Decisions can be carried out or not… by acquiring more information, you can change your decisions. Such is our case in regards to a home purchase. When John and I were planning our move from the US to Italy, we talked about renting for a few years, then possibly buying or remaining as renters permanently. We considered renting in one region for a few years, pick up and try another and another every few years, thus experiencing all of Italy.

But reality of our nature awakened us. We really don’t want to be vagabonds or feel like we are on one perpetual vacation. We want to feel a part of a community and build lasting friendships nearby. And there is also the practical side. Finding a house to rent in another area, packing up and move all our stuff, finding new veterinarians for our dogs, registering in a new comune, and so on. Not a happy thought. And another consideration, did we really want to pay monthly rent where our money is never invested? For us, a big NO. We are the type of folks that like to have a home we can make our own and do all our travels from that one navigational point, a beacon to guide us out and back.

So we started our house hunting this winter, with the hope of finding that house that speaks to us…. We’ve had a few stops along the way. We had put a short hold on the viewing as we work through our plan on the financial side. Once that was determined, we set out again on our quest.

We came up with a list of requirements: region of Abruzzo closer to the sea rather than the mountains (only because of climate), certain budget, size of house & land, condition of house, etc. John could do some work on the house (mostly cosmetic), but we wanted to move in within a few months and enjoy Italy, with a few small projects in the works. Our price range… well, it’s going to take a lot of tire kicking. Another way to put it, I have to kiss a lot of frogs before I find my prince. There are a lot of homes on the market in Italy, anywhere from ruins to be torn down, complete restorations, habitable townhouses, independent country houses, villas and beyond. We are definitely on the economical side of this spectrum, which then opens up a number of possibilities related to buying low, doing a lot of work, or buying a bit higher in the hopes we will do less work….Do we want to get caught up in a project that gets out of hand, and not spend our time enjoying Italy?

Interesting and downright bizarre story during this house hunting process…We located a house a few weeks back in southern Abruzzo that fit all our criteria and we put an offer on it. The owner had just recently lowered the price, because he wanted to get it sold sooner than not. What transpires next transported us into a soap opera or perhaps an episode of the Sopranos. Lots of hand ringing, crying, anger, non-communication, nonsensical demands all on their side. Well a bit of frustration and anger on our side, but a lot of WHAT JUST HAPPENED! The offer was refused and it looks like the owner is taking the house off the market for now. I’m not going to go into greater detail, but what came back to us was that it wasn’t to the owner’s best financial interest, at the immediate time our offer was made, to sell to anyone. Interesting…disappointing for us, but we’ve moved on. And now a bit wiser and more alert. 😉

Our friend (and property manager), Luigi, took us around today to show us a few properties of interest in our area of Treciminiere. All had wonderful views of sea and mountains, but pricing is very sea-proximity related here.  With that in mind, we will continue to search judiciously in this area as well as in the more economical southern part of this region. I’ll keep you posted when I kiss that prince.

Not only does Spring make for good house hunting weather, it also gets us outdoors to enjoy the countryside. Time to shake off that winter sluggishness and those heat-insulating kilos I’ve put on! We’ve taken to trekking the farm roads again (fields still too muddy) as well as cycling. We’re exploring the bike path up and down the coastline, as we get back into shape. To see the Adriatic and the Gran Sasso mountains to either side of us, as we cycle, NEVER gets old. Beach debris is being raked up and lido owners are preparing their beach facilities for opening next month. I’m sure the beaches will be packed this summer, so we’ll enjoy the bike path now without the crowds.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

I hope you enjoyed the pics today and ciao for now….

The Gran Sasso in spring