Efes123

Have you considered Umbria at all? Despite being further North, we have had a fairly mild winter. The cost of buying property is slightly higher than Abruzzo (I think), but the climate is a fair bit nicer We've had a couple of snow flurries this winter, but nothing has stuck.

When we were looking to move here, we looked for somewhere close to major transport links. Now, we're 20 mins from Chiusi (major rail network & major road north/south) and 40 mins from Perugia airport. We don't have a coast, but Lake Trasimeno is only 20 odd minutes away. Recently, a friend from Suffolk couldn't get over that it took him less than 4 hours to get from door to door, and only cost him £50 for flights.

Geordieborn

It’s raining heavy here today, but it says it was actually 21c yesterday (I must have been inside that minute). Still it’s then forecast to be sunny the next 4-5 days and that’s the difference between here and the UK. It can rain, but often it’s sunny and although perhaps not shorts weather it is very pleasant.
So I had a look at this post and thought where is this place you are going to look at, who sells houses there and how much are they. I went to the UK Rightmove site and looked at the overseas property for Abruzzo, Chieti. There were 819 properties, so I ordered them by “lowest first” in price, I got up to page 10. There are a lot of places in the same areas was the first thing I noticed and by the same agents (normal with this site as only a few pay), the prices on page 10 were still only at €25000. So it looks like not much has changed in the property market here, there are still myriads of properties for sale many of which could be a lot of trouble for an unsuspecting buyer.
Saying that, we looked at some places here (in near on 2 years we looked at lots) that we knew before we went that we would be very unlikely to buy. Just a few gives you something to compare against.
One of the agents advertising on there is a member of our local Abruzzo forum and has sold houses to quite a few of its members I do believe. So there are many an ex-pat down there, some would say too many! He’s an estate agent and one I would personally not want to deal with, but he is English and lives there. You might want to consider getting in touch with him whilst there, if nothing else he may be able to put you in touch with others in the area.
Take heed of Pica’s advice regards the price of places…

linseed oil

i have freinds in the umbria area and several are selling up and moving back to england fed up with being shaken out of bed by the eathqaukes not a good area at mo

Pica

In that case I'd expect a goodly number of very reasonably priced properties will be on the market for a quick sale. Maybe a good time to buy? The quake cycle is not easy to forecast.
Most of the quakes were in the day

Efes123

It may be that we're on a hill - about 1,200 feet - but the only one we felt was the really big one. And then, my chair rocked a bit, but little else. I also think the mountains between us and the quakes have protected us a little. Our friends near the lake, where the land is flat, said they felt it a bit stronger and had lots of shaking.

Geordieborn

I would rule nothing out, but Umbria is a lot more expensive than Abruzzo, earthquakes you could get anywhere in Italy no matter what anyone reads into recent events.

italyprogetti

sorry misread your post.

happy house hunting.

we are in west side of basilicata

philat98

The quakes are all in the mountains between Fabriano and Aquilla. I looked this morning and there were 50 quakes in that zone by 10am. Anyone living in that area is having a bad time. Once you move 80km outside of that zone the earthquake risk isn't much different from the rest of Italy. We have only had a few quakes in the last year in the west of Umbria.

modicasa

Im not up in Abruzzo so cant help on most of what you require, but as far as being able to work here your husband will have to comply with Italian standards, which will mean some tweaks to his knowledge. If he gets the european 'passport' he can theoretically work in Italy but he will have to pass an oral exam in Italian (in Rome) to qualify.
Horses - need licences and paperwork - try and contract LindaNoto on this forum who had horses here in Sicily and will certainly be able to give you some pointers.

linseed oil

we have lived in abruzzo for 15 years and have only felt a verry slight tremmer in all that time even the big one ( eathqauke ) was just like a lorry passing there has never been any damage in our area
it does not take a genius to see where the foult line is
any way the biggest danger to property is land slides there again its in a well defined area around bisenti in the nort of abruzzo
you only have to type in frana in abruzzo in you tube to see the devestaition it coases in that area here next to nothing
but fear of eathquakes and land slides have done or holliday let no good at all
buut abruzzo is a verry varible changing land from one end to the other the centre above pescara beeing the most stable
and thanks to the powers to be that is were we ended up buying
there but for the grace of god go i

Nick Millard

Hello everybody and Happy New Year.
I am seriously considering Abruzzo to move to in order to escape the rat race here in London. I plan to buy a smallholding that is already habitable, as I hear it is a nightmare trying to get planning approval and any works signed off, although i would have loved to buy a doer upper that I could do myself.
With the aim to live sustainably off the land and as a result shouldn't require any additional income. However my Italian relatives and friends who are predominantly based in Rome think I am mad considering Abruzzo, because they believe there is a lot of corruption and crime and that I would be targeted as a non Italian, recommending that I should consider other regions either further South or North. I am not convinced by them because they are reasonably well to do and as such not as self sufficient as me. I would appreciate feedback from other expats living in the region. All the best Nick

Nick Millard

My Italian relatives have suggested Abruzzo is not the place to move from the UK to due to corruption and I wondered what the experience of those who actually have done it is. I want to live in the country with a small holding living sustainably off the land

Geordieborn

We have lived here for getting on for 8 years and can't really say we have seen any evidence of corruption. I would however add that I would be most surprised if there was anywhere in Italy (and the UK for that matter) where there is no corruption. I would also add that I suspect it is one aspect they like to keep to themselves
Do your relatives come from Abruzzo?

Nick Millard

Thank you for the feedback. I did think it might be a case of snobby Romans tarring a whole region with one brush, and working in local government in the UK realise that there is an element of corruption everywhere. Where are you based and what do you do?

Pica

I echo Geordieborn's post, everyone's got some kind of "finger in the pot" BUT.. the Abruzzese's are generally very caring & helpful people- someone once told me that Abruzzo is home to the "sweet mafia"