House hunting

With this image stuck in our heads and many questions still to be answered, we came home after a beautiful holiday. The viewing at the end of the trip, still poses many questions. 

Is this becoming a serious project? What do we actually want? Are we just going to live there or are we going to work there as well? Are we looking for a holiday home or are we going to facilitate holidays for others? What is our budget? Are we going to earn money or is it time to lay back and relax? Or is it really true that a long-cherished dream is actually becoming reality? Running a bed and breakfast. 

Like me, Harry isn’t ready yet to do nothing, so the decision is quickly made. 

The first house you see on the photos, is the one we viewed in Montegrosso at the end of our holiday. Two rooms could be realized to rent out. 

Downstairs a private living area could be created for us. A lot of work needs to be done. 

Calculating the plusses and minuses we learned and agreed that this villa wouldn’t be profitable. The B&B needs at least three or four bedrooms to be financial interesting. So, this means we gave to go on a property hunt. Bigger and if possible, less work to be done. We install the Idealista and Immobiliare apps on our phones and begin our search based on our preferences. September is all about searching for, looking at and comparing properties on the internet. Within the area we are looking for some possibilities, we find five prospects.

On the 11th of October 2023, we drive to Italy for some viewings. John and Martijn join us so we can bounce off ideas. 

The first villa we visit is in Calosso. The description and the pictures of the property are very promising. This property, with its incredible views over the vineyards is nothing short of being perfect. Enough space for three rooms with ensuite bathrooms.

Downstairs a complete private living area for the two of us and a kitchen and breakfast room perfectly suitable for our guests. Trying to temper our enthusiasm, we keep in mind that we still have four other properties to see. 

The second villa we are viewing is in a little village just north of Asti. It just doesn’t cut it. Too big, too much overdue maintenance and boring views. 

The third house was gigantic and accompanied by 60000 m2 of land. It had a swimming pool and a couple side buildings. It felt remote and we agreed we didn’t feel comfortable. So also, this property wasn’t meant for us.

Saturday we leave early. John comes along. The appointment is at 9 a.m. in Casalese. This will be the fourthviewing. This property was absolutely beautiful. It had a courtyard with a swimming pool and garden.

The buildings with the apartments were surrounding this. Really pretty but, in all honesty really too big. 

Over dinner and a good glass of wine we talk things over. 

The villa in Calosso is everything we need, the space, the ambiance and location are perfect and has the potential to satisfy our needs and those of our future guests in the B&B. The real estate agent, Sissel, tipped us to move quickly as the property has more candidates since the price is also very attractive. Should we go for it and put in an offer? How high should we go? Are we maybe a bit overwhelmed and too enthusiastic?

We decide to sleep over it. 

The next morning we put in our offer!

In the afternoon we visit an antiques market in Nizza Monferato. We decide to buy something that will remind us about this special trip. We stumble upon a little stall selling very old Barolo wines. We find one from 1961, that must be some sort of sign!

At lunch time we meet John and Martijn and tell them about the offer we put in. We talk about the next steps that we have to take, and they give us good advice since they already have been through this process. We bounce of ideas and joke around. 

It would be fantastic to become neighbors in the near future. 

The next day we have our last viewing, luckily accompanied by Sissel the real estate agent. We are hoping she can give us some clue about where we are standing with our offer. 

The villa is in Mombercelli. It is a cosy house with an enormous garden. It definitely has a good ambience but offers too little privacy for guests. Besides that, it doesn’t have enough space to facilitate three guest rooms. 

We talk things over the villa in Calosso with Sissel. To make the offer official, we have to send in a request to purchase the property. Sissel will then discuss the offer with the current owner. If everything runs smooth, coming spring we could be the proud owners of the villa. 

After drinking a cup of coffee with John, we get in the car and drive back home. A few moments later, I send our official request to Sissel. 

To be continued….