The House Projects Thread

[Ascender]

Have you done any research into what baler you need? Kind of in the same predicament here, farmer next door retired now and renting his fields out to an absolute cunt. Thinking of just buying a small baler and making it myself and just give what’s extra to an animal sanctuary or something.

No, just started looking. My wife was saying she'd rather have small round bales than the common large round ones, but also need to work out what size of tractor to get. Her folks used to make their own hay but stopped about 5 years ago when they got rid of a lot of the livestock so also sold everything. Seems mad not to do it with her having a couple of horses and some spare fields which could be used.

That's a nice idea to donate what you don't need yourself.

I don’t think I’ve seen small round. I go for the small conventional rectangle ones because they can be manhandled and stacked by hand but according to what I’ve read online you can get 100 of those per acre twice a year and half that if in drought. My goats only eat 100 per year so I’ll have a vast excess with nowhere to store them.

Yes, that's the sort I was assuming we'd make and seems to be lots of machines available for those. That's useful to know on the number per acre.

That's a lot to have spare and you don't want to go down the route of somewhere else for storage unless you really need to. I'm sure you'll find lots of willing takers for them though.

[Ascender]

Been a mad few weeks. I think we started decluttering this place and readying it for sale a few months ago now. After much painting, tiling and cleaning, it went on the market two weeks ago and we accepted an offer for it on Friday.

It's obviously not finalised yet, but that "limbo" of not having a sale is very stressful for a control freak like me. Was also another eye opening experience in terms of who comes to look at a house and do the equivalent of "tyre kicking" on it with perhaps no intention to, you know, actually buy it.

Looking to move the first week in August and trying to get the planning permission in asap for a conversion of the barn attached to it and also the "horse house" in a field. Have decided to make our own hay next year, so need to start looking for a tractor and baler to buy. What could possibly go wrong...

That’s a very attractive layout, simply from a graphical perspective

Yip, I like his style so far!

[Gavster]

It may be a cliche, however after being in southern Italy for nearly four weeks I'm ready to pack up my life in London and move here. Quality of life is brilliant, the landscape and environment are stunning, the food is amazing, the jobs and the economy are fubar

[V8Granite]

It may be a cliche, however after being in southern Italy for nearly four weeks I'm ready to pack up my life in London and move here. Quality of life is brilliant, the landscape and environment are stunning, the food is amazing, the jobs and the economy are fubar

My friend Antonio lived somewhere in the south and the developer just gave up halfway through. So he has no road to his house and has been living on a building site for a few years

The country though, just amazing and we are back there in the school holidays.

As somewhere to retire or if you work online I can’t imagine many better places in the world though ?

Dave!

[Gavster]

It may be a cliche, however after being in southern Italy for nearly four weeks I'm ready to pack up my life in London and move here. Quality of life is brilliant, the landscape and environment are stunning, the food is amazing, the jobs and the economy are fubar

My friend Antonio lived somewhere in the south and the developer just gave up halfway through. So he has no road to his house and has been living on a building site for a few years

The country though, just amazing and we are back there in the school holidays.

As somewhere to retire or if you work online I can’t imagine many better places in the world though ?

Dave!

It seems like building work in Italy is totally unreliable. They're replacing the rendering on the outside of the apartment building I'm staying in and apparently they do a chunk of work, then disappear for a few months It's taken a couple of years to get two-thirds of the way through the project. I've also seen a few part-finished homes for sale too.

Exactly that about work. Apparently there are no jobs around, so if you can retire here, or earn a UK wage remotely then it's brilliant. Food and general cost of living is cheaper and rents are far cheaper. An apartment where I'm staying (Marina di Casalvelino) might be as little as £600 or less per month for long-term rent, cheaper than a room in zone 3 in London...

[Mito Man]

Yet they still flock to live and work in London
I think unless you want a very specific sort of lifestyle - so you never do much, don’t earn much, don’t experience much and you’re content with that then it’s great.

[dinny_g]

My partner and I long held a dream of buying an abandoned villa in Italy and doing it up after seeing some lovely ones in Stresa accross from our hotel.

However, it's Pie in the sky as it would be a ruinous experience even with very deep pockets.

There were here - we were staying in the Palma hotel and this was the overflow car park

https://maps.app.goo.gl/2b9piBBP5zyt6wzp8

[ZedLeg]

Are there squatter’s rights in Italy?

[DeskJockey]

@Gavster the part finished build could be for tax reasons. I was told in Spain (yes, different country I know), they don't finish until after it is sold because as long as it is under construction it attracts no property taxes. Could be the rules in Italy are the same.

[mik]

@Gavster the part finished build could be for tax reasons. I was told in Spain (yes, different country I know), they don't finish until after it is sold because as long as it is under construction it attracts no property taxes. Could be the rules in Italy are the same.

You'll see homes all over Greece where the top floor appears to be under construction "forever". They basically design and build (for example) a 3-storey house that they want, but the plans will include a 4th storey that they don't need, and it exists forever "under construction" in order to avoid paying the taxes that are due when the build is deemed complete.

[Simon]

^^Yup, stayed in an AirBNB in Kefalonia just like this. As I looked up I noticed that they could fit out the top to be another AirBNB and was trying to work out if the revenue was more or less than the taxes.

[Gavster]

Yet they still flock to live and work in London
I think unless you want a very specific sort of lifestyle - so you never do much, don’t earn much, don’t experience much and you’re content with that then it’s great.

I posted something similar on IG asking why Italians leave. The main replies were a) jobs, b) to get away from far-right politics and c) because Italian bureaucracy is a nightmare.

The sense of community here is way stronger than in the UK, so although there's less big stuff happening than in London, it feels like a genuinely friendly environment to live in. Especially if you want good weather, great food, space to grow a few olives and some tranquillity, it's literally the antithesis of my postcode in London

My partner and I long held a dream of buying an abandoned villa in Italy and doing it up after seeing some lovely ones in Stresa accross from our hotel.

However, it's Pie in the sky as it would be a ruinous experience even with very deep pockets.

Maybe because all of the (3) properties I've owned have been Victorain conversions that have been wonky nightmares, I genuinely cannot see the appeal of doing a barn conversion, especially in a foreign country!

A friend's father did one in Dijon and it was real Grand Designs material. Not because it was beautiful, but because it went wayyy over budget and nearly ended his marriage. The architect drove a Lamborghini after that one. Seriously, he had a red countach

@Gavster the part finished build could be for tax reasons. I was told in Spain (yes, different country I know), they don't finish until after it is sold because as long as it is under construction it attracts no property taxes. Could be the rules in Italy are the same.

Ahhh, okay that would make sense.

Anyway, this is probably a straight swap for my flat in London. Just need to fit a pool in somewhere and I'm done

https://www.immobiliare.it/annunci/109274987/

[DeskJockey]

That looks amazing. I want a seaview.

[Sundayjumper]

If it wasn’t for stuff like “national security” and “official secrets act” I’d happily work remotely from somewhere like that.

Oh - and fast internet. I bet that place doesn’t have gigabit FTTP.

[mik]

Anyway, this is probably a straight swap for my flat in London. Just need to fit a pool in somewhere and I'm done

https://www.immobiliare.it/annunci/109274987/

I saw the pics and was like "how much???" , but then I noticed it stated 150m2, and then I realised it's the middle of the three buildings that is up for sale rather than all of them.

[Ascender]

Anyway, this is probably a straight swap for my flat in London. Just need to fit a pool in somewhere and I'm done

https://www.immobiliare.it/annunci/109274987/

I saw the pics and was like "how much???" , but then I noticed it stated 150m2, and then I realised it's the middle of the three buildings that is up for sale rather than all of them.

I had the same reaction... but still want it badly!

[Mito Man]

370,000 Euros (erm, my Mac keyboard doesn't have a Euro symbol?!) in the middle of nowhere for an awfully decorated 150m terraced house doesn't strike me as particularly good value.

[mik]

my Mac keyboard doesn't have a Euro symbol?!)

For which Eu370k would be the normal alternative.

[dinny_g]

Big Euromillions tonight again. This is floating my boat at the moment...

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/ ... el=RES_BUY

The upstairs and downstairs offices are excessive so this would be converted into a One Bed flat with separate access for my son but it's very nice.

[Gavster]

@mik & @Ascender yep same it took a while to work out what was actually being sold!

370,000 Euros (erm, my Mac keyboard doesn't have a Euro symbol?!) in the middle of nowhere for an awfully decorated 150m terraced house doesn't strike me as particularly good value.

1. Pressing Option + 2 will give you € symbol

2. Easy up on the 'middle of nowhere' slander, farmboy it's actually quite well positioned with decent towns to the east and west that have everything you could need.

3. It's Italian style

This area represents brilliant value right now. It's full of amazing countryside, incredible food and history, and as the NYT recently said it's still 'undsicovered'. Which basically means there's no Americans here, no-one speaks Englsh unless they're a tour guide and the locals aren't bored of tourists yet.

In comparison, a property on the coast that's actually on the seafront and more private is up towards the €1m mark. Still cheap compared to an hour north on the Amalfi coast.

https://www.immobiliare.it/en/annunci/1 ... yPoint=map