theplatts4

Hi
we bought a house in a village called colledimezzo, not far from Lanciano and about 45 minutes from Pescara.
we love Abruzzo and find the people very warm and friendly.

we will be at our house from 29th Dec to 5 th of Jan and would be happy to meet up.

regards

Karen

theplatts4

Hi Pescarapest
i love the area too!
we bought our house in May this year (and almost burned it down befor it was officially ours - but thats a long story!!) in colledimezzo overlooking lago di bomba. We still live and work in the UK, but spend as much time as we can there - even saturday to sunday!

the people are really friendly, but in answer to your question, i have not come accross anywhere where you could 'mingle' with other brits!

I can sympathise with your wife, (not about the jokes - about the language!!) it is very fast and spoken with a strong dialect. my Italian is not good - but what i have found, is that if i am prepared to have a go, even when i get it wrong, people are very helpful and forgiving. i find that even with only a few words, and a bit of pretend confidence - you can usually make yourself understood.

over the summer i plan to spend 4 weeks there with only my very uncommunicative teenage daughter (as my husband does not have enough holidays!) and i am sure that that will be testing!

it seems that it is only recently that british people are discovering Abruzzo - so perhaps this is the start of the ex-pat club!!
who knows?

regards
Karen

jdr

Be careful what you disclose on here as it is an open forum and can be read by anybody.
Read rule 5.

theplatts4

thanks for this.
i have not made a good start have i?
i suppose that i just wanted to be friendly - but have taken on board your comments and will be more careful.
thanks again
Karen

jdr

No problem, but it is a strange world. ;-)

Lotaresco

I live in the Teramo area, north of Pescara, about 15 minutes or so on the A14 if <cough> I drive like an Italian. Half an hour if I drive like an Englishman. Abruzzo is a great place to live, but it's a good idea to remember what other Italians say about the Abruzzese - effectively "an iron hand in a velvet glove."

Abruzzese are wonderfully polite, friendly, helpful and for the most part painfully honest. There's also a more old fashioned social structre compared to the UK and you need to be sensitive to people's limits and expectations if you want to get the best out of your experience. Pescara being a modern, international city is more cosmopolitan than the surrounding countryside but I find it less pleasing than (say) Citta Sant Angelo, Penne, Fossacesia, Chieti or anywhere inside the National Parks.

Our neighbours have taken us in as if were were part of the family and we regard them the smae way. One thing that may cause you a problem compared to other parts of Italy is the dialect. Many Abruzzese don't speak Italian day to day, they speak their regional dialect. Some are easier to understand than others, but our own village dialect is very strong and not much like Italian. North Italians find it very amusing that I speak Italian with a strong Abruzzese dialect, but I've picked up the language as I go along rather than from language lessons.

I can't recommend Abruzzo too highly. We have the best beaches, the best food, the best wine, the best oil, the best people and stunning mountain scenery. What else could you want?

Oh, jobs are very thin on the ground and you really need to know someone who knows someone in order to get work.

tim gordon

hi Lotoresco
I think your observations about Abruzzo are spot on my wife used to live in Teramo and we have visited many times and looked at many properties.
We came over last July and went up to Garano near you for a barb also
went up Camp Empartori to the Plateaux fantastic scenery.
The point you made about jobs is not only that they are few but how badly
paid they are!!! average salary 10000 to 15000 euros! I believe it must
be difficult for Italians to get ahead if not impossible but the life style is
superb. How long long have you been living in Italy? Look forward to hearing from you again.

Tim

Lotaresco

It's a difficult question to answer accurately, I started working in Italy in the 1980s but I was living near Geneva at the time. I worked in Milan and Rome but mostly lived in hotels while I was working there. Then by a series of bizarre events I met an Abruzzese at work, got an invite to use his apartment in Tortoreto whenever I wanted and started paying regular visits, and then when he retired and returned home he offered to find me a house in the area. And at the millennium we bought a farm from another friend and moved in January 2000. Since then we split out time between the UK and Italy and we're trying to find a way to make the farm pay so that we can settle permanently.

tim gordon

The reasons you are in |Italy are the best that is circumstances
that just some times happen without contriving things too much.
What are you farming by the way I suppose Olive trees are always
a safe bet but Im not sure about vines?? Planting a vinyard is an
expensive business as well.

Tim

Lotaresco

Yes, we have olives and we grow an arable crop under the olives. This year it is barley that we sell to someone with a dairy farm. We've also grown sunflowers, wheat and hay. I have arguments with the neighbours about vines. I though the land was too dry, they say I'm wrong. There's an incentive to grow vines because we're a DOCG area so the grapes command a high price from the local wine producer. Or I suppose I could produce Casa Lotaresco.

I need more land, the farm's not really big enough to stand on it's own feet. Big enough for self sufficiency but I don't fancy existing on the bread line.

jaize

Hello to you all.

My girlfriend and I are coming to Abruzzo in the spring to look for a property. We think that somewhere near Penne would be good to get a base and then explore from there.

Does anybody know local estate agents that specialise in refurbishment projects?

Oh, and if any of you do start an ex-pat club - we'll be there!

Lotaresco

Penne is a plesant spot, but if you're looking for a base to explore from it's a way out in the sticks. It depends what exactly you're looking for. TBH it's better to find someone who knows someone to find a house, because you'll get the best price. Estate agents specialising in selling to Brits are an odd bunch and some of them are barely legal or are completely illegal.

There are some operations, particularly those targetting arriving Brits at the airport that are not in fact estate agents. They are 'consultants' or middlemen of some sort. If you use them you will usually find yourself burdened with a huge range of fees in addition to estate agents fees. Because the consultant will only be able to put you in touch with an estate agent.

Also watch out for those who take fees from everyone in sight (you, the seller, the estate agent, anyone passing by that takes their fancy).

I'd recommend that you use a normal estate agent, rather than one of the holdiay homes specialsits, but that depends on you speaking Italian to start with.

There is a place in Penne that specialisesin selling holiday homes to Brits but it's not an estate agent.

Ig you go to Google Maps and do a business search on "real estate" and "Penne" then you will get a list of businesses. Most Italian companies have a terrible web presence. Even if they are on the web, their web sites are usually dreadful. Italian designers love Flash so you have to get used to looking through a letterbox 640x480. Most sites are (very) amateur.

If you want access to mountains and the country life you're thinking of a fair location. If you want the beach you're a bit far away.

jaize

Thanks!

Silly me! There was me thinking the process would be about the same as home! I should know better as I lived in Portugal for 3 and a half years as saw exactly the same then...

Maybe you can help with location then. We are looking with somewhere that can access the sea, mountains and airport all relatively easily, a few local(ish) amenities and within reach of some touristy stuff as we plan to rent it out to friends when we are not there. Sounds like a tall order to me, any guidance?

theplatts4

Hi
we were in abruzzo last spring looking for a property. we met with aboyut 6 different agents - a couple of which left us feeling a bit aprehensive about buying through them. one of them met us in a car park and we still dont know whether ythy actually have an office. many of the agents that we approached before we narrowed down to 6 seemed to use #scouts' that worked their own patch so were well aware of what was available and likely to become available in the area.
the agent that we found most helpful (they showed us around the area and actually showed us houses that matched our criteria!) was 'remax' they have several offices and they did not charge to take us to look at properties. we spent 4 days with them in total and they have continued to be helpful throughout ad following the purchase.
i hope that you find what you are looking for! we are really happy with our home.

jaize

Thanks for the advice, we will certainly look them up. It must be soul destroying for people to fall in love with the area only to have their dreams in tatters at the hands of dodgy people out to make a quick buck!

Whilst I don't doubt that we could save money in the long term my doing it all ourselves I think that it would be difficult to maintain momentum without continued local support on the project management. I have some college buddies that are architects in Rome so they could take a look for me, but hands on management would be good.

Thanks for you reply, hope to meet up for a beer/vino when we get there!