tomdidutton

Hi all my wife and I are new on here.
we are looking to move to italy specifically around Castel San Giorgio area.
Can anyone please help any advice would be greatly appreciated.
we are looking at coming to italy in january 2015 for a viewing week at houses schools etc.
we are practicing speaking italian on a daily basis so hopefully should be ok on that front.
Thanks in advance guys
Tom and Di

Pulaski

What are your needs, circumstances and expectations? If you're looking at schools I assume you have one or more children. What sort of housing and location are you looking for? Do you need to be near a specific location for work, clients, or transport links?

tomdidutton

Hi we have 2 daughters who will be moving with us. Ideally we would like a house either detached or semi we're flexible in that sense. The area around Castel San Giorgio stood out as i love Naples but want to live out of the city yet close to Amalfi coast. Also the cost of living is less than the north.
Are you in Italy?

Pulaski

'Fraid not. I've visited many times, but now live in the US.

modicasa

Hi. I dont know whether you are coming out with a view to buying or renting. I would strongly recommend renting at first, at least then you can upsticks without too much hassle if you decide the place is not for you. North Salerno/South Naples has problems which perhaps you wont see until you have lived there for a while. As an example - very simplistic - you might find a house you like, and buy it and then realise that your neighbours dont ever seem to sleep and have discos every night, which happened to friends of mine near Palermo. I would also recommend you wait till you have built up a network of reliable acquaintances who know the area and will answer your questions honestly.

ononno

[QUOTE=tomdidutton;11418254]Hi all my wife and I are new on here.
we are looking to move to italy specifically around Castel San Giorgio area.
Can anyone please help any advice would be greatly appreciated.
we are looking at coming to italy in january 2015 for a viewing week at houses schools etc.
we are practicing speaking italian on a daily basis so hopefully should be ok on that front.
Thanks in advance guys
Tom and Di[/QUOTE
Hi and welcome from me as well. How well do you know the hinterland of Northern Salerno and the areas bordering on the A30 Caserta - Salerno? Do you perhaps have relatives in that area? Is your Italian job based in that area?
What age and stage of schooling are your children? These questions need answering before we can give you helpful answers. Castel San Giorgio doesn't somehow strike me as an ideal spot to be starting an Italian 'place in the sun' dream.
bye bye dicette l'inglese

tomdidutton

Hi we looked at there its not set in stone that exact town etc just like that general place within say 20 miles. Our daughters will be 2 and 10 when we move. We have no family in italy just us looking for better life o er there.

tomdidutton

Hi we're looking at renting for a while possibly buy in a few years im originally from St helens nr Liverpool so loud parties wont be a massive issue as long as our kids are happy and my wife then im sure we can make our new dolce vita in italy.

ononno

Righteeo. Well one good thing you are doing is coming in January. You will then be able to see everything in the worst possible light, rather than the rose-tinted specs summer view. You will be ble to experience just how cold, wet, and miserable a place like Castel San Giorgio can be in the winter months. You will be able to experience the state of the roads and traffic when it's raining, and how bad tempered it makes folk. You will also experience how essential good central heating is even in Castel San Giorgio. Or you may get lucky, and hit a fine warnm spell. They can occur even in January.
However, I think you still need to do a lot more research, or your 'dolce vita' dream will soon turn sour. Italy is a wonderful place to live if you choose the right spot, and have a well paid job, or a good pension, or substantial private income. If you have to find a job, or don't have any of the above, then it is a very difficult place to bring up two young children in. If you don't already have a well paid job lined up, or special skills, do think twice or even thrice about your plans.
Best of luck,
'o nonno

tomdidutton

Hiya is castel san Giorgio that bad? Where would you recommend as we still want to be in calabria/campania regions. Im an electro mechanical engineer so im hoping to find a decent salaried job. I appreciate your advice any help is very welcome thankyou so much

Garbatellamike

I don't know CSG so won't comment on that.

However, I would say that finding a decent salaried job may be a challenge though. Why do i say this?

First of all I suspect the majority of the work in your line is likely to be up in the industrial North not in Calabria or Campagna.

Secondly, given the current Italian employment law, employers are reluctant to take on salaried workers and prefer temporary contracts. I read somewhere recently that only 50% of the work force are currently on full contracts with the remainder on various forms of temporary contracts.

Thirdly, Italy is in recession and now deflation too, which makes the job market even tougher than usual.

Sorry to be negative but I think you would want as much information a spossible.

BTW, how good is your Italian? This will be important to finding a job in your line of work methinks.

People have done what you want to do, so it is possible but you will need incredible persistence and infinite patience to get there - I suspect this will be a marathon not a sprint for you!

I hope that helps you a little and once again apologies for the warts and all information.

tomdidutton

Thanks for your reply i meant decent wage not salaried sorry. I know the north is more industrial however its more expensive and the winters are harsh ive been lead to believe. My italian isnt perfect we are practicing as a family our 20 month old wont say yes its si haha. Also thanks for not sugar coating things we need to know the true things and we appreciate people saying the negatives as well as positives so thanks again. How do we go about enrolling our kids into school? Also can we get our codice fiscale from the uk before we move? Thanks again Tom

mikelincs

I really suspect you will need to bring over enough money to tide you over for at least 6 months, and possibly more. The job situation in Italy is only likely to get worse for a while at least, and with you NOT being fluent in Italian, and I do mean fluent, then jobs will be much harder to get as there are thousands of Italians out of work looking for just the job you are after. I would serioulsy consider keeping some sort of bolt hole in the UK if it all goes pear shaped, and I'm afraid with your circumstances I rather suspect it will.

Garbatellamike

Tom,
you can get your CF through the London Consulate before you get here. Using the on-line application here:

https://secure.jotformpro.com/form/40504918647964

DesiderataSicilia

You can get the codice fiscale from your nearest Italian Consulate .You dont need to go in person pone or email will do. Wages are poor in the south of Italy probably about half of what is paid in the UK outside of the London area. In the south very few people speak English and work is hard to come by. It is likely that employers will not recognise any of your husbands qualifications as they are not Italian.He would probably have to take the Italian equivalents in Italian. 1000 or so euros a month in the South is regarded as a good wage !!!!
To enrol the children in school you will have to become residents which is reasonably straightforward but you will need to show the local council you have sufficient funds to live here without recourse to public funds or state benefits.You are dead right about job opportunities being better in the North but its bloody freezing in the winter much colder normally than say the south coast of England. I live in the south of Sicily and it can get very cold here as well in Jan and Feb.