ITALY: Tour of our New Place in Scalea #68

[@camcorp]

simply beautiful

[@OurUnspoiledItaly]

Thank you!

[@mariedupuis7802]

Very cosy appartement with a lot of very practical cupboards, the balcony is huge and it is good to take breakfast in the open air in summer. It is what I dream for my husband and I when I will be in retirement, to have or a very little garden or a balcony to be outside the more as possible...À big hello from France

[@OurUnspoiledItaly]

thanks so much. The balcony was the biggest thing to made us decide to buy. we always eat out there whenever the weather is good, which is most of the time.

[@RStellaMeola]

Lovely apartment nice kitchen, large bathroom, great view and location. Did you have to do anything to it? Or was it move in ready? Congratulations on your new place.

[@OurUnspoiledItaly]

Thank you. Part of the purchase deal was the sellers added the second bedroom, it was a really large living/dining room, but we needed a second bedroom. It was fully furnished, we just cleared out a lot of stuff we didn't want and added a couple of our own touches, but moved right in.

[@beyond.mj18]

Надеюсь на хороший год, полный энергии

[@OurUnspoiledItaly]

Thank you and same for you.

[@kaj631]

Nice apartment!!

[@OurUnspoiledItaly]

Thank you!! Vince & Irina

[@joyce2077]

TY🎉

[@OurUnspoiledItaly]

thanks for watching

[@andreiabovezfold7247]

Hi! I am going to visit Scalea end of the week, we're sort of planning to get a closer look. I am concerned about medical services in that area, any good options available that you could recommend? Thanks!

[@OurUnspoiledItaly]

Medical Services in Scalea are nowhere near what you'd expect in the US. You need to know some things in advance and plan on having to do those in Italian. Google translate could be a lifesaver. We have a video about my recent adventure with the health care system. LInk below. Learn the emergency numbers, in video as it is the quickest way to get help and they make sure you get to the right hospital. There is a clinic, "the Red Door", it has very limited hours, but they're very helpful. Here's my adventure, kzbin.info/www/bejne/aofGi5WVmNZ2oZI

[@vincent4810]

Nice apartment. How many sq meters is the interior? It's a beautiful view from the terrace but looks high up. Does your building have a lift?

[@OurUnspoiledItaly]

The apartment is 85 sq m. Fourth floor. No lift. Those are rare but we like fourth because they usually have a good view.

[@elizabethmowjee2402]

Did I miss the price/budget? I wasn’t sure. How many places did you look at before you found this one?

[@OurUnspoiledItaly]

This was an interesting case. We bought an apartment 5 years ago. We were happy with it and had no real plans to move from there. We had a slightly larger budget for a second place but weren't sure what the purpose was. A second renal? a place for our daughter? We always hoped we'd find something really special, but didn't think that would necesarily happen. So every visit we find 2-4 apartments to look at, more for fun. Last September we made appointment to see two apartments. The first we didn't like, the second canceled at the last minute. Our agent, said, since we have time would you like to see a place that is out of your budget, but you might like to see.We agreed and he showed us this place. It was out of our budget by a bit, but we fell in love with everything about it. It was one of those places that is usually kept for locals, not usually shown to foreigners, but we had become friends with our agent and we were becoming like family. The women selling it had listed it at the start of the pandemic. Over two years they lowered the price twice to what they offered it to us for. I really don't want to say what we paid, but it was originally listed for 95,000 euros and we paid much less. It was worth buying our first apartment and spending some time becoming integrated into the community.

[@ginadesmeules1436]

Good morning from Canada 🥰I love your apartment. Is there others for sale in your area like this? I will be there in October and would love to find something like this. What’s the price like ?

[@OurUnspoiledItaly]

Hello Gina! Thank you very much for your message! This our new appartamenti is actually unique for Scalea. The price is about 100.000 for this kind of places. There are only a couple of buildings like that. Most apartments are similar to our old one. For those the prices are much cheaper. But a little bit away from the center some good places with the view sometimes come out on the market. You just have to look and be lucky. 🙂

[@lifeisgoodjg]

Just discovered your Vlog. Lovely apartment. Thank you so much for sharing. I gathered it is your second apartment in Scalea. Why did you decide to move? I am very interested as I am planning to scout property in Italy soon. One topic I would be interested to learn more about is running costs of an apartment. Is it better to rent or buy?

[@OurUnspoiledItaly]

thanks for watching! Our original goal was to buy an apartment in Italy, that was affordable, would generate enough summer rental income to pay for itself and give us a home base in Italy for our visits. We achie ved those goals right away. After spending our first long visit we fell in love with Scalea and knew we wanted to spend as much time there as possible. We decided to buy a second place, but had no real timeline, so every visit we'd look at places. Last September our realtor offhandedly showed us this place and here we are! We still love our original apartment and this year it generated more rental than ever, so we're torn, its on the market, but we in no hurry to sell.

[@OurUnspoiledItaly]

Decided to do this in two parts. I really can't speak about Italy in general, only C Calabria and specifically Scalea. Overhead on an apartment is low compared to anything in the US. You have, taxes, condo fee, water, garbage, electricity and property manager fees (to pay the bills and handle rentals). Total for that is under 2000 euros per year. You will have repairs and replacement, but those are super affordable if you do it right. Doing it right means learning one of the local languages, here that's Italian or Russian. All the best and most affordable people to work on you place are Eastern European, but they speak Italian too. That's how you pay locals rates. I'm sure you still have questions, feel free to ask, that's what this site is for. We do it because we love to share the joy of living in Italy. If you haven't seen it we have a facebook page too. Ciao and have fun with you search.

[@lifeisgoodjg]

@@OurUnspoiledItaly Thank you so much for all the information. You are extremely kind. I am nervous about making the leap and buying in Italy but I hear so many good things about Scalea. And the property prices are incredible compared to England where I live. My plan would be to spend maybe 4 months a year in Scalea, spring and autumn, but rent the apartment in the summer. I am very excited about visiting. I was also wondering about San Nicole Arcella? It looks lovely too but maybe businesses shut in winter? Sorry! More questions! I promise not to ask anymore.

[@OurUnspoiledItaly]

@@lifeisgoodjg Questions are good. The more you know will help you make an informed decision. It helps us too in articulating our feelings about the town. Your plan is sound. Too many people buying here without really getting to know what they're getting into. Our plan as I said was first and foremost buy something we could rent in the summer. We have been here in all seasons and we'll leave the summer to the Italians. The best thing we did was make a list of our priorities for a place and stick to it. I saw a lot of places on the hills with beautiful views, but that was the only box it ticked, so passed. Our list: two bedrooms, lots of light with some kind of view, we got mountains, close to the food shopping, close to the center, close to the train station, reasonalbly close to the sea. we do not want to need a car. We found it all. The new apartment we gained some and lost some, but now that we know how to navigate around we're fine.

[@lifeisgoodjg]

@@OurUnspoiledItaly Thanks so much yet again. Our requirements are exactly aligned with yours. A 2-bed near the sea and supermarkets so no car is required. If I spot you in Scalea I will say hello. Hoping to scout some properties in September. 👍😁

[@DonatellaBardu]

Bella casa ma è la sua non ho capito!!

[@OurUnspoiledItaly]

Grazie! È la nostra casa a Scalea. A noi piace tanto vivere in centro e vicinissimo alla spiaggia. È molto conveniente.

[@DonatellaBardu]

Bravi condivido la vostra idea di casa al mare è anche un ottimo investimento. Un saluto da Viterbo 😘

[@ettjuridisktombudfordenens357]

Love scalea, though toooo many Russian speaking here, it irritates A lot

[@househuntersitaly]

So a lot of Russians . I hate that why are they allowed to purchase there 🤬

[@ettjuridisktombudfordenens357]

@@househuntersitaly ja

[@UGPepe]

@@househuntersitaly why should you be allowed and not them?

[@teresaswiderska4071]

Jestem z Polski u nas dużo Ukraincow I też nas irytują delikatnie mówiąc. Mają socjal i kupują mieszkania.Pozdrawiam.

[@curtisblake6423]

ρгό𝔪σŞｍ

[@OurUnspoiledItaly]

Ciao