9148 Hopefully Abruzzo bound...

[SIZE=3]Hi folks we are Steve and Jo from Whitley Bay , England. Let me start by thanking those of you on here that have already helped us a great deal i.e. We’ve read a lot of the posts – great !! Also found it fascinating to read all the altercations going on within the forum …. very naughty… Really though people should take the written word with a pinch of salt, it’s just far too easy to read into something that’s not what’s intended or simply misunderstood… [/SIZE]

[SIZE=3]Anyway back to the intro… we are looking to buy in Abruzzo , initially to go there on holiday 3-4 times a year and later to live there for most of the year. Like a lot of other people need to learn fast… First mistake has probably already been made, we’ve contacted a couple of Estate Agents…!! [B]So our first plead would be for people on here with their “bad list” to PM us with any information they have on them[/B]. I must admit reading the threads on here on the topic of “estate agents” we were all prepared to give up on the idea of ever buying out there… But, for now, we will continue (more carefully) to look at it. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=3]Of course any other advice will be most welcome, but I think we will eventually find answers to most of the questions we have by wading through the posts on here….[/SIZE]

[SIZE=3]Finally if any of you are thinking of selling a nice rural 2-3 bedroom place with a bit land , not too far up the mountains, get in touch – that way we might both avoid one problem…[/SIZE]

Category
Introduce Yourself - Piacere Conoscerti

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 03/26/2008 - 08:28

Hi Steve and Jo and welcome to The Forum. I'm curious to hear what Estate Agents you have used. Also I know of a house that you might like to rent whilst you search. Please feel free to pm me.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 03/26/2008 - 08:32

Good luck with your search and don't believe everything you read! :winki:

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 03/26/2008 - 09:35

Hi Steve and Jo

Guessed where you were from by your username:bigergrin: I spent my teenage years living in West Monkseaton. Maybe we have met in the past?:nah:

Welcome to the vagaries of Italy. Can't help up in your area I'm afraid, but if you ever consider Puglia would be glad to be of help.

Most important thing about agents, don't believe a word they say. Check everything out for yourself, they want to sell you a house, not find you a home. Having said that, I cannot praise our agents enought, they are still here for us 2 years on.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 03/26/2008 - 13:25

Hi Steve,

welcome to the forum.

In a previous life I lived in Tynemouth, so not too far from you!

Now, I'm in Abruzzo and loving it so if you fancy a geordie get together on your next visit, let me know.

Ciao

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 03/26/2008 - 14:15

Knowing what I know now, I probably wouldn't use an agent again, but ideally you need to be here, to know what's on the market and who is selling what. Once the 'stranieri' turned up in the village, we were inundated with offers of bits of land and houses for sale. Most offers were/are genuine, due to some old folk retiring from working their plots and the kids having no interest in keeping the plots. Alas, I don't need any further properties at the moment and we're not near the Abruzzo either. If Liguria tickles your fancy though, we know of a couple of places for sale here as well as local builders doing a good job, rather than the geometra being the boyfriend of the girl in the estate agents or the cousin of the the agent's wife or something.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 03/27/2008 - 03:52

[quote=Britaly;86137]Hi Steve,

welcome to the forum.

In a previous life I lived in Tynemouth, so not too far from you!

Now, I'm in Abruzzo and loving it so if you fancy a geordie get together on your next visit, let me know.

Ciao[/quote]
And if you all pop down to Puglia, where I know another Geordie with a holiday home, we can have a real party

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 03/27/2008 - 05:25

Hi Steve and Jo, and welcome to the Forum.
You will find that there are good agents and bad agents; however, this should not deter you from buying a property. Just be careful and ask for legal advice if needed.
Take your time and look around a lot and I am sure that you will find the right place for you. It took us two years and, at a certain stage, we almost gave up on the idea. I am so glad that we persevered.....
Best wishes.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 03/27/2008 - 19:14

good luck with the house hunt hope you are more successful than me (see Legal forum for details. Before you buy check with the Comune to make sure the house is free of any Ipoteci and don't pay your estate Agent too much. 3-4% is still the norm I believe
Jan

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 03/28/2008 - 14:43

hi steve
my wife and i will be moving to rosciano(abruzzo) in june,so have just been through the whole process,painful at times,but hopefully worth it.if you need a chat or whatever send me a pm.
if you see any property with any agent ,print it.this will at least over time give you an idea of how long its been for sale ,which is a good bargaining tool.
good luck
simon