What's the best place to buy in Piemonte (Piedmont)?
Buying a home abroad is certainly an adventurous undertaking. Many dream of doing it, relatively few actually do. The biggest decision has to be where to buy?
Italy is a great option - great food, weather, scenery and friendly people. Then Piemonte (or Piedmont in English) is a great choice. The scenery is spectacular, it produces some of the best wines in the world and houses prices are now really sensible. They always were but immediately after the crisis local people just weren't convinced they should lower their prices. I remember a couple trying to sell their villa in the Langhe telling us that the crisis was all media hype. The fact that billions had been wiped out over night was not relevant. They actually put the price of their house up! Three years later they're still trying to sell it seems.
The real crisis was probably a little slower getting here compared to the USA and UK. For this reason I took the decision to take a break until things settled down. And now is the right time to buy. We're finding incredible properties and in most areas sellers are very realistic about the financial problems that most people are facing.
So, Italy, Piemonte. But where in Piemonte? There are three main areas: the Lakes (Maggiore and Orta), the Langhe and the Monferrato.
The main choices are the Langhe and Monferrato. (There's another smaller area called the Roero. It's very beautiful but really difficult to find decent houses in. They build mostly 'villa schiera', houses in a line, and in our experience most people don't want these type of properties. Foreigners do sometimes buy them so we do look out for good ones).
So, we're down to the Monferrato and Langhe.
The Langhe - the Langhe cover a huge area, from Alba down to the border with Liguria. It's a real mixed area. Northern areas are mostly vineyards, the rest a mix of agriculture and hazelnut orchards. Choose very carefully and make sure you get good, honest advice!
The Monferrato - the same as above really. It ranges from incredible to not-so-good in some areas. Around Asti can be very desirable - beautiful scenery and a really convenient place to live. Don't overlook it. I much prefer it to the Langhe. The scenery is still amazing but very accessible and prices are much lower.
Before you buy, get the right advice. If you're working with us you'll get this. We are VERY choosy about where we look for houses. Our aim is to help you find a property on the first or second visit, not the tenth. Why should you waste all that time? We listen to what you tell us and find a property to suit your needs.
All you have to do is tell us what you're looking for and we'll find it!
