In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
Ciao Adam! I wish you all the best with your project and that your family may be able to join you soon. Keep us informed.
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
hi. Finally, someone within spitting distance of me, after all this time! I'm (more or less) just up the road in Calvi. Have a similar money pit (holday home only for now), but have been using Romanians/Albanians to fill it thus far ... welcome to the forum, when it comes to digging the big hole for the dreaded pool, I may give your macedonians a call ...
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
[quote=AdamInNarni;83295]
Over these years, I have gained loads of experiences which I would love to share with you all, esp. on the building/rennovation side. I hope I can add value to your truly superb forum.
Ciao.[/quote]
Welcome Adam (you've already added value). Would love to hear more of your experience in renovating your house.
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
Thanks for the warm welcome.
Some more history: Was renting in beautiful Rome prior to 2004, but became increasingly fed up of the traffic, quality of air, and a thief of a landlady – rents in Rome were utterly exorbitant. Also, in my absence, some intruders broke into our apartment at night, sprayed my wife with chloroform while she was sleeping to subdue her, and took most of our valuables. I have heard similar horror stories from colleagues at my workplace. Enough was enough. Had to get out. Had the move to the countryside in the back of our minds before our frustrations with life in Rome were mounting.
Started looking in northern Lazio and Largo Bracciano. Very nice places. Too much construction was a blight on the landscape for me (lazio dwellers: don’t shoot me down, I’m sure there are exceptions). Also very fearful of buying a place in the region with lax planning laws, such as the prospect of a developer constructing a 6 story apartment at the periphery of our property. In retrospect, this has just happened to a friend of mine in Abruzzo as well as a couple of years ago with a friend in Sabina-Monte (Lazio).
My options regarding location were narrowing. Then Southern Umbria hit me. Visited the place most weekends in the spring of 2003 house hunting. Found the place a real charm. The region fulfilled my primary constraint of being able to do the commute to my workplace in Rome. As I found out later, with much trepidation about the functioning of trains in this country, I was pleasantly surprised. Excellent value for money. First class travel is a fraction more than secondo, and really comfortable. Am able to work on the train/sleep/read a novel. Ghianda: I can assure you the commute is a pleasure. Thousands do the commute every morning from far away as Perugia, Orvieto and Terni. A friend even commutes from Firenze (Florence). The only ever time my train didn’t show up was the morning after Italy won the football world cup – I have forgiven Trenitalia on this occasion!
Furthermore, this part of Umbria is a hidden gem – at least hidden to the masses of stranieri (Amelia may be an exception). I heard in other posts about Otricoli (from Pigro?) and Pigro’s mention about Calvi. Both are exceptionally charming medieval towns (Orticoli –Roman?) and the countryside is just lovely and not too over developed (Orticoli and San Gemini are my favourite towns). The region’s proximity to Rome, Todi, Orvieto, Largo Trasimeno, Perugia and the nice towns in Lazio, and don’t forget just over an hour’s drive to L’Aquilla for skiing on Gran Sasso is a real plus. The drive from Terni to Rieti to Abruzzo is rated by many commentators to be one of the most pleasant drives in all of Italy! Planning laws are very tight (as with Toscana) so I would have guaranteed scenic views when I came to buy a property with such. Property prices in the region have risen dramatically in the past few years, probably reflecting Southern Umbria’s benefits. I am not sure if there are any really bargains to be had. The only unrestored properties that I see now are those situated around busy roads, factories, the national electricity grid and railway lines. And then there’s the security. Haven’t heard of any crime in my area.
Back to my story....after being gazumped three times, plus on two occasions sellers pulling out at the last minute not wanting to pay agency fees, and (can you believe it) a lazy real estate agent who did not communicate my offer with expediency to the seller(in my experience at that time, agents were charging 3.5% (+ iva) for their commission for doing virtually nothing, so this particular agent missed out on a killing), however, I finally found a place a few miles from Narni in July 2003 which I mentioned in ‘my introduction’. (Following the recent film, many are trying to link Narni with Narnia – as being the inspiration behind CS Lewis’s ‘Chronicles of Narnia’ – he did visit Umbria in his youth allegedly). Paid a good price for the house. Was in ‘habitable’ condition when I purchased. The purchase process took me one year – I had to threaten to take the sellers to court for their failure to comply with the ‘diretto prelazione’ (neighbour’s third party right on possession of the property’s land) issue which was stipulated in the compromesso (I really must spell this issue out in a new thread for prospective buyers in Italy, it almost ruined us). Finally, my Italian bank were satisfied that the compromesso was fulfilled and I got the mortgage. My biggest mistake was not getting a structural surveyor to examine the house – I relied on the bank’s geometra to inform me and the bank that the house was not about to fall down. This was about the only plus. From habitable condition which I assumed when I purchased, I had to basically gut the whole house out (roof, floors, internal walls, bathrooms, plumbing, wiring and plaster). In 2005 all I had left was a roofless shell and mounting debts, since I had to pay the mortgage on the property as well as continuing to rent in Rome (at London prices) since we could not live in the house.
to be continued...(if people are still interested or if the moderator feels I’m not clogging up the forum)
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
continue, prego. Mrs. P demands your full life story. The forum's been clogged with far worse, I assure you :-)
Just don't over-hype S. Umbria toooo much - we don't want a flood of incomers!
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
continue, prego. Mrs. P demands your full life story. The forum's been clogged with far worse, I assure you :-)
- thanks, I will soon
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
Hi AIN,
Already thanked you for the gas post and now this one. We're just up the road from you, high above Ferentillo, Arrone et al, so we're thrilled to hear about your experiences. We're still very much in the thick of ours and our project is still far too ambitious for me to relax, cast superstition aside and say how fantastic (as well as stomach churning) it has been, but very soon - August - I hope I will be able to post about how good our Italian, Albanian and Macedonian friends and collaborators have been and...... that, finally, we have moved in, to a habitable section. Our buying process was fast, very fast. In November 2005, on holiday, we walked for hours through woods, until we broke out into a spectacular, working valley. We picnicked in a wildly romantic ruin (no need for a surveyor, we could see that it was on the brink of collapse) and by the following January the purchase was complete. We had researched Umbria from a holiday point of view and settled on the Southern part as optimum, but hadn't thought of it from the point of view of buying a house! Yes, Southern Umbria and the Valnerina especially, is every bit the gem that you say it is. Welcome to the forum and I hope we will hear lots more from you!
welcome Mate - you've struc a chord with me, so all the best .
I Don't miss the commuting to London on the train and certainly don't miss the M6 !!!!!!!! from B'ham to J19!!!!! however commuting to Rome?? mmmmm?
Ciao4now
Chris
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