Plan B

[Mich the Tester]

This looks alright to me.

I could pay cash for that.

[Badger]

Looks nice.

I've also been thinking about getting a place in Italy, but I would have to be near the sea.

[Mich the Tester]

It’s fast becoming a realistic option as house prices in Tuscany and Umbria are taking a nosedive as all the Brits leave. If you can stay in work, even at a lower rate, and keep your savings intact, there’ll be some real bargains. I should make it clear that I’ve never seen a house as an investment but as a place to live, but at these prices I’m very tempted. Second homes are likely to reach the kind of prices that people can afford with savings instead of silly whacking great mortgages, and if you speak the language sufficiently and you’ve got some skills that you can sell locally (teaching English, fitness instruction, or of course software) it could be time to move to the sun.

Of course, if you're tied up in the UK with no savings, negative equity and a bunch of kids at private school, this won't really be an option.

I call it my 'f**k the rest of you' plan.

[expat]

This looks alright to me.

I could pay cash for that.

Looks like a place I saw in Panzano in Chianti in the mid-1990s, for just about that price (in pounds of the time). Has it got silly since then and come round again?

[Mich the Tester]

Looks like a place I saw in Panzano in Chianti in the mid-1990s, for just about that price (in pounds of the time). Has it got silly since then and come round again?

The prices went through the roof as merchant winkers and the like all crowded into Tuscany and Umbria. Prices are now divebombing back to levels that the locals can afford with their below European average salaries, their limited savings and their inability to get anything more than a 75% mortgage.

[BrilloPad]

The prices went through the roof as merchant winkers and the like all crowded into Tuscany and Umbria. Prices are now divebombing back to levels that the locals can afford with their below European average salaries, their limited savings and their inability to get anything more than a 75% mortgage.

Where is the nearest airport with direct flights to the UK?

[Mich the Tester]

Where is the nearest airport with direct flights to the UK?

Why on earth would you want to fly to the UK from there? Anyway, Pisa's 120km away.

[expat]

Where is the nearest airport with direct flights to the UK?

Hmmm. For Chianti it was Pisa. Bit of a drive (especially over the strade bianche of those days, probably better now).

May I recommend http://www.flightmapping.com/flight-search.asp and the "Flight Maps" button?

[Mich the Tester]

Hmmm. For Chianti it was Pisa. Bit of a drive (especially over the strade bianche of those days, probably better now).

Yes, but a very enjoyable drive on one of these.

[Moscow Mule]

This looks alright to me.

I could pay cash for that.

So could I, this week.