4061 property hunting in calabria

I live in Calabria (Cosenza) - have a look at this site [url]www.andiamo-homes.com[/url]
They have some good properties in San Nicola Arcella, Scalea, Diamante area.

Hi stuart, thanks for getting back. I have seen this site and have contacted the owner twice with regard to certain properties via email. However as yet I haven't had any reply. Have you had any experience/ dealings with andiamo homes? Is it reputable? Maybe I'll try again. Thanks.

Shaun

Shaun, take my advice. There is no rush; chill, visit often & explore in & around the region......it [b]will[/b] happen, but you might not need to force it as it will happen at its own pace.

When you're exploring, agents will be there; some will speak English, others you will have to try harder with(!) but it will be worth it.

When you're exploring, if you hear Brit, talk to them & if they have experiences, listen to them

............not all this sounds patronising in the extreme & stating the bleeding obvious, but give it a go. Oh, and there is not rush, [i]piano, piano[/i]!

Hi Shaun
We bought a place in Bridge Villiage through Andiamohomes over a year ago and had no problems at all. Annie has a couple of houses over there and seems to run it as a hobby rather than a full on business so that's why things might take longer. You should also look at [url]www.scalea-property.com[/url] this is run by a lovely young couple called David and Melanie.
Good luck with your search.
Melanie

Hi, Thanks for the reply. The more I have looked into the area the more I have been wowed by some of the scenery and with a busy work life over here its the slower pace of life that appeals to me. As for visiting often and exploring, unfortunately my work commitments make this hard to do. Do you know of any reputable agents to perhaps contact in the first instance with a view to going out and looking round? Any does and donts etc? Thanks in advance.

Shaun

Thanks Mel...just seen your post. Ok thats great. I will persevere with andiamo and will check out scalea property. Thanks again.

shaun

Has anyone had any dealings with this company?? Any experiences?...[url]Http://www.calabria-property-services.com[/url]

shaun

Shaun, that time; would you make such a decison to move, invest & commit in the UK if you didn't have time to look & ponder?

I don't wish to bum you out, but consider what you're saying......one thing I've been taught in my time in ital is [i]piano, piano[/i]..........slowly, slowly! It [b]will[/b] happen!

:D Hi,

Like every else says, take your time and you'll find the right place - we did! We bought our place in San Nicola Arcella via Andiamohomes with few problems although we've also found that emailing get no response too. Another site worth a look is [url]www.cirellicase.it[/url] he has an office in San Nicola and i was looking at properties on his displayboard outside his office just the other day, he has a pretty good selection at reasonable prices. You could also try [url]www.aeemme.it[/url] (A&M Immobiliare) in Scalea, they're very helpful too.Good luck with whatever you choose to buy
Lee&Anna

Hi,

I have, They are brilliant, English and Italian speaking as well.

Are you wanting a new off plan property or old property?
I am in the process of buying of plan down the East coast in a place near Bianco right on the beach. I am purchasing via a company called medsea estates who so far have been excellent. Various agents are advertising these properties on the internet.

[QUOTE=Evertonfc]Hi,

Im new to the forum but have been avidly looking into purchasing a property in the calabria region recently via the internet/ magazines etc. I just wondered with regard to viewing visits can anyone suggest a good organisation/ person/ estate agent to perhaps use?? Any thoughts about this or generally about calabria would be gratefully welcome.

Shaun[/QUOTE]

Hi,

Iv'e used [url]www.calabria-property-services.com[/url]
they have an excellent service and speak Italian as well which is a bonus.
They have arranged visits for me in the past and have found them to be reliable.

Regards

Dave R

Excellent reports have been given on the viewing visits offered to Calabria by Citrus Iberia/Medsea. 4 days, 3 nights in the Parco dei Principi Hotel 5 Star Hotel in Calabria. The trips are free, although you do pay your own flights. The property is a selection of front line apartments from 57,000 Euros.
[URL="http://www.spanish-villas-spain.com/en/akelos/property_in_italy"]http://www.spanish-villas-spain.com/en/akelos/property_in_italy[/URL]

I purchased a unit in Jewel of the Sea. It is a lovely development on the South West coast 40 mins from Reggio airport.

It has loads of facilities beach club, clubhouse, spa, indoor and ourdoor pools, commercial centre, restaurants, 18 hole golf etc therefore it should have good all year round rental potential.

Please PM me if you would like more information they are selling fast.:biggrin:

Hi, I can thoroughly recommend the agent we have bought through at Il Casale di Capo Vaticano.

His name is Dennis Onstenk and he's based in the area. You'll get a friendly, relaxed trip and absolutely no hard-sell whatever. His website is at [url=http://www.incalabria.com]InCalabria Property Consultants - Property in Calabria, Italy[/url] and I know they have two developments coming up in the San Lucido area.

Hope this helps!

Sam

[QUOTE=kit1;36562]Are you wanting a new off plan property or old property?
I am in the process of buying of plan down the East coast in a place near Bianco right on the beach. I am purchasing via a company called medsea estates who so far have been excellent. Various agents are advertising these properties on the internet.[/QUOTE]

Hi,

We too have dealt with Medsea. Pleased with the process so far and should be completing August/September time. Ask me then for an update because I get the feeling there will still be some interesting times ahead.

Dave

We can't speak too highly of Annie McHattie at Andiamo Homes. She remains a friend several years after helping us to buy our place in San Nicola, so I guess that must mean something.
She has a great network of contacts in Calabria and Basilicata, and her profound personal knowledge of the region is a real advantage. So, I'd certainly suggest that Andiamo Homes site is worth a look.
But, I know that others will have had good experiences with other agents. So, I guess best thing is to look at all the sites and find the home you fancy, remembering that the people you deal with are no more or less likely to be honest than the people you deal with at home.
rgds
Eddie B

Stuart, i've been offered a job in Calabria but i'm a little concerned about the bad publicity regarding "mafia"/organised crime. I'm interested in speaking to someone who lives in the area for a realsitic view.

CAVEAT EMPTOR!

Being in a hurry to buy into the Jewel of the Sea, Calabria (Italy)? So was I, and this is my story about why I wish I weren’t.

My entering the project was very promising… For some days I was in correspondence with The Right Move Abroad, a marketing agent, I guess, for the Jewel of the Sea. This correspondence resulted in receipt of a formal offer, so called Real Estate Purchase Proposal, from VFI Overseas Properties, an Irish company said to be the Vendor of the property. To make reservation for the property of my choice they asked me to pay EUR 3000 to the account as instructed. I did this payment. Few days later Giambrone & Law, a London based law firm, contacted me offering to act as my legal representative in the deal. Before signing any further papers, however, I decided to double check the Jewel of the Sea project. For this purpose I commissioned dependable friends of mine to come on the future construction site and to see everything with their own eyes. They did it for me. I can’t say that the report on their inspection trip to the Jewel of the Sea was strictly negative, but… It took me further few days to consider the project thoroughly. I asked for additional advice from market experts and legal advisers before I came to the conclusion that I’d better withdraw from the project.

The fact was that neither I felt fully comfortable about the project nor was I reassured thereon by the experts consulted by me. This made me decide eventually that the Jewel of the Sea is not worth buying into, not at least under existing circumstances. It might have been the end of a story, unless my careful scepticism on the adequacy of the project managers came suddenly true. To my great surprise, I was refused the refund of the reservation fee I paid under the contract. The thing is that I met all the conditions required by the contract for such refund, therefore, no problem in this respect was actually expected by me. Moreover, they promise openly through their WEB site that once you decide upon your inspection trip that the apartment is not for you, then your EUR3000 is fully refundable... I said then to VFI & Co: OK, folk, don’t you believe this is exactly my case? Actually, with the help of my friends, I made an inspection trip as required within 30 days from reservation. Exactly after that trip and on the basis of the information received, I decided that the apartment is not for me. Consequently, reservation fee I paid to VFI Overseas Properties in the amount of EUR3000 is fully refundable, isn’t it? The whole thing seemed very obvious to me, but not to them. To my request for the refund they said no. Why? No further comment followed, the just ignored me…

It’s time for some generalisation on my Jewel of the Sea related experience. To start with my ‘partners’, I have already named them: VFI Overseas Properties, Dublin, a Vendor, and two others named The Right Move Abroad, Cheshire, and Giambrone & Law, London; these last two being, in my opinion, the integral part of a whole scheme. To be honest, despite all my effort to obtain justice in the case, I feel like my money invested in the Jewel of the Sea has irretrievably gone. On the other side, I feel that the money was lost on a much smaller scale than otherwise possible if I have not escaped from the project at this early stage. Moreover, I am almost ready to accept my loss as a price I paid for the lessons they taught me. By the way, I do not suggest, not at least in the first place, that they swindled me purposely. Rather they are just doing business their own ‘flexible’ way without paying much attention to such ‘formalities’ as a contract and their own public promise, if not exactly in their interest.

Normally, this is not much of a problem, unless you enter into durable relations with your partners like in case of buying a property from a developer ‘off-plan’. In this last case you expect from your partners to be more accurate insofar as formal obligations are concerned. After all, you pay your money against their promise, but can you rely on them to keep their promise under all circumstances? For exception of a mere swindle, there can be a host of other reasons for them not to comply with their own undertakings under the contact, a lack of regular business experience being one of such reasons, most likely evidenced in my case.

The impression is that the team of the Jewel of the Sea does not have sufficient expertise in managing investments of the kind. To this impression contribute the way they do their job and in particular, the scheme they apply to operate the investments, so called ‘joint venture between Italian and Irish property developers’. Actually, there is an Italian project developer named RDV srl, Brancaleone (Italy), which developer has chosen to delegate its right to sell property to a company named VFI Overseas Properties Real Estate Agent Limited, freshly registered in Ireland. Why then an Irish company? There is no reasonable answer to the question unless we suggest the whole scheme is tax motivated. Clearly, VFI & Co may wish to spare taxes in their best business interest. On the other side, investors, participating in such a scheme, might easily become a VFI & Co accomplice in tax evasion with the ensuing consequences for all involved. Should the investors ignore this potential problem? The answer is obvious, at least for those investors who are normally not ready to buy for their own money the problems of others…

Generally, problems of the investors who take the risk of buying into the Jewel of the Sea are not to be underestimated. Against those problems little protection could be expected from such ‘legal representatives’ as a London based law firm named Giambrone & Law, so called ‘European Avvocatos’. These last Avvocatos were heartily recommended to me by the Vendor and its marketing agent, The Right Move Abroad. They, however, omitted to warn me that Giambrone & Law would not be very helpful if I happen to disagree with the VFI & Co. Such was another lesson I learned from my own experience, after I failed to receive assistance from the said Avvocatos in a quite obvious case as above. Moreover, I have ground to believe that other documents referring to the Jewel of the Sea that include so called ‘report on title’ and ‘preliminary sale contract’, as prepared by the Avvocatos at nobody knows whose request and expense, are neither unbiased nor competent. I hardly expect these documents to be relied upon by responsible investors. At least in my case, after having read the said documents, I happened to have even more questions on the feasibility of the project and provision for my contractual rights than before I did it.

All considered, I abandoned the Jewel of the Sea project, and quite in time I believe, not to lose further money. The most important for me was to learn from my personal experience some basics of buying into ‘off-plan’ as follows:

(1) Whenever you buy ‘off-plan’, the reputation of a developer is crucial. No freshly made Irish-Italian joint ventures, please
(2) Statuary protection for your rights as investor is the must. It implies that from the very beginning you should know precisely where to complain and how to complain… No cross-border jurisdictional excuses, please
(3) Before you enter the deal, especially when contracting internationally, seek professional legal advice from independent sources. No recommended Avvocatos with an unclear status, please
(4) Read all papers relating to the deal before (not after) you pay. No haste with payment, please
(5) Beware those I list for your reference below. I paid my price to know them as the source of potential problems. Do not make the same mistake, please

For further reference:

VFI Overseas Properties Real Estate Agent Limited, registered at 41 Central Chambers Dame Court, Dublin (Ireland), [url=http://www.vfioverseasproperty.com]Vfi[/url], (Mr. Antonio Velardo, Mr. Henry James Fitzsimons, Mr. Gavin Dunne)

The Right Move Abroad, registered at Central Offices, Hartford Business Center, Hartford, Cheshire (UK), [url=http://www.therightmoveabroad.com]Property in Eastern Europe by The Right Move Abroad[/url], (Mr. Paul Winder)

Giambrone & Law, registered at 50 Essex Street, the Strand, London (UK), [url=http://www.giambronelaw.co.uk]Giambrone & Law ::: A Specialist Italian Law Firm in the United Kingdom[/url] (Mr. Gabriele Giambrone, Mr. Floriane Messana)

You may expect to know more on the above matter, should you contact the undersigned at [email]caveatemptor@vfioverseasproperty.it[/email]

Caveat Emptor

I think I have not been hesitant to point out the Calabria 'rampers' on the board including one for Jewel of the Sea.

However I am equally suspicious when I see a new member post the same thing in two places.

I have no knowledge of VFI (unless you mean VFL who have an excellent reputation)

Giambrone & Law also have a good reputation. However they are a UK practice, will have a complaints procedure that escalates to the law society and. They also wil have PI insurance. Perhaps the acid test would be to request their assistance in taking legal action to recover your money to see if they are working for you.

I am not sure of the significance of VFI being registered in Ireland. If it is for tax reasons, so what. There are huge companies operating in Europe registered there or in Luxembourg for the same reasons. I dont read anything else into that.

What is the opposite of a 'ramper'?

LTR, how do you know Giambrone & Law have a good reputation overall? Negative posts are not usually allowed to remain on forum and therefore, an unbalanced positive view COULD be portrayed.

[QUOTE=Scrapspal;65761]LTR, how do you know Giambrone & Law have a good reputation overall? Negative posts are not usually allowed to remain on forum and therefore, an unbalanced positive view COULD be portrayed.[/QUOTE]

They good, no doubt. We use them all the time.

[QUOTE=luckoni;65768]They good, no doubt. We use them all the time.[/QUOTE]

They good for who? For you, as a property agent or every Joe Bloggs as a potential property purchaser?

I have seen Giambrone write on Puglia Uncovered and I didnt think they would have a 'wrong un' there.

It is also a lot less clear that the lawyers had any hand in it since if I recall correctly they were engaged after the deposit was paid