In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
[LEFT][quote=adriatica]...lets ask the owners if they want to sell...the answer so far on ten of them has alwatys been no... why ...well my children might want to live there one day, or my grandchildren... there are many here reluctant to let go of their heritage ..often the house where they were born...they hold onto the hope that one day another of their family will take on the rediculous notion of moving out of the city apartment to the countryside... meantime they dont need the money... but what happens is when these people die their children often like the idea of the money ...so they sell... hence the properties listed with estate agents and why the market is not totally stagnant... [/quote]
An example...
Visted friends of ours last weekend who have a beautiful stone house in the Garfagnana valley. The previous owners, an elderly-ish couple, apparently lovingly restored this old family home over a 10 year period to a very high standard, with the intention of passing it over to their son who, they hoped, would get married and come back home from the city and settle down. Apparently, the son simply refused point blank to move back! So, the house was sold. Not uncommon, I'd say.
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In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
[LEFT][quote=Sano]So, every so often I read about these derelict or nearly derelict villages, of abandoned borgos and towns...[/quote]
Here is an example of one these villages, now restored [now an internet e-village!!].
[URL="http://www.collettadicastelbianco.com/"]http://www.collettadicastelbianco.com/[/URL]
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In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
Ther are more of these "villages" cropping up.. there is also one in in Calabria.. very similar to the one Derek has linked into.
All seem to be renovated to a very high standard.. with all mod cons and high speed internet connections etc.. but have you seen the price of the properties and the annual service charges?
They look wonderful.. except for two things.. no one lives there permanently.. and there are no Italians!
:) :)
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
[LEFT][quote=Aliena]They look wonderful.. except for two things.. no one lives there permanently.. and there are no Italians!
:) :)[/quote]
Exactly. Very comfortable and convenient but you're not exactly buying into the Italian way of life...
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In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
[QUOTE=Aliena]There are more of these "villages" cropping up..
:) :)[/QUOTE]
Clearly. By pure coincidence I was sent details of one yesterday, this too came with a church. Bit out of our price bracket at Euros 29m, I forwarded it on to American friends who have a bit more cash to spend! V
sano
the difficulty is you could never trace the owners... i know of someone trying to buy one here ...in conjunction with the commune... what is happening is the the commune owns a bit and is now tracing owners... after a certain period of time these untraceable owners will loose their right of ownership because the commine will confiscate the houses... half of them will never know anyway as they often have emigrated and lost touch over generations with their home... but it all takes time...so far 18 months... the cost of the borg in conjunction with the mayor 0 euro.. but as owners are contacted the price will start to rise not a lot...because the mayor will be telling them you have to do the building you own up...its in a dangerous state or we as the commune will take it off you for a nominal price and assume responibility... but if one of the owners gets to hear whats happening obviously they will play hard....
however there are grants the communes of the mountains ... often this is where these derelict borgs exist... are working on projects with investors ... where the villages are renovated... opened as tourist attractions ...say with artisanal work and accomodation..trekking etc... so employment locally and revitalisng the whole area... its a slow and long process and really one that also involves a lot of private funding as well.... long gone are the days where italians gave away what they considered useless... there is hardly a corner of the place that they have not realised the value of what they are holding...
so alas in general unless you can prove that you have the capacity financially to invest or have backers to invest with you in the euro millions these types of projects are not easily obtainable...
a final point... we are also looking at buying another property near teramo ... we drive there almost every day and have seen several houses not lived in that we thought ...lets ask the owners if they want to sell...the answer so far on ten of them has alwatys been no... why ...well my children might want to live there one day, or my grandchildren... there are many here reluctant to let go of their heritage ..often the house where they were born...they hold onto the hope that one day another of their family will take on the rediculous notion of moving out of the city apartment to the countryside... meantime they dont need the money... but what happens is when these people die their children often like the idea of the money ...so they sell... hence the properties listed with estate agents and why the market is not totally stagnant...
so a short and maybe non exact explanation... but in general terms pretty close to why its hard to find your ideal ruin