1639 Town or Village ?

hi there,

i too was over in le marche in summer. i have found a job over there for 6 months and am moving out this time next week. i am currently living in scotland but looking at areas near ancona, especially near loretto and recanati. i think i have simmilar quations as yourself, although i do own a few properties in the uk that should provide me with enough of an income. from what i have read, it could make more sense to register and set up a uk company and operate from italy, although that depends on what you do.

james

[color=black][size=3][font=Times New Roman]Blimey, only 22 and own a few properties, what’s your secret? Yes, I know none of my business but well done to you is all I wanted to say. :) [/font][/size][/color]

well, what can i say.....

i run a property company with my father so that helps i guess, but also some work and determination on my part too. i left my last job as a recruitment consultant to do this, and now i am in the process of setting up my own company, a property search service.

gosh, this really has nothing to do with the thread, but there you go.

james

Hi - if you do a search under "scots" you will find a thread talking about a whole village (Barga) moving to Scotland and back again! Where are you in Scotland?

Thanks for the reply's, I'm no longer in Scotland but just wondered if many Scots have made it to Le Marche? I'm from Glasgow The business could be opening a shop to cater for all the items you cant get there. EG Pataks curry paste,Typhoo teabags etc etc,Would anyone like that?
I'd still like to know about the difference of living in a smaller place vs a town?

I think the decision depends upon what you want.

Our place is in a small village - about 50 houses.

As a holiday home its great - peace and quiet.

BUT if we were going to relocate permanently , I would go for the small town option, where you can walk to the shops, Post office, bars and restaurants, and where there is some public transport etc.

[QUOTE=Italianfan]Thanks for the reply's, I'm no longer in Scotland but just wondered if many Scots have made it to Le Marche? I'm from Glasgow The business could be opening a shop to cater for all the items you cant get there. EG Pataks curry paste,Typhoo teabags etc etc,Would anyone like that?
I'd still like to know about the difference of living in a smaller place vs a town?[/QUOTE]

I am Italian and live in a city, and I like being able to easily go to cinemas, theatres, have a wide choice of restaurants and supermarkets selling all the types of food I may fancy. However, for work reasons I often visit small villages and I simply love it. It's great to be able to leave your car unlocked and do not worry about it, have a meal in a restaurant (maybe THE only restaurant) and meet people who know you and even remember what your favourite dish is. A larger town would be maybe better if you are looking for a job or wish to have better connections with regards to roads, railways and bus services, but property prices are likely to be higher since everybody wants to live there. I think you should ask yourself what sort of facilities you could not do without and if a quieter pace of life may suit you, in small villages you are likely to find an older population, the young people being mainly attracted by cities.
With regards to a job, I am self employed and setting up a business in Italy is not easy, but not impossible. However I would agree with those who have suggested to register your business in the UK if possible. With a shop this may be difficult, but what about an internet-related activity specialising in the supply of British food maybe mail delivery? This way you can be based virtually anywhere.
If you think this is a good idea, I would love to have some porridge and haggis if you can manage that! Ah and also a good bottle of whisky, of some special brand not available in Italy.

I live "near" a small town with just under 1000 inhabitants, and I love it, but, I have come here for a relaxed retirement, I wouldn't like to think what sort of a business I'd be setting up as most things already here. There was an article in Italy magazine a couple of months ago about town vs. country, and it is easier to develop language skills, living in a small town as you will be using Italian most of the time, much depends on you yourself however, you already seem to know what the people of the area are like, perhaps you should maybe give some thought to the type of business you could happily run, then see how and where that sort of operation would fit in. :)
Good Luck.

hi italian fan
I have lived for some time years ago in a very remote hilltop location in mid Wales. The main advantage is that you obviously have less contact with people speaking a foreign language ( in my case it was welsh ) what you are most likely to find is that you will still have contact with neighbours. Because you are living in a remote situation your neighbours will be much closer to you. This is as a result of you depending on each other for real, not just chatting, it can be life and death situations. Then you end up learning the language as you want to become part of them and play your part. Also I would have thought with your business plan it would double your output if you could offer your wares to the local indigenous people. Just a couple of thoughts I wish you all the luck with whatever your choose. good luck

Its great to hear all your opinions,this is just the type of thing I wanted.I must say however that I'm not planning on relocating just yet but wish to dip my toe,so to speak without totally giving up on the UK.I may not be able to adapt!I also dont want to spend all my hard earned money in one property.I fell in love with a huge townhouse but its in a very small hamlet.When looking at it a few of the locals approached us but our Italian wasnt good enough to let them know what we were up to.They seemed very friendly with one old chap offering to build me furniture or a kitchen made to measure! he has a workshop in the village.I kind of know that a small place means get to know everyone but its the lack of amenities which worries me, I dont really want to have to drive everywhere.Thats what I'm trying to get away from in the UK.The big place will mean never making any friends? I'm only 44 and not ready to retire yet,anyway the shop thing was just an idea who knows what I'll end up doing. Thanks again!

This is the area that looks good to us too. What are you finding? What is the name of the agent you are finding luck with. Is the weather actually as wonderful as it sounds. Can we expect to find a restored farmhouse on a hill with commissions and all for under $300,000.00? Hope you have lots of good news and godd ideas for us.
THANKS!!!
Jane

It really depends what YOU want - but even remote villages get a bus service albeit just twice in the morning and twice in the afternoon.

Also remote villages also often get a groceries van visiting the village - but it may only be once a week.

As long as you get into the language - I feel most locals will want to get on with you. (but I guess you cant generalise). I remember visiting one property up in the hills - and as we (my sister and me) wandered up the village pedestrian paths - we were greeted - and the brother of the guy that owned the house - tried to sort out getting a key - without bothering the immobiliara - they were really friendly - and the views were simply stunning - you felt like God ruling over the valley over to the snow capped mountains on the other side.

For me tho - I felt as I will often travel alone - that - I wanted to be a bit closer to civilisation - so I opted for a small village just outside a medium sized town - I have a train station (Pisa costs €7 and takes just over an hour) and an Olympic size swimming pool in that town. Again even the locals in this more urban village come to chat to you. I love it.

Thinking of your business idea there is one very successful one run on the cote d'azur. Its called Geoffrey's. I believe he now supplies large hypermarkets such as Carrefour etc. There is a website or you can track it through the angloinfo website for Cote D'Azur - you might like to look at this to see what is offered etc.

Hi Italianfan, I suppose it does depend what you want but I think, if you`re already saying you don`t want to have to drive everywhere, I`d go for a small town. We live only 3-4 km outside Martina Franca in Puglia (a lovely trullo that we bought for holidays) but now that we live here we find having to constantly drive in and out of town a pain so we`re selling up and have bought a place less than a km from town. Mind you, we`ve got kids so we spend a lot of time ferrying them about. If you`re going to invest though, you need to give serious thought to how far from town you want to be.