was unspoilt, cheap (at the time), near the beach and the skiing and very beautiful. I came for the first time because I read about it in the Times and lived very near Stansted airport so came for a holiday. My ex had been here on holiday as a child too.

We had visited several times the area and we always loved Bagni di Lucca, very close to several historical towns in Tuscany, Liguria, Emilia Romagna and Perugia and with a great village atmosphere. We wanted something near the centre of town, so we could go walking for shopping or coffee, but with nice views. It was important also to have something that we could lock up and with little or no maintenance as we do not live there permanently. The reason why we were interested in Lucca was because it is an easy drive from our permanent home in Spain with only one very pleasant overnight stop along the French Riviera. It took a while for us to find the right place and we were about to give up on the idea, when suddenly I saw our little mill on the river advertised. We went there to inspect immediately and we bought it straight away. I will do it again a million times.

On the edge of a small town.That said in August last year in one day it had over 100,000
visitors(We don't do August).For us the mountains for the cycling and the beaches well for doing nothing but reading,swimming and eating.We love it here!

I posted something on this subject recently on a thread of Alan's re retiring to Italy. The house we moved to when we decided to live here permanently is very different from the house we had when it was purely for vacation. We didn't mind then being out in the middle of nowhere (though fortunately we were never burgled, not so sure I'd do that again) with no neighbours in sight but for permanent living, it had to be either on the edge of or in a village itself. We wanted to feel part of a community.
We knew precisely where we wanted to live, from having holidayed here for 12 years we knew the villages that appealed to us most for year round. Three villages were on the list and we simply set about finding somewhere. Tried word and mouth first, especially as we knew that in one of the villages the best properties were always sold privately. But that's a Catch 22 situation for in order to be able to get to hear of one of these places, you need insider information and for that you have to know someone. Finally met an estate agent who lives in the village, introduced through friend of a friend, and she set about finding us what we wanted. It took almost a year for the right place to come up but thanks to her tip off, we viewed it and made an offer before it formally came on the market.
It most certainly ticked all the boxes on paper - and we had worked out what we wanted over quite a long period of time - but it was when I walked in the front door in to the ingreso that I immediately realised, I want this house. Even now I couldn't tell you why but it was instinctive, I just loved the spirit of the place, the feel, the smell. I remember grabbing the agent's arm and telling her quite forcefully, "io voglio questa casa". (Not very polite, I'm sure you'll agree, but she got the point.) She later told me that she knew when she left her office that morning to meet me, that she would return having sold me the house. I guess it's because we were so sure and so clear in what we wanted having given it so much thought and having really done our homework.
Don't be swayed solely by your emotions though, it's far too big a purchase. Always house hunt in winter, always, always. Only buy (rent first) in an area you know very well indeed and one that you are confident can provide you with most of what you want.

We chose our first house on the edge of a small but lively village, which is a lovely place to live but because we are 2km outside the village we need to get in the car every time we want to do anything - even take the rubbish out! Our second place was an apartment two minutes walk to the sea and two minutes walk from all the shops, bars, markets etc that we could ever want. This was for permanent living in the winter, when we dont use the car at all, and then we move back to the country house in the spring for the spring and summer. If we had started again now, and we had to buy a house, we would definitely choose to be nearer the centre of activity. Being remote is lovely for a holiday, but not very practical every day. Also, I could not believe how long and cold the winters could be in the mountains, and much prefer being further south, and on the coast! But that may be because I am ten years older!

My Italian relatives live on the borders of Le Marche & Abruzzo. With properties both in the countryside and by the sea. We searched those areas but did not fall in love with what we saw. My favourite cousin also said that we'd have to use the builders in the family and they were "crap builders now their father had died" !!!! I am bad at map reading and so we ended up renting an apartment quite near Lago Trasimeno for a week...long story...but the day before we left, the owner of the flat asked if we had seen the ruined house 5 mins walk from the village? Again long story...it was early March 1998 and after Easter the 5 owners finally agreed to sell it to us. We took a leap of faith...well my husband fell in love immediately. We are the first house below a Strada Vicinale and began the "road making". Now there are 3 other sets of English people who live down it. Two are holiday homes. All are some distance from the village, we viewed them all (one a pile of stones at the time), but like the other commentators we wanted to be part of the Village and not have to drive to the shop. My husband for one day only in August is King of our Village and at Christmas he's Santa. He's still in love with his first choice. (Both house and me!!!)

It felt like home!

It took us a while, the most difficult thing was to narrow the area. We had been looking around for a while in different areas. The location had to be near a beach, we preferred country(ish) but not isolated, ideally within 45min from the nearest airport so that we could do long week-ends (and other airports within reasonable driving distance should Ryan air stop their flights), also within a visiting distance from Emilia Romagna where my husband's family is from and finally a lock-up-and-go (with some outside space) as the property would be used as a holiday home. We had spent few holidays in Le Marche and fell in love with the area surrounding Sirolo. Eventually we spotted a new development right opposite our favourite bar. After visiting the sales office to enquire about prices, we bought off plan. New build suits us and we are very happy with our purchase, it feels as though it ticked all the boxes! I, of course, dream of a place in the country with land and orchard, and animals.... but maybe one day if we are able to move over permanently!

[quote=mammamia;115247]We chose our first house on the edge of a small but lively village, which is a lovely place to live but because we are 2km outside the village we need to get in the car every time we want to do anything - even take the rubbish out! ..... Being remote is lovely for a holiday, but not very practical every day. Also, I could not believe how long and cold the winters could be in the mountains....![/quote]

Gosh, yes, having to use the car to put the rubbish out, I'd forgotten that, it was such a pain. One thing about living in a remote place though, it certainly trained me to keep a well stocked store cupboard and before we left "civilisation" to drive home we'd say to ourselves, "milk, bread, everything we need for dinner tonight?" We were lucky here in Italy in that our fresh milk (partially skimmed in later years) was only 5 km away but I have friends in France who are 25 km from anything other than UHT.
Re the cold, another one of the reasons we moved and another reason I say always house hunt in winter. It was only when we started to look elsewhere at houses that I realised just how cold our particular corner of the countryside was. Yet we weren't much higher than where we are now.

If we decided to move permanently to Italy we would have an awful dilemma as our holiday home would be too small and a bit too far from shops etc for permanent living. However we are completely in love with it and our neighbours and I couldn't bear to leave it. We just seem to belong there and have been completely welcomed by the local people.

alma has brought up something that until very recently, I had not thought about. We have a big house and a small house, and some land. We are high up and the winters are cold, so as we get older we may want to move...BUT we have so many Italian, good kind friends and neighbours now, so how will we cope with departing from here....or even confessing that we want to move at all?? Something to think about when planning your permanent purchase perhaps?

Absolutely, Noble. The decision was made for us as our old house was so incredibly expensive to heat in the winter and we both agreed it would be insane to fork out so much money for a basic essential such as heat when we were older and on a lower income. (This is yet another reason why I urge everyone to experience a winter in Italy before deciding where to buy.)
The other thing too about a house that you're going to grow old in, you possibly won't need as much space as you initially think you will. It isn't the case where we are as property isn't particularly cheap but we have friends in France who've retired to simply massive houses merely because they appeared better value for money than the UK equivalent. Look hard at that large house and consider what you'll do or where the money will come from if you ever need a new roof or have to undertake any other major repairs.

I have not yet bought but am in the process of deciding on the location. My partner had a house in Umbria in a previous life and that was our starting point. We also looked at other areas, took holidys there, but they were discarded on grounds of climate, transport links, avoidance of dependence on the use by budget airlines of a particular airport together with a general sense of well being with an area. So we have decided on the Lake Trasimeno area of Umbria. Even finer tuning now needed to get closer to a final decision, given the current financial situation there is no immediate to decide.

Robert, that's a good area, no doubt, for communications. Very sensible not be totally reliant on the cheapie airlines but from there you can get up to Pisa or down to the Rome airports really easily, plus Firenze if Meridiana flies anywhere near you in the UK. We find being within striking distance of both the A1 intersection at Chiusi AND the train station (only two changes to St Pancras) a godsend. Re when to invest in property, I've just come in from having tea with an Italian estate agent friend who said, and I quote, "now's a good time but it's only going to get better".

Robert, you are on the right track. As Violetta says, communications is a vital issue. Not only airlines but also trains or buses. You have to be able to get to your home without needing a car, if possible. I realised that when my husband broke his foot a couple of years ago and could not drive. This can happen to anyone. Medical facilities, easy banking, shopping and all those daily considerations have to be taken into account as well.

Got to know our town when taking groups of holiday-makers to cheap but crumbling monastery with a pool!.Sadly crumbling now renders dangerous. However found a house 10 min from the town but surrounded by olives and south-facing with views and being where we are without the price premium of Tuscany etc. Being one hour from Rome I find a real advantage coupled with the rural tranquility. Local people very kind and friendly, couldn't ask for more!
Suggest prospective re-locaters think outside of the Toscania-Umbria box and consider renting at first. On wish list - instant facility with Italian, ah well!

Wow, what a great thread; thanks Caveman. Once again a very thought provoking batch of info from people who have been there and done that.