Diary of a buyer: Hope springs - 3 March 2008

Posted by Robert Southwell No comments

Following a couple of weeks of disappointment and disillusionment as the harsh realities of exposing ourselves to the property agents looking to sell us our dream villa in any one of about 17 different countries, my wife and I decided to take it easy for a couple of weeks. The main reason for this was that we didn’t want the process of finding ourselves a property overseas to turn into a chore. Part of the idea of taking this decision to make the move overseas has been to allow us to have some adventures along the way – and we don’t want those adventures to be the kind where we lose money or end up buying in the wrong place!

Consequently, we haven’t really opened a magazine or looked at a website to do with property abroad in a couple of weeks – which has been something of a relief! But, as with many things in life, this was the point at which we have managed to stumble upon something that has renewed our faith in buying overseas, and made us realize why we started on this path in the first place.

After getting back from work one evening last week, my wife and I both settled down to relax and unwind at home. The age-old battle for supremacy of the remote control ensued – there was a football match that I was vaguely interested in on one channel, some light detective drama that my wife likes on another, and the usual smattering of soaps and reality shows that we both try to avoid. Somehow, in the middle of all of this, a compromise was reached, and our consensus settled on Channel 4.

We usually see Grand Designs as more of an entertainment programme, taking delight in the trials and tribulations of the generally rich people who are building some kind of ridiculous modern country pile. This week however, was a different story.

The programme focused on a couple of artists who had decided to buy a large, but derelict, estate in the south of Italy. Not only had they managed to find a property in the middle of the beautiful countryside for £150,000, but they had decided on a budget of just £16,000 for the full renovation! My wife and I found ourselves almost silent during the programme, enthralled as we were, only to burst into excited conversation like teenagers during each commercial break.

The property itself turned out to be one of the most beautiful and well-considered restorations of a foreign property I have ever seen. Decoration and any building work the couple had done were sympathetic and authentic, and the simple kitchen had the most amazing balcony looking out over the rolling countryside and the sea.

But this is only part of the reason that it brought us back into the mindset of looking for our own property abroad. The results were spectacular, but the sheer relish, gusto and ‘stiff upper lip’ the couple showed in getting on with the job was infectious. There were some very tough times for them, with delays, stifling heat and their miniscule budget, but they never lost sight of their aims and their vision of the finished project.

So now we are back in the right mood to continue our search for our property overseas, and we know that what we want is a property for us to enjoy – making money from it is not a major concern. And I must confess that I stopped at the newsagent this morning to buy an Italian property magazine…

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