765 Property Caretaker Cost

as more people are buying houses especially if there is also an idea to rent out this is becoming more and more of an issue depending on the area but even here in central italy the costs for this are shooting up to from Euro 8-9,00 per hour to as much as Euro 20,00 (paid near macerata for weekend change overs)this is because (at least here) there are not so many people ,and unemployment is low,most young people do not want to do that kind of thing,it's heavy going for the elderly,the same goes for any regular gardening grass cutting etc i don't know if it'll be easier in emilia..
it won't be too difficult to find some neighbour to pop in check things etc it's all the rest which may prove a problem...

This is an interesing thread to me. My husband and I are planning to relocate in 12 to 18 months time to the Ostuni area. My husband is a builder by trade and is confident in finding work in Puglia.

At home near Manchester I have a curtain making buisiness and don't think this buisiness would transfer to Italy. I have worked most of my working life and could not imagine myself twiddling my thumbs waiting for my 4 children to finish school, during the day. I am thinking of creating a small business cleaning for change over lets or getting a holiday home clean and ready for the owner's arrival.

What would be the responce, I'd be interested to know.

Thanks Paula

I can't speak for the Ostuni area, but there is a need for the type of work you mention, however, that need is currently being filled by people like yourself, who knows what the situation will be in two more years...

It's an excellent idea for a business as long as you can employ a reliable team of part-time workers. For a region with such high unemployment, it is often surprisingly difficult to find people to work for you!

The real money is in carrying out changeover cleaning for holiday lets and in general caretaking (or caretakering?) of properties. It would be very difficult to make a living doing the cleaning work yourself because most people would want changeovers to be completed between say 10am and 2pm on a Saturday and you can only be in one place at a time (and you would have to work weekends when your kids are off school - hardly ideal).

If you focus your attentions on finding staff to work for you, and on selling your caretaker/cleaning/maintenance company's services around your local area then you'll earn a lot more money, meet a lot more people (therefore leading to good work opportunities for your husband) and you can keep your weekends free for relaxation.

Good Luck.

[QUOTE=neal hampson] I am thinking of creating a small business cleaning for change over lets or getting a holiday home clean and ready for the owner's arrival.

What would be the responce, I'd be interested to know.

Thanks Paula[/QUOTE]

I'm sure we would be interested.

Thanks for the responces, I'll keep you posted.

Paula