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Well, we finally made up our mind on what house we wanted to go for. Jenny found this particular house with views of Ostuni and Ceglie. The signing of the house was very official. Both the sellers and us sat in a room facing each other, us not knowing Italian and they not knowing English. We sat across from one another not knowing what to say, I mean there is only so much nodding and smiling you can do. In Italy, when you are buying a property it goes on front of a Notary to sign. This took about three hours of waiting. The contract had to be read in both Italian and English. Don't make the same mistake we did and make sure you have the following with you.

At the end of August 2023 we travelled back to Italy, hoping to find a house we could call our own. Jenny lined up many properties that fit our criteria. We liked them all, but you only need one house! We had two in the running, Both in Ostuni, one needing a lot of renovation but has huge potential, and the other just needs a pool, a very small extension for an en suite bathroom and steps up to the roof. Please watch the video below for more details. We have made an offer on the second property, and my sister Debbie put an offer on the first house. Very exciting but absolutely on the tip of a needle as to whether the money will come in on time for our house here in Ireland on time, it is due to come in any day now. If the offer we made on the house is accepted we have seven days to pay the deposit.  

Buying a house in Italy first came into our heads last year when my Sister Debbie asked us to have a look at a property she was looking into in Italy. We had a look, and the seed was planted. A seed that hasn't stopped growing since. Like a lot of people we were attracted to the €1 Homes deal, which quickly lost our interest as there are so many rules that come along with that One Euro. I am sure it works out for a lot of people though, but not something we were interested in.

Selling our house in Kildare was not an easy decision to make. We  truly love this house (Irish Cottage) and the area we live in. We have lived in this house for 20 years through good times and bad. Finding a buyer that loved the house as much as we do was going to be a tough job. We painted, scrubbed and pruned the property within an inch of its life.

We are David and John AKA the Puglia Paddy's, and welcome to our first blog. To tell you a little bit about ourselves, we met in 2003 on a blind date (although Dave brought three friends for backup and judgement). We currently live in Co Kildare in Ireland with our three dogs.