From the title, you may think that Mike and I are about to embark on a new adventure. Well, you are correct.
After almost two years of living in the beautiful Abruzzo countryside, enjoying spectacular views, and making new and wonderful friends, we are moving. Our rental agreement is ending, and we have decided it would be better for us to live closer to the sea and to have amenities like shopping and healthcare nearby.
We found that property that is available in Abruzzo is mostly for sale (not rent). There are a few reasons for that. Mainly, the Italian culture here expects people to own their own home. I think it’s mostly because people don’t move around a lot. They live with or near family. They find work close to home. And Italian laws favor renters, not landlords, so many property owners think it’s better to just let a property sit empty rather than deal with tenants.
There are rental properties, but most are close to the sea and rented only during the summer season by the week. Generally, they are not well cared for. We wanted property that we could move into without having to do a lot of work on it. So we decided to bite the bullet and buy.
There are lots of properties listed that need lots of work – not just clean-up, but major renovations. Realtors would tell us “this one has possibilities” or “potential”. Needless to say, we avoided those. And after looking at houses with land, even a small yard, we decided we just weren’t up to that much work. We needed a place that was big enough to host guests, had a nice view of something (not a neighbor’s window or roof tops), and was close to amenities. We also wanted to be able to close it up when we travel and feel safe about leaving it.
I am very happy to announce that we found an apartment that we think will work for us. It’s in a town called Citta’ Sant’Angelo in the Pescara province. Now, the old town is situated at the top of a hill, overlooking the Adriatic, and with great mountain views. It is very charming, with cute shops and a few restaurants. The new part of town is at the bottom of the hill, toward the sea. There is an entrance/exit to the Autostrada, a huge shopping mall, and lots of other shops nearby. There are beautiful blue flag beaches. Our apartment is in a residential area. It has a large balcony the length of the apartment that overlooks a park owned by the comune (the township).
The current owners have accepted our offer, and we have sent them a deposit. We will be able to close on or before March 8. We need to do some painting and buy some furniture, so we should be able to move the end of March or early April.
We are currently enjoying fires with our new fireplace and it is definitely keeping our main room toasty warm. When Spring arrives, we’ll be moving into our new home, and discovering new places. The timing seems right.
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