Mark C. D

I will be retiring shortly to Puglia, specifically around the Ostuni, Cisternino, Carovigno, San Vito dei Normanni, Latiano, Mesagne, Locorotondo, and Martina Franca area. I will rent before I buy, and I’m looking for a good agent that can assist me on this. I have done a lot of research on the area, but I would love to hear from folks who live in the area, the good and the bad. For Ostuni, I am finding very few rentals in the historical area, and I am assuming many of these homes/apartments are being rented out as B&Bs. Thanks

C.2s

Can't really help much with the advice about the area because I have only been there on holiday (as you know, it's beautiful). But just a thought and the rental situation. We've twice (once in Piedmont and once in Lazio) negotiated the medium term rental of holiday type properties for us to use all year round. In one case that was as a holiday home in the sense that we never registered residency, but we spent roughly six months of the year there. So enough to know the area. In the second we registered residency with the comune etc. In both cases it required us to gain the trust of the owners and to show them that they were exchanging the uncertainty of earning money during the summer period for the certainty of a whole year's income. From their perspective they might be a bit worried about longer term rental because that creates legal requirements for them. So, it's not easy but it's not impossibile

SanNico

It really depends on what you're looking for. The biggest difference is whether you're considering living in town or in the countryside. I lived in San Vito for many years and really enjoyed the place. The town has a few restaurants and a nice feel to it. The countryside is nice but you need to be aware of petty crime (house break-ins) especially in the area towards Brindisi. In fact, avoid it like the plague as it's full of old quarries and I very much doubt those quarries will become picturesque lakes.
It's quite similar to Carovigno but there are many more restaurants there. Crime is higher and the dialect is harder to understand. I didn't know anyone from Carovigno who hadn't had a break-in.
Ostuni is nice, as you know, but personally I wouldn't choose to live there as I found it overpriced and over-rated.
I wouldn't touch Mesagne or Latiano with a barge pole, but that's a personal choice. I just found them to be rough and barren places.
I have no clue about Locorotondo but I would say the top pick for me would be Martina Franca. Great restaurants, beautiful terrain, friendly people and missing the pomp of Ostuni.

Other advice: If you're looking for a place in the countryside just remember you're not getting any younger and eventually the land will be too much to handle alone. Infrastructure needs to be a big consideration for you. If you want reliable services then the countryside is not the place to be. Finally, beware of the friendly British handyperson/ property manager/ pool manager. Plenty of ex-pats will be around to offer their services. Most of them are un-registered and any work they perform will be illegal. The moment you go down that route you tell the locals you're not prepared to integrate.

Mark C. D

Thanks folks for the advice, there is a lot to consider. Good point about getting older. I have a house with lots of land, and part of retiring is getting away from the yard chores. I really prefer living in town where I can walk to everything. The exercise would be good for my health. I'm sure it is by locality and town, but do some expats get together and have drinks?

philat98

You can check here how many Brits there are in each comune to go out drinking with.
https://www.tuttitalia.it/puglia/92-...tranieri-2022/

Lugsbug

Just checked mine and there are 12

pugliese

just checked mine (I'm the only one) and it seems they included me until 2019, but then I've disappeared from 2020 even though I am still here.....

SanNico

That's really interesting, thanks. You will also find fellow Brits if you visit a supermarket at lunchtime, more at Lidl, and even more near the cheddar cheese section of Lidl.

C.2s

Mark C. D

This is really helpful.

Jake.White

I agree with just about all of this post. I had a place in the countryside between Ostuni and Francavilla Fontana (but closer to Ostuni) for 16 years and I still kind of regret selling it, but in other ways it's a bit of a relief. I loved the olive groves and my two acre plot of land, as well as the twice yearly escape I could make from the increasing insanity of the UK. However : everything in the above post is worth taking on board, especially the bit about crime and the fact that working the land becomes more difficult with every passing year. Add to that the hassle of the Italian bureaucracy and you begin to get a slightly more realistic picture of things.

My place was successfully burgled and cleared out once, and I mean cleared out - they even removed all the kitchen units, washing machine, fridge etc and I turned up there one day to find all my plates, cups, and cutlery piled up on the kitchen floor in neat little piles. There were also several unsuccessful burglary attempts over the years including one time when I was actually in residence at the house.

In the countryside there are no weekly rubbish collections and you have to deal with your rubbish yourself, but there are communal bins scattered around at various locations. Take note that there are also rules about the time of day when you can dump your rubbish in them, particularly in the summer. There is no postal delivery in the countryside, you will need to rent a postal box if you want to receive post. There is a Mailboxes etc branch in Ostuni for this. You will not receive a council tax bill as you do here in the UK. You will have to calculate what you need to pay yourself (yes, really) and go to the commune to pay it on a twice yearly basis. There is more I could tell but I'm sure you're getting the picture.

As for working the land, I did all my own tree pruning, strimming, weedkilling and everything else that needed doing but it's hard work over two acres and it gets harder and harder every year, particularly the pruning of the olive trees which is very physical and needs the right kind of artistic touch if you don't want to mess it up. I also did all my own house maintenance but finding the stuff you need can be difficult as it's not a simple case of popping down to Wickes or B&Q in Italy. They don't have the same kind of DIY infrastructure as we do here in the UK and pretty much the only place I could ever find was that Leroy Merlin shop over in Mesagne and much of their stuff was just crap.

As with the above post I wouldn't go near Mesagne or Latiano, but I'd also add Carovigno to that as I always thought it was just a dump although the surrounding countryside is nice enough. I'm biased towards the location of my own property which was near San Michele Salentino and easily accessible for Ceglie Messapica, Ostuni and San Vito where there is a Lidl. Ostuni Centro Storico is nice, and there are some good views from the top, but it's busy, and it has cars, delivery vans, and Apes racing up and down all the time and belching fumes which is a bit annoying. The road and pavement surface also becomes VERY slippery when it rains so be careful if you get caught in a squall.

Bottom line to all of this : go in with your eyes open and if something seems too good to be true then it probably is. There are lots of pitfalls when buying in Italy, and even more scams, but if you're careful and keep your head screwed on you should be ok. If you have a question of an estate agent : ask, and if they don't give an acceptable answer, walk away.

Mark C. D

Thanks for the detailed info. I had to rack and stack the areas I was interested in, and the towns that you recommend are high on my list. And good advice about real estate agents. If they don't reveal everything then they are hiding something.

Mark C. D

What are your opinions on the town of Francavilla Fontana? It appears to be a bit rough and too far from the sea.

SanNico

It's not my cup of team personally but I wouldn't put it on the rough list. It's an OK place but it's very convenient as it's half way between the coasts, half way between Taranto and Brindisi, very close to Ostuni, Oria and all of the other desirable but more expensive places. There's not a huge British ex pat community there, which is a pro or con depending on your preference.