# Relocating to Puglia



## lmckde

We are planning to sell one of our properties in London and with that finance our relocation to Puglia (possibly around Ostuni area).
We are looking to buy a property that needs some work done to it and above all that has at least 5000 sqm of land, where we can grow our own vegetables/fruit and hopefully have some olive trees to press our own olive oil.
We are planning to have some extra accommodation so we can rent it out and generate some sort of income.
Could anyone let me know what are the basic costs of living in Puglia?
Council tax/water/electricity, etc.

Any other information will be welcomed.


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## Stanlaw

Hi, I'm an english speaking lawyer based in Ostuni. If you need any info or advice on Ostuni area and Puglia costs of living I would be glad to help you.


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## GeordieBorn

I’m not too sure how many of these I’ve read, including our own over and over again before posting it. It is almost exactly our original idea to do, apart from the renting, which we ditched almost immediately after finding so many counterproductive posts. BUT before I put you off, none of it stopped us going ahead and we have absolutely no regrets, even with almost everything, apart from the veg, being different. 
I’ll leave it to others to jump in regards “doing a place up”. 
You can press your own olives, but we know of no one here that does, they all take their olive to the mill (frantoio), its hard work from start to finish, but well worth it in our opinion, then again we have no olives, we simply help others. The oil we have as a result (circa 30l at the moment) is superb and we have never had such as it ever in the UK. 
We have around 1ha of land, wanted 2ha to start with and oh boy do we wish we only had 5000sqm! Okay a lot of ours is a bit hilly and that makes it much more difficult to deal with. But we’ve dug out two veg plots roughly totalling 40sqm and have other fruit areas. These take us almost all of our time from April to say around September when the work is more harvesting. There is so much to say on this I could not really do it justice. So importantly; you need water, not as daft as it sounds, particularly that far south. You will need equipment rotorvator , strimmer and possibly a chainsaw and these all will need to be maintained. If you intend to leave the place to visit the UK, then you will need someone to water or have a watering system in place. All of these things are different problems to what they would have been in the UK….
Enough of the detail, I would suggest you read as many old posts about the things you want to do, things you come across when reading them and get a cheap book on buying and living in Italy. Then put these in order of your perceived importance and do so searches to get as much information as possible on them. Anything, or as an alternative, post them on here asking the questions.
We found it all a wonderful experience and can’t thank enough people of this and other forums that spent their time giving us the answers we asked for. However we still ended up doing a lot of things wrongly because we either did not want to listen to what people were trying to tell us OR simply because there was no way they could get over to us what was involved.
We took 2 years to buy here and first off rented for 6-7 months. Just wish we had actually rented longer, but were too enthusiastic to get buying…. A wonderful time ahead for you, wish you the best of luck in getting there…


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## Claudine M.

This is a wonderful idea, its not that expensive in Puglia, you need really no heating in winter and no air conditioning insummer with a little wise thinking about getting some drafts during the nght from keeping windows and doors open for free air flow. We thought the Puglians were extremely helpful, friendly, and honest! Veg at the markets dirt cheap, fruit falls off the trees in mandarin oranges and the fresh caught fish is a song for what you pay in France or even Portugal. If we were younger its what we would have done. The costs and work to repair, renovate houses is not that expensive considering that you really have something, stone structure and tile work everywhere, when you are finished, something to hand on to your children! Workers are looking for honest work and very willing to do the jobs for you, happy to have the steady income foreigners bring to them. Plus that a whole new language and a nice laid back happy culture surrounding you. All the best for you and your place in sunny south Puglia. We lived near Lecce and traveled extensivey in the Sale area. Ostuni is very beautiful, nice choice!


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## ilario

Hi lmckde,

I'm ilario, I'm italian and I live in Puglia. If you need help, you can contact me and I can suggest you some information to rent or buy an house in that area.

Let me show you other areas, for example Lecce, Otranto, Alberobello, Ostuni, Monopoli, Bari, Trani, Corato etc....

Bye


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## AnnamariaT

Hi everyone,
I'm Annamaria, a local guide in Puglia. I've helped several people coming from Uk as well as USA who want to relocate in Puglia.

I know very well your culture as I lived in London for 2 years and I've worked with English people for 8 years.

Of course I know very well my land, so I can help you with any questions, curiosities, dubts and so on and so forth, as well as with all your needs such us engineerings for structural works, gardners, cleaners, lawyers, to help you with all procedures for your relocation. The good point is that lots of them are English speakers and they are English people oriented.

Then, for any help you might have....Here I am!


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## lmckde

Thanks so much everyone for your friendly responses!
We are still in our 30's so we are looking to still generate some income when we are there, I have Italian passport and speak Italian (both of my parents are Italian) but my partner is English and doesn't speak any Italian (yet).
What would you consider money wise enough we need per month to live there?
We are looking to have solar panels and our own water well to keep bills to the minimum.
What books do you recommend I should read about relocating to Italy?
In terms of renovation costs per square metre, what would be the minimum we need to pay?
We are planning our visit in April as soon as we can both get some time off work!
Thank you all again in advance!


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## GeordieBorn

Well, I reckon half your potential problems go out the window; language, culture adjustment, residency and healthcare. Okay, second guessing you don’t have a great experience of living in Italy? You will still have the benefit of being brought up “Italian”, hence the culture advantage (although I’m sure there will be one or two surprises) and that will stand you in very good stead in settling much quicker.
As to the cost of living there, I think people would really have to know how you are prepared to live! Again second guessing, from what you have said already you are prepared to live what I would see as a bit native (to me this is in a positive sense)? That being the case I would suggest you can in general live a lot cheaper here than in the UK. We spend a great deal of time still in the UK (months) and I would reckon our cost of living is at least 30% less in Italy. That said, it really does depend on your life style and a big “but” is that we are retired and have no financial worries based on our life style! I would not like to have to be earning money here and that could counter many savings as the cost of working is high e.g. tax at 23% … 
Search “Cost of living in Italy” and you will get many a result, some of the first I looked at give amounts per month.
Regards renovation costs, I’m sure you will know they vary from area to area. From what I recall there is some kind of price guide produced on a regional basis, something like “Prezzi Informative Edili”. It might be useful as an indicative guide, but I would be searching in both English and Italian for “building cost guide Puglia” (perhaps “per square meter” as well) to try to establish true costs.
As for books on the subject, try a search on “buying in Italy” there are loads of them and most cover all aspects of living there and in the scheme of things are cheap!


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## lmckde

GeordieBorn said:


> Well, I reckon half your potential problems go out the window; language, culture adjustment, residency and healthcare. Okay, second guessing you don’t have a great experience of living in Italy? You will still have the benefit of being brought up “Italian”, hence the culture advantage (although I’m sure there will be one or two surprises) and that will stand you in very good stead in settling much quicker.
> As to the cost of living there, I think people would really have to know how you are prepared to live! Again second guessing, from what you have said already you are prepared to live what I would see as a bit native (to me this is in a positive sense)? That being the case I would suggest you can in general live a lot cheaper here than in the UK. We spend a great deal of time still in the UK (months) and I would reckon our cost of living is at least 30% less in Italy. That said, it really does depend on your life style and a big “but” is that we are retired and have no financial worries based on our life style! I would not like to have to be earning money here and that could counter many savings as the cost of working is high e.g. tax at 23% …
> Search “Cost of living in Italy” and you will get many a result, some of the first I looked at give amounts per month.
> Regards renovation costs, I’m sure you will know they vary from area to area. From what I recall there is some kind of price guide produced on a regional basis, something like “Prezzi Informative Edili”. It might be useful as an indicative guide, but I would be searching in both English and Italian for “building cost guide Puglia” (perhaps “per square meter” as well) to try to establish true costs.
> As for books on the subject, try a search on “buying in Italy” there are loads of them and most cover all aspects of living there and in the scheme of things are cheap!


So you mean by having Italian nationality I am entitled to have residency in Italy without doing any paperwork?
Also you mentioned healthcare, so I would be entitled to free healthcare but not my partner? I thought all EU nationals would be entitled to free Italian healthcare (as they are in UK or Spain).


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## KenzoXIV

lmckde said:


> So you mean by having Italian nationality I am entitled to have residency in Italy without doing any paperwork?
> Also you mentioned healthcare, so I would be entitled to free healthcare but not my partner? I thought all EU nationals would be entitled to free Italian healthcare (as they are in UK or Spain).



Yes, No and maybe  Your residency wont be a problem. You will need to do your carta d'identita but that is true of everyone. If I have read correctly you have never contributed to the Italian system so to speak so you will not be entitled to 'free' healthcare I do not believe. Certainly my wife is not and she is Italian or we are doing something wrong....

Life saving emergency care will always be free to EU nationals. I always think of it as a traffic light system Red emergency care is free (heart attack etc),Yellow if you break an arm you may not pay upfront but you will pay something towards the cast or xrays etc. Green (stomach feeling a little sick) you pay for your medicine..

An example of yellow is I had a chest infection which the doctor wanted an x-ray for. I accidently wound up in a private clinic and paid €50 but I would of had to pay the ticket at a hospital anyway which I was told would of been around €35.

You say partner... Married? This will save you a lot of hurdles if you are. If you are not married they will have the right to reside providing they meet Italys criteria.. 6-8k income or assets a year and private health insurance. If they cant prove those residency may be an issue. I married an Italian so I got a my residency very easily. 

Hope that helps.

Kenzo


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## lmckde

KenzoXIV said:


> Yes, No and maybe  Your residency wont be a problem. You will need to do your carta d'identita but that is true of everyone. If I have read correctly you have never contributed to the Italian system so to speak so you will not be entitled to 'free' healthcare I do not believe. Certainly my wife is not and she is Italian or we are doing something wrong....
> 
> Life saving emergency care will always be free to EU nationals. I always think of it as a traffic light system Red emergency care is free (heart attack etc),Yellow if you break an arm you may not pay upfront but you will pay something towards the cast or xrays etc. Green (stomach feeling a little sick) you pay for your medicine..
> 
> An example of yellow is I had a chest infection which the doctor wanted an x-ray for. I accidently wound up in a private clinic and paid €50 but I would of had to pay the ticket at a hospital anyway which I was told would of been around €35.
> 
> You say partner... Married? This will save you a lot of hurdles if you are. If you are not married they will have the right to reside providing they meet Italys criteria.. 6-8k income or assets a year and private health insurance. If they cant prove those residency may be an issue. I married an Italian so I got a my residency very easily.
> 
> Hope that helps.
> 
> Kenzo


Hi Kenzo, thanks for your response, we are not married, but we have been living together for 12 years.
I have Italian DNI, but it expired in 2013, and because I used it for travelling around Europe, when entering back in the UK they used to question me and asked me to use my passport (as the DNI has the photo which is not digital, etc), so then I haven't renewed it but I'm sure that should be easily sorted out?
I have never lived in Italy and never contributed in the Italian system, so by becoming Italian resident I would not be entitled to free care?


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## GeordieBorn

I read that the Italian health system is resident based (as is the UK), but I think it matters little as you will likely find that one comes with the other i.e residency and health care. As I've said before it is often down to the view of the comune (often wrongly) regards residency and from what I've seen it's the same with the ASL for the health care card. I don't know the detail regards your partner, but certainly if married they would be covered as your dependant. It may well be they are covered as an adult dependant of yours. I would suggest it is possible to find out what the position is in the exact area you are looking at when you visit. The comune would be my first port of call, even if just to show your face! If it's the comune your parents came from I suspect you will get a lot of help.


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## lmckde

GeordieBorn said:


> I read that the Italian health system is resident based (as is the UK), but I think it matters little as you will likely find that one comes with the other i.e residency and health care. As I've said before it is often down to the view of the comune (often wrongly) regards residency and from what I've seen it's the same with the ASL for the health care card. I don't know the detail regards your partner, but certainly if married they would be covered as your dependant. It may well be they are covered as an adult dependant of yours. I would suggest it is possible to find out what the position is in the exact area you are looking at when you visit. The comune would be my first port of call, even if just to show your face! If it's the comune your parents came from I suspect you will get a lot of help.


My dad is from Careri in Reggio Di Calabria and my mum is from St d'Angelo dei Lombardi, Avellino, Campania, so nothing to do with Puglia I am afraid, but when we make the move I will certainly pay them a visit for sure.


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## KenzoXIV

lmckde said:


> Hi Kenzo, thanks for your response, we are not married, but we have been living together for 12 years.
> I have Italian DNI, but it expired in 2013, and because I used it for travelling around Europe, when entering back in the UK they used to question me and asked me to use my passport (as the DNI has the photo which is not digital, etc), so then I haven't renewed it but I'm sure that should be easily sorted out?
> I have never lived in Italy and never contributed in the Italian system, so by becoming Italian resident I would not be entitled to free care?


Yeah I had the same problem with my wife a few years back, the poor guy at stansted looked a bit sheepish when I came behind with my british passport and told him to let her through before he lost his job...

Maybe you could skip a few hurdles by coming over yourself first and becoming resident and then they come over afterwards. Comunes (from my experience) do not like doing two things at once especially when the situations differ i.e. you being Italian but your partner not.

Purely from a legalities point of view getting married is a winner. My advice would also be to do it in Italy just to save yourself some translation fees and also because if you get married in Puglia the comune will find processing your applications much easier... like I said purely from a legalities side rather than emotional... Although I do find I advise people to get married alot on this forum haha:rofl: Also we cant forget with brexit around the corner who knows what rights your partner will have afterwards? (Thank you Boris!)

Kenzo


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## lmckde

I have another question.
If we buy a left hand side drive car in the UK and we bring it to Italy, then once insurance ends on it, how easy is it to insure it in Italy and what sort of paperwork is needed to have the vehicle insured?
Sorry for so many questions but I am sure I will have many more


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## ilario

Hello lmckde,

I'm a chartered building engineer and I'm specialised in refurbishment houses then I can say you that you can spend from 400 to 800 euro per meter square. When you will start the refurbishment ask to your engineer the computo metrico. Computo metrico is a list of all work including taxes and architect and engineer costs.


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## GeordieBorn

lmckde said:


> I have another question.
> If we buy a left hand side drive car in the UK and we bring it to Italy, then once insurance ends on it, how easy is it to insure it in Italy and what sort of paperwork is needed to have the vehicle insured?
> Sorry for so many questions but I am sure I will have many more


We have recently met an Italian guy via an English acquaintance and he has an English car (lived in England with English wife), but not too sure how long he has had it here for or how he manages re insurance. However I’m sure after some time you are legally obliged to have it registered here in Italy. There is a cost and I doubt it’s particularly cheap. Additionally, you would probably need to ensure your UK insurance covered you whilst living here… This is an ACI link for importing a car, which I assume will cover registration. I suspect a full years tax might be due immediately as well if you register it here.


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## AnnamariaT

lmckde said:


> Thanks so much everyone for your friendly responses!
> We are still in our 30's so we are looking to still generate some income when we are there, I have Italian passport and speak Italian (both of my parents are Italian) but my partner is English and doesn't speak any Italian (yet).
> What would you consider money wise enough we need per month to live there?
> We are looking to have solar panels and our own water well to keep bills to the minimum.
> What books do you recommend I should read about relocating to Italy?
> In terms of renovation costs per square metre, what would be the minimum we need to pay?
> We are planning our visit in April as soon as we can both get some time off work!
> Thank you all again in advance!


Hello again,

me and my boyfriend are in our 30's too. We had the same questions and dubts when we tried to relocate in London, but we have prefered to come back in our wonderful Puglia. 

I have read that you are going to come in Puglia in April, please contact me so we can meet each other and give you all the info you need. I am also a tour guide, so I can help you to go around and a friend of mine, who is English, already relocated here for several years, can give you good suggestions about it.

I will be more then happy to help you and meet you for an Italian coffee ;-)

Annamaria


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## lmckde

AnnamariaT said:


> Hello again,
> 
> me and my boyfriend are in our 30's too. We had the same questions and dubts when we tried to relocate in London, but we have prefered to come back in our wonderful Puglia.
> 
> I have read that you are going to come in Puglia in April, please contact me so we can meet each other and give you all the info you need. I am also a tour guide, so I can help you to go around and a friend of mine, who is English, already relocated here for several years, can give you good suggestions about it.
> 
> I will be more then happy to help you and meet you for an Italian coffee ;-)
> 
> Annamaria


Dear Annamaria, 
Many thanks for your invitation, it will be lovely to meet you for Italian coffee! I will PM you my details and I will keep you posted when we are in Puglia.


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## AnnamariaT

lmckde said:


> Dear Annamaria,
> Many thanks for your invitation, it will be lovely to meet you for Italian coffee! I will PM you my details and I will keep you posted when we are in Puglia.


It's great! 

I look forward to hearing from you.

A presto!

Annamaria


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## lmckde

AnnamariaT said:


> It's great!
> 
> I look forward to hearing from you.
> 
> A presto!
> 
> Annamaria


Ciao Annamaria,

I have just tried to PM you but it says you cannot receive any private messages, please PM me if you can so I can respond. Thanks again!


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## AnnamariaT

lmckde said:


> Ciao Annamaria,
> 
> I have just tried to PM you but it says you cannot receive any private messages, please PM me if you can so I can respond. Thanks again!


I think that this is why we are new members and we need to have almost 5 psts written, so they can enable us to PM.

Let me try again


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## jeniel07

Claudine M. said:


> This is a wonderful idea, its not that expensive in Puglia, you need really no heating in winter and no air conditioning insummer with a little wise thinking about getting some drafts during the nght from keeping windows and doors open for free air flow. We thought the Puglians were extremely helpful, friendly, and honest! Veg at the markets dirt cheap, fruit falls off the trees in mandarin oranges and the fresh caught fish is a song for what you pay in France or even Portugal. If we were younger its what we would have done. The costs and work to repair, renovate houses is not that expensive considering that you really have something, stone structure and tile work everywhere, when you are finished, something to hand on to your children! Workers are looking for honest work and very willing to do the jobs for you, happy to have the steady income foreigners bring to them. Plus that a whole new language and a nice laid back happy culture surrounding you. All the best for you and your place in sunny south Puglia. We lived near Lecce and traveled extensivey in the Sale area. Ostuni is very beautiful, nice choice!


Could you tell me a thing or two about purchasing land in Puglia area? It sounds like I am looking for what a lot of other foreigners are looking for. Inexpensive land, small home, olive/fruit orchards, and simple living. 
Reading about this endeavor I am advised to take great caution in buying a home in the country-side. Do you know any quality people that could help me look for real estate that are trust-worthy and fair?


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## 1782256

lmckde said:


> We are planning to sell one of our properties in London and with that finance our relocation to Puglia (possibly around Ostuni area).
> We are looking to buy a property that needs some work done to it and above all that has at least 5000 sqm of land, where we can grow our own vegetables/fruit and hopefully have some olive trees to press our own olive oil.
> We are planning to have some extra accommodation so we can rent it out and generate some sort of income.
> Could anyone let me know what are the basic costs of living in Puglia?
> Council tax/water/electricity, etc.
> 
> Any other information will be welcomed.


Hi! You REALLY need to check in the rules of fixing up a place in Puglia... if it's Historical, you will need specifically trained Carpenders, or the City will stop you... I don't know if you are aware of it, but Puglia is crawling with Italian MAFIA... NOT a great thing I hear... Make sure you have a decent water supply...an ARID climate... Check out the places Sewer System...Most are ANCIENT and worn out, and expensive to redo... Make sure there is a decent Hospital, and get a Health Plan.... Check out TAXES, Italy needs money....

We are in Nova Scotia, another mserable place to live... Hidden Property Taxes, Gov. LIES, NO Health Care System... They sayit's "free"...Of course, it is... It isn't there to begin with, haha.... 
We are selling our place, and leaving here A.S.A.P..... moving to Italy...but the Tuscan region... We want EXACTLY what that place has, haha! Thanks.


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## GeordieBorn

Sounds a bit angry...


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## 1782256

GeordieBorn said:


> Sounds a bit angry...


Sorry if you feel that way...... But... I'm a PRACTICAL person... I grew up in a Home where Lying was detrimental to your health... I have been researching areas to live for 3 years now... Canada is on it's "last swirl" down the toilet flush, thanks to Turdo........ So, to make our Money go further, Everybody mentioned "Mexico"... I was excited! Then the reality set in...RIGHT... Taken over by the Cartels... It isn't safe to shop the streets... My 30ish Mexican friend told me the last time he was there, he felt like he was being watched by locals where-ever he went... he felt unsafe after awhile, and hurried back to his Hotel...DESPERATION creates CRIME... The Mexican Gov. has stationed the NAVY at it's tourist entry ports to protect the Tourists from kidnapping or worse... And the ONLY way I found that out was to subscribe to their "The Big Enchilada" Newspaper for a "real peak" at the reality of Mexico, because ALL the brochures paint a sweet and allureing picture of Tranquility...hahaha... They don't show the Cartel with Machine Guns on the highways, bushwacking the Tourists..... SO, after wiping the "laughter tears" out of my eyes, I started looking towards Europe... [after "C" and after Putin is done with it]...
Once again, I came across a LOT of "Bull Twaddle"... First Greece... a glorified ROCK... So then Italy... ALL the sites are BEAUTIFUL... Definite"Brain Candy" sites... Designed to entice the elderly people who suck this crap up... The Real Estate sites are the worst... They lie about everything... I almost thought I was in Mexico.... So... I am looking for different Italian Newspapers to read to a good idea of where to live & work. We WILL be moving to Italy, but now, after "the enlightenment" we are much better prepared for the graft and other blatant Money-Grabs out there... 
We will line up a decent Lawyer to do transactions for us, and then have OUR Lawyer double read their paperwork... to keep everybody honest.... Have a nice day!!😁


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## NickZ

There isn't anything unusual in what you're whining about.

Historic places around the world have standards you need to live up to.

Older cheap properties almost always need reno work. Forty years ago the movie Money Pit came out. 

A cheap rundown place in Tuscany will need work just like a cheap rundown place in Puglia.


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## GeordieBorn

... and a lawyer won't help you, apart from reducing your cash!


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## 1782256

GeordieBorn said:


> ... and a lawyer won't help you, apart from reducing your cash!





NickZ said:


> There isn't anything unusual in what you're whining about.
> 
> Historic places around the world have standards you need to live up to.
> 
> Older cheap properties almost always need reno work. Forty years ago the movie Money Pit came out.
> 
> A cheap rundown place in Tuscany will need work just like a cheap rundown place in Puglia.


We are not looking for a run down piece of garbage like most are... And you would be surprised at the Honesty of a lawyer if they know their BILLING is getting a review... To: "GeordieBorn" and good Ol' "NickZ"....You two people must be very old, because you are looking for an argument... NickZ? "Whining" fk U comes to mind... I think this site is as helpful as somebody with a case of clap...


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## GeordieBorn

Oh dear. Ancient actually, therefore tries to be polite and helpful. Lawyers may win your case, but getting anything else out of it, almost everyone knows you won't.


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