Retiring and moving to Italy at a certain age isn’t an easy job, particularly if one has to first get rid of a burdensome mortgage.
But Tim Wood, a 72-year-old British retiree who used to work as an interior designer, in 2016 managed to sell his house in Brighton, pay off the remaining part of his mortgage and move to southern Italy.
But instead of buying a cheap dwelling as most expats do, he settled for an extremely low rent.
“I was just so scared of buying another home, even if it might have been mortgage-free and extremely cheap. I wanted to live without any financial weight on my shoulders. I now pay just €150 per month to rent a 4-bedroom rural cottage in Abruzzo”, Wood tells The Local.
'Abruzzo popped up after I researched cost of living throughout Italy'
Renting was also a much easier option than buying, because he wanted to avoid the paper work, the bureaucracy and procedures involved in purchasing and eventually having to restyle a house.
After selling his UK house, Wood moved to the countryside near the coastal town of Vasto, on the Adriatic sea.
“I did some online search on which were the cheapest regions to live in Italy, reading articles about national statistics on cost of living and life quality, and Abruzzo popped up”, says Wood.
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Wood, who after losing his wife in 2015 decided to change life, said relying on advice from distant relatives of his who had already moved to the region a few years earlier proved crucial.
“They suggested I picked a place near the sea, for great summer dips, but at the same time far from the touristy areas and relatively quiet. That’s why I chose Vasto’s pristine rural surroundings," he says.
'Get a feel for the place before you move'
Being close to trains that cross Italy and even connect to Europe is vital if one has forsaken driving a car like he has, he says.
Wood advises anyone eager to follow on his steps to never rent or buy property if they haven't seen it first hand, not just online.
Get advice from friends or other people who have made similar moves, he adds.
“Prior to making the big leap I decided to take a two-week holiday in Vasto and tour the surrounding areas of Abruzzo. It’s important to get a feel of the place not as a tourist but as a local, meeting people, hanging out at the bar till nightfall, getting a haircut at the barber’s and listening to the gossip at the butcher’s shop, even if you hardly speak Italian," he says.
The warm weather year-round in Vasto was also a major perk, as in some mountain spots in Abruzzo it can be as cold as in England in winter, he says.
Wood lives off a small pension, plus the remaining revenues from the sale of his UK home. He says he spends around €150 a month for food and locally-sourced fresh produce.
He’s so glad to be finally living the idyll after what he called a "nightmare" in the UK.
'Make sure you're not a victim of a scam'
Almost 24 years ago Wood purchased a two-bedroom apartment in Brighton for £400,000, with a downpayment of £250,000, and had been paying a £500 monthly mortgage since then.
“It was a nightmare. When I retired I realised I no longer wanted to live to pay a mortgage so I decided to move to Italy before post-Brexit new travel rules kicked in.”
Wood put his home on sale and managed to get £550,000. He now lives on a UK yearly pension of £8,000, which he says is more than he will ever need in Vasto.
He was granted Italian residency in 2017, when the UK was still part of the European Union and Brits did not face the hurdles of today in traveling and relocating to Europe.
One key tip he shares is to do a lot of prep research. Prior to relocating, he surfed the web to get an idea of what rentals were like in the area and also wanted to make sure he was not going to be a scam victim.
So during his vacation there, he selected 10 properties, and booked a one-day tour with four local agencies to see them all before he picked the cottage.
“Online photos don’t work, one needs to see the building and when I stepped into that farmhouse, I felt a special vibe”, says Wood.
He also recommends meeting the local owners if possible, and starting with them a friendly relationship from the beginning in case there are bumps along the road, like the sewage system breaks down or a tree collapses on the front porch.
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The cottage was fully furbished, distant only two kilometres from Vasto’s historic quarter. And the icing on the cake was that it came with a 2-acre patch of land, olive trees and vineyard.
“Locals have been making a premium extra-virgin olive oil here for centuries and I just found these trees in my garden. I now have farmers teaching me how to collect the olives and take them to the press.”
Cost of living and high quality of life are plus points.
Family-run taverns in the countryside are very cheap and he can afford to eat out almost every night being alone. A meal is just €15, including a glass of wine.
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