Lisa C.'s activity

Hi Penny, My husband is fluent in Italian so language is not a problem.  If we were to undertake a project such as this, we would buy the land and then wait until we could move over to begin.  We'd rent while it was being built.  We were thinking about the timber-frame houses too but have been told by both a realtor and Italian friends that these houses don't hold their value long term.  If we could find a building plot that would be great but the areas we like Monte Rinaldo, Petritoli, Santa Vittoria, Montelparo all do not allow building unless there is already some sort of structure already on the property.  We have never built a house from scratch but my parents have built two so I know something about it from their trials.  We have completely renovated our office and home, though.  The builder we would like to use has a terrific reputation and is our friend's brother-in-law, but he specialized in rebuilding houses to look old and is very expensive.  We do know that we would have a beautiful stone/brick house if he were to do it but all of the unknowns make me very nervous.  I appreciate all of your input and will draw up a list of everything we would need to consider before deciding whether or not to go this route.

Ugo, I think it is rather presumptive of you to make such a statement without fully knowing all of the details.  To begin with, the broker who showed us the house DID NOT have the listing. She told us that it had been for sale for some years but that she wasn't sure if it still was.  She called the sisters to see if it was still on the market and after a few days, they returned her call and told her that it was and that the price was 100,000 euros firm.  We mentioned it to our Italian friend and since he knew the house and the owners, he thought that he might be able to persuade the owners to lower the asking price.  He also felt that the price was too high in the current economic climate as did the agent.  We were not trying to circumvent the broker or cheat her out of anything.  We do know that sometimes a better price can be had when a friend knows the seller and can talk directly to him/her.  Our friend was the one who suggested speaking directly with them.  It was not at our instigation.  We also, however, had already seen the house on our own several times prior to going with the realtor as we had always admired the view but we did not now that it was for sale as there was no "vendesi" sign.  We were not behaving in any way that we thought was deceptive towards the agent and would certainly work through her if we had been able to agree upon a price with the sellers. Esme, I also would have hoped that you would have asked for all of the facts before jumping to the conclusion that we had acted inappropriately.  We are not the sorts to bypass an agent after we have seen a house with her, we were simply following the lead of our Italian friend.  

Here is a link to the Marche Tourism Board's site - some of the festa and other events are listed there:  http://nuovo.turismo.marche.it/?tabid=1158 Marche Voyager also lists some:  http://www.le-marche.com/Marche/html/calendar.htm# We're always on the lookout too, when we come over and have been to festa's in Petritoli, Monte Rinaldo,Montefiore d"Aso, Montelparo and a few other small towns.  Hope these help.

Thanks very much for the recommendation.  I will be sure to look it up.

Thanks so much Robert, I will add your suggestions to my list to consider.  We will have a car but are planning on leaving it at our bed and breakfast as it's only about a 10 minute walk into town.

I'm not surprised. I have noticed that myself. I can't help but wonder, though, why anyone choose to stay at a non-Italian bed and breakfast in the first place.  We always make sure to try and stay with people who are not foreigners wherever we travel, even if we do not know the language.  It makes it much more interesting and fun, as well as giving us a better feel for the area we are in.

Thanks so much for the suggestions everyone.  I will look into Papagallo.  We have always wanted to walk up Madonna San Luca and hopefully will have time for that.  We have visited Bologna in the past but never for more than a few days.  If I could break away from Le Marche, we would have more time to explore!

We have decided to stay at agriturismo Villa Fiore, in Torano Nuovo based on several recommendations and proximity to where we want to visit. The bed and breakfast suggested also looks very nice but is a little too far.  They kindly suggested Villa Fiore to us.  Will let you know how we like it when we return later this summer.  Also, has anyone eaten at either Zenobi or Hotel Zunica and if so, which is better?  They have been recommended by several people.

Thanks so much for the agriturismo suggestion and helpful website.  It is most appreciated.  I'll have a look tonight.

Thanks so much Alan.  It is now working correctly but the next time I have a problem, I'll give it a try.