For many second home owners in Italy arriving at your home for the new season is always a moment of doubt. Wondering whether your Sky subscription might have failed over the winter months, unsure the internet will be connected still (how else will you deal with work whilst you are away?) and wondering whether your house will be infested with brightly coloured beetles.
At Ultissimo we are not simply property developers – we are a client service business. Buying a house outside your home country requires a degree of bravery. Finding people you trust to guide you through the process of finding and acquiring a home is important. And yet even when all that is accomplished safely and easily, you will find that you want to be sure on arrival that you can immediately enjoy the Italian lifestyle and make the most of your valuable leisure time, not spend the first two days trying in rusty Italian to get the local plumber to come round and get your hot water working! This is where the promise of making ownership a pleasure really assumes importance.
I can speak from first-hand experience. We arrived at our home at Rancale after 17 hours’ drive from Reigate to Umbria late last night. The gate was open for us, the lights turned on at the flick of the switch and the winter chill had been banished by having the heating turned on ahead of our arrival. A pint of fresh milk in the fridge enabled us to have a cup of tea and we only had to turn on the electric blankets, thoughtfully incorporated by the carefully-managed cleaning team, in the freshly made-up beds to banish any remaining chill. When we turned out the lights all we could see was the stars through the window, shining brightly in the unpolluted sky.
A satisfied sigh was my last recollection before waking to the warm sun streaming through the windows from an azure blue sky. THIS is what I bought. And another wonderful year lies ahead.
Paul Belcher
PS – just in case you are wondering, yes my internet was working otherwise I would not be posting this blog from my sunny terrace!