Quote:
Originally Posted by LWJ
So, a few years ago, my wife says she would like to have a modest home in Italy for retirement. We love Italy, but would live there 6 months a year at most.
I am not certain that will will do this. It is a risk. But dreaming is free. And my buds on PPOT have some great brainpower.
The question:
It seems buying in Italy is awful. (Renting is a real option and probably the best one)
Where else is should we consider?
What is warm, sunny, safe, affordable, easy to travel to, desirable for friends to visit, good food / wine, beautiful, friendly and fun?
Spain is a great choice as is Croatia, Costa Rica, Puerto Rico and Hawaii. So are Portugal and France. Thailand is fantastic and I assume Vietnam and other nearby countries would be great. I also love Turkey.
See the problem? Too many choices!
What is the nexus between affordable, wonderful, and interesting?
Thanks for indulging my first world fantasy problem.
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Nothing wrong with dreams, world would be a dull place if people didn't have dreams
Italy has everything you could wish for as a holiday destination but living there is extremely hard work. You need to be very worldly wise/street smart to do anything that involves money
We lived there for 7yrs while I worked and loved it but never once thought it would be a country we would buy in
We found our nexus in neighbouring Slovenia and bought a cheap, small place with million $ view on the sunny side of the valley in a traditional 1000yr old farming village at the cheap end of the Alps
Running costs are about the same as a car so $2-3k a year for everything, we lock it, leave it knowing our neighbours will take care of it while we're away
Mainland Europe has so much to offer, I can't think of anywhere in the world that can offer so many varied cultures, landscapes, architecture, food/wine, experiences within relative easily driving distances
In one day we could have breakfast at our house, apfelstrudel in an Austrian mountain village, lunch in Italy and seafood supper overlooking the Adriatic sea on the coast of Croatia or ski in the morning and swim in the sea in the afternoon
Only advice I can give is visit as many places as you can and you'll know when you've found youR home from home. If unsure rent before you buy and make sure you have enough around you so you don't get cabin/beach hut fever
Good luck