Well I'm guessing it's like the UK at the moment (and it does depend what the market situation is at the time). We have friends who have been trying to buy in Wales (cheap for property) for near on 2 years now. Okay they are a bit fussy, or were... I think the market has rapidly changed and is now a "sellers" market in the UK, being so near, likely Ireland is the same. You would have no such problem here in Italy as there are houses galore for sale and many not moving in this area at all. Also many of those for sale are not what the average Italian wants e.g. the drive does not back out onto the motorway! These houses often are what the likes of you and I want however... Saying that, just look at the posts on building costs and/or the paper work ....
Hi JamesReason I posted this was also because when talking to friends here (Italians) my OH was told by them that there was an allowance. My reading of this seems to confirm that AND it's a deductable amount off NET tax, which would make it better than the UK for a person on a pension.VV is known to me, but I've never had dealings with him myself. Like all agents (except Modi of course), they are agents... I'm sure many do a good job, but until bankers came to fame I used to put them on a par with car sales people.. Sorry in advance to all those car sales people past and present. The people we bought through here (registered) were great, but still failed to sell impartially in my opinion. However the English lady working with them is still helping us now and then 5 years on...
I’ve been thinking about this post for a while and keep coming back to this link on the Entrate site with details of the income tax calculation. I’m still not too sure how to read it, but to me it seems to read €15,000 income (say pension) = 3450 gross tax, then for a pensioner under 75 there is an allowance of €7500. Therefore there is no tax payable? Nowhere does it say you have to be a certain minimum age to be on a pension. Am I reading this incorrectly, if not, then this seems a lot more generous than the UK allowances for people with a pension?
I think it's a bit like the citizens advice bureau in the UK and it costs little to get your tax calculated, but you may have to wait a lot. The calculation itself is quite easy to do and even easier with the online calculators around, this in the site we use. You need to know the rendita value of your property which you should have from your purchase.
I also agree with Modicasa and Alan, although I've heard of crime here in Abruzzo, it seems very little. Then again we live a very rural life here whereas in England we were nearer a big city where drink-fuelled violence seemed almost a way of life at times.
I agree with Modicasa and as he lives in the area and knows the business, I think you can take it as very good advice. Apart from his inference there will be costs involved on work on the property, I’m sure there must also be other legal costs such as the notaio etc. Modicasa can no doubt confirm this and my assumption that the estate agent an notaio should cover you for what work a solicitor and agent would do for you in other countries such as the UK. However from our single experience of buying I think getting and looking over the official plans of the property and making sure the plans are exactly the same as what is being sold is very important. Personally I would want to do this myself despite what I was being told.
Hi FlowerFairy, advice from James is spot on. Think you have the "stuff" if you managed to up stick from Oz and get yourself over to Ireland, so another step to Italy should be easy! Renting is certainly the way forward as it commits you to little and may well be cost effective. If it does not work out i.e. you don't like the food, it's too hot, then go to plan "B". Might be a good idea to start another post here saying what kind of place you would like; busy, rural, big small etc... I'm sure lots of people will come up with suggesting’s on where to base yourselves. However flights are cheap with the likes of Ryanair if you book at the right time and you can hop from one place to the other and view many places in Italy for yourself. For us Puglia was too far south, but that was just an arbitrary decision to cut down our many options. Since being here I would say getting about (car) is an issue, language of course and our vision of Italy not being what we thought. The latter was a picture of living just outside a village, walking into it for coffee and learning with the locals at the bar. We do little or none of that, however as I’ve just posted on another topic, we would not change a thing and love it here…
Hi Maryanne,Big WoW ! We would have never, never thought of doing this with our youngest daughter (one of two), but that would have been many years ago. After eventually doing so ourselves after the girls has flown the nest we would likely think about it a lot differently now and would certainly not say “never”. So many things come to mind that are negative or issues, but perhaps it’s a time to concentrate on the positives and I’m sure you are already trying to tackle any obstacles by coming on here. I have alluded to the experience of our time spent here and that’s the main positive I would concentrate upon. We would not change a moment of our experience these last five years has brought to us. A totally different view on our own past and future and a much better understanding of who we are and where other people are coming from.However I’m sure you are well aware of the above and want practical help. Really we would not have a clue where to start. We have not yet been to Verona, but it is on our “to do list”. Siena we have been to a number of times and our oldest daughter was married there. A beautiful town without the nostalgia of the wedding being held there and to us a lot more homely than Firenze. However from what you have said I would have thought Verona may be a better choice if skiing is to figure in your plans, horse riding and cooking I would think you will find anywhere in Italy.Hopefully others on here can give you more advice on things like schooling, accommodation, travel, visa requirements. However it may be a good idea to list those things you have already thought about, sorted and those things still to be sort. That way it may prompt people to provide advice on other matters.As for your Italian being rusty I’m sure you will have no problem picking it up again.Hope I’m not being rude here, but you may want to reconsider you pictures being on an open forum like this or any other for that matter.Anyway, all the very best to you and your family on your adventure where ever it may take you.
James, for the little it is worth we would have rented without a doubt if it was not for the fact we wanted to live the "good life" (as in tv prog) here in Italy and needed land to do so. In retrospect we probably could have done just that in a rental, but perhaps not made the changes we have made to the landscape. You just seem far too sensible ... you are doing the right thing
Just to follow up on this I emailed Clements (still using the Italsure email address) and had a very speedy and helpful response from what I guess is Clements UK. They did confirm that AIG (who they insure through) would not be continuing, so that is a bit of a hassle. They also said they would be responsible for passing on any request regards "no claims" to AIG for action. Ah well more to sort out on the jobs list. At least thanks to Diddy we have pleanty of warning as our renewal in August.
Comments posted
Well I'm guessing it's like the UK at the moment (and it does depend what the market situation is at the time). We have friends who have been trying to buy in Wales (cheap for property) for near on 2 years now. Okay they are a bit fussy, or were... I think the market has rapidly changed and is now a "sellers" market in the UK, being so near, likely Ireland is the same. You would have no such problem here in Italy as there are houses galore for sale and many not moving in this area at all. Also many of those for sale are not what the average Italian wants e.g. the drive does not back out onto the motorway! These houses often are what the likes of you and I want however... Saying that, just look at the posts on building costs and/or the paper work ....
Hi JamesReason I posted this was also because when talking to friends here (Italians) my OH was told by them that there was an allowance. My reading of this seems to confirm that AND it's a deductable amount off NET tax, which would make it better than the UK for a person on a pension.VV is known to me, but I've never had dealings with him myself. Like all agents (except Modi of course), they are agents... I'm sure many do a good job, but until bankers came to fame I used to put them on a par with car sales people.. Sorry in advance to all those car sales people past and present. The people we bought through here (registered) were great, but still failed to sell impartially in my opinion. However the English lady working with them is still helping us now and then 5 years on...
I’ve been thinking about this post for a while and keep coming back to this link on the Entrate site with details of the income tax calculation. I’m still not too sure how to read it, but to me it seems to read €15,000 income (say pension) = 3450 gross tax, then for a pensioner under 75 there is an allowance of €7500. Therefore there is no tax payable? Nowhere does it say you have to be a certain minimum age to be on a pension. Am I reading this incorrectly, if not, then this seems a lot more generous than the UK allowances for people with a pension?
I think it's a bit like the citizens advice bureau in the UK and it costs little to get your tax calculated, but you may have to wait a lot. The calculation itself is quite easy to do and even easier with the online calculators around, this in the site we use. You need to know the rendita value of your property which you should have from your purchase.
I also agree with Modicasa and Alan, although I've heard of crime here in Abruzzo, it seems very little. Then again we live a very rural life here whereas in England we were nearer a big city where drink-fuelled violence seemed almost a way of life at times.
I agree with Modicasa and as he lives in the area and knows the business, I think you can take it as very good advice. Apart from his inference there will be costs involved on work on the property, I’m sure there must also be other legal costs such as the notaio etc. Modicasa can no doubt confirm this and my assumption that the estate agent an notaio should cover you for what work a solicitor and agent would do for you in other countries such as the UK. However from our single experience of buying I think getting and looking over the official plans of the property and making sure the plans are exactly the same as what is being sold is very important. Personally I would want to do this myself despite what I was being told.
Hi FlowerFairy, advice from James is spot on. Think you have the "stuff" if you managed to up stick from Oz and get yourself over to Ireland, so another step to Italy should be easy! Renting is certainly the way forward as it commits you to little and may well be cost effective. If it does not work out i.e. you don't like the food, it's too hot, then go to plan "B". Might be a good idea to start another post here saying what kind of place you would like; busy, rural, big small etc... I'm sure lots of people will come up with suggesting’s on where to base yourselves. However flights are cheap with the likes of Ryanair if you book at the right time and you can hop from one place to the other and view many places in Italy for yourself. For us Puglia was too far south, but that was just an arbitrary decision to cut down our many options. Since being here I would say getting about (car) is an issue, language of course and our vision of Italy not being what we thought. The latter was a picture of living just outside a village, walking into it for coffee and learning with the locals at the bar. We do little or none of that, however as I’ve just posted on another topic, we would not change a thing and love it here…
Hi Maryanne,Big WoW ! We would have never, never thought of doing this with our youngest daughter (one of two), but that would have been many years ago. After eventually doing so ourselves after the girls has flown the nest we would likely think about it a lot differently now and would certainly not say “never”. So many things come to mind that are negative or issues, but perhaps it’s a time to concentrate on the positives and I’m sure you are already trying to tackle any obstacles by coming on here. I have alluded to the experience of our time spent here and that’s the main positive I would concentrate upon. We would not change a moment of our experience these last five years has brought to us. A totally different view on our own past and future and a much better understanding of who we are and where other people are coming from.However I’m sure you are well aware of the above and want practical help. Really we would not have a clue where to start. We have not yet been to Verona, but it is on our “to do list”. Siena we have been to a number of times and our oldest daughter was married there. A beautiful town without the nostalgia of the wedding being held there and to us a lot more homely than Firenze. However from what you have said I would have thought Verona may be a better choice if skiing is to figure in your plans, horse riding and cooking I would think you will find anywhere in Italy.Hopefully others on here can give you more advice on things like schooling, accommodation, travel, visa requirements. However it may be a good idea to list those things you have already thought about, sorted and those things still to be sort. That way it may prompt people to provide advice on other matters.As for your Italian being rusty I’m sure you will have no problem picking it up again.Hope I’m not being rude here, but you may want to reconsider you pictures being on an open forum like this or any other for that matter.Anyway, all the very best to you and your family on your adventure where ever it may take you.
James, for the little it is worth we would have rented without a doubt if it was not for the fact we wanted to live the "good life" (as in tv prog) here in Italy and needed land to do so. In retrospect we probably could have done just that in a rental, but perhaps not made the changes we have made to the landscape. You just seem far too sensible ... you are doing the right thing
Just to follow up on this I emailed Clements (still using the Italsure email address) and had a very speedy and helpful response from what I guess is Clements UK. They did confirm that AIG (who they insure through) would not be continuing, so that is a bit of a hassle. They also said they would be responsible for passing on any request regards "no claims" to AIG for action. Ah well more to sort out on the jobs list. At least thanks to Diddy we have pleanty of warning as our renewal in August.