Newsletter for February

Brief news on the furniture showroom

The furniture showroom has exceeded all expectations, we feel that we can not be beaten on price or style, and to add to the growing expansion of our presence in the area, we are also ready for wholesale and export. With the opening of another warehouse and showroom this month, we are totally geared up for the busy season!

We are still offering our clients and customers a “first class service” same day delivery and now with a choice of 2 starter packs for newcomers . Please look at:

Visit Ora for you new furniture! And don't forget we can also design and build your kitchen for you!

We will be away for staff meetings 19th Feb/ 11th March

But we will still take calls and emails, we find that regular meetings gives us all the opportunity to discuss new projects, and how we can further help “newcomers” settle in (if that's possible) after so many years, I do not feel we can improve any more on perfection.

We have noticed an increase in the amount of new agents coming to the region over the last year, and we have also noticed the mistakes they make as well! At some stage soon we will not be able to continue giving advice and correcting other agents errors, although we will try, but this will be a matter left to our staff to decide on

Please see our check list below for your new acquisition

1. Please make sure your passport is up to date (not less than 3 months remaining)

2. Your driving license is valid and not about to expire!

3. You have opened a bank account in Italy!

4. You have your codice fiscale

With these in check, it should be plain sailing, we would have done our checks on your future property, plans, development, title deeds etc.

Late news

We have a new development of apartments being constructed, they are 2 and 3 bed roomed, for more information and prices please contact info@pritaly.com and take a look at : http://www.pritaly.com/property.php?ref=00128

Getting ready for viewing trips

Now that the festive season is over and thoughts return to making a viewing trip to Ostuni, we feel we need to remind people that we do need to have a weeks notice prior to your arrival (two would be nice) although we will try to fit late comers and people let down by other agents as much as we can.

Our teams in Ostuni are gearing themselves for a busy spring, and with so much going on, building, selling, completions etc, we have employed 2 more part time staff, this we hope will be beneficial to our full time teams.

We endeavor never to let anyone down!

Financial News From The U.K.

Shares in Northern Rock plunged to a new low of 52p this morning as hints that the nationalisation of the stricken bank was imminent sent investors fleeing.

The Prime Minister said in an interview yesterday evening that the Government was considering taking the bank into public ownership for a limited period.

At an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) of shareholders yesterday, Northern Rock's chairman Bryan Sanderson continued to insist that there was a good chance of a deal with a private sector buyer.

The bank is also considering the possibility of remaining independent.

I hope none of you are investors or share holders

Some extracts from the Telegraph

Last year, 207,000 British citizens - one every three minutes - left the country while 510,000 foreigners arrived to stay for a year or more.

The British made up more than half of the 400,000 moving abroad - yet only 14 per cent of immigrants were UK nationals coming home.

The figures do not include hundreds of thousands of east Europeans who have come to work in Britain in the past two years.

The ONS said that overall last year there were 591,000 immigrants to the UK and 400,000 emigrants, both the highest figures ever recorded.

Well, with figures like that! I cant argue , it is what we have always known, we are being over taxed and fed up of the lack of privacy, which makes Italy look good. In comparison Italy offers a cheaper standard of living and realistic property prices, both young and retired are leaving.

As your all aware, we now also cover the Bari area of Puglia. And we are pleased to say, the response has been very good, we have teamed with a professional property office in Bari to make sure that viewings and sales are to our high standards, and we are confident we have picked the right team to work with us.

We can give the same building and development expertise in this area as we can in Brindisi

Late news

We have a new development of apartments being constructed, they are 2 and 3 bed roomed, for more information and prices please contact info@pritaly.com

We have been busy adding new properties!

We have been busy finding new properties for both our sites over the past few weeks, why not have a look at our changing stock. As you all know by now we try to keep our two sites separate, this is because our office in Ostuni needs to decide which team handles viewings and which team handles new developments and renovations.

We have also changed the layout of the home page on www.pugliaresidential.com this will mean that newcomers to the site will be able to find quite quickly the properties we have in Puglia sorted by specific areas.

We are also extending our reach further north of Brindisi, to the next city Bari. This is another major city in Puglia, with many numerous small towns and coastal properties, it has it’s own airport which is served by Ryanair and British Airways (British Airways via Gatwick airport) which I am sure will please those of you seeking alternative routes and carriers. Costs of flying to and from Bari compare favourably to using Brindisi.

Eventually we will be using www.pritaly.com for new builds, off plan, renovation properties, Masserias, land and investments only.

We will be phasing out the use of our “info@” email addresses on both of our sites due to the horrendous amount of spam email we have been receiving over the last few months. This takes up a lot of our valuable time and, quite frankly, we are not in need of most of the products we are being offered!

Finally, to of all our staff and partners working in the background and to you our valued customers;

We wish you all Seasons Greetings and a Happy New Year !

The Ranch

On our travels in the Brindisi area of Puglia we decided to visit the city itself, it truly is a wonderful place overlooked by travelers, littered with restaurants and history.

I feel I have to do a write up regarding a restaurant we discovered that would fill anyone’s gastronomic wishes. This restaurant The Ranch based in Brindisi center is very unassuming and has enough atmosphere to keep most people happy.

We were so impressed that we ate there on several occasions, we felt we had to check the consistency, quality and freshness, we even turned up with a family we know from Brindisi to confirm our thoughts! As we all know Jamie Oliver and Rick Stien are correct when they say “all Italian’s are experts in food” (fussy knowitalls) which is why we took our friends with us.

The menu is large enough to keep everyone happy, regardless if you want fish, meat, pasta or vegetarian, it is all fresh very delicate and well prepared.

We were all in agreement that “spaghetti al scoglio” was one of our favorite dishes, basically cooked with sea food, small fresh merlata fish (boneless) mussels, prawns. Squid, and rocket, all cooked to perfection, in olive oil and tomatoes, very, very delicate with serious flavor.

All the pasta dishes were superb!

Fish dishes, outstanding!

Meat dishes, as fresh as anyone can get!

Pizza, the choice, some 15 to 20 depending on produce available at the time, but all authentic to Italy, you will not get “chicken tika” or “Mexican meat feast” thank you very much!

All in all a lovely place to eat, and the best bit................. 10 of us, starter, pasta, fish and meat dishes for all us, 4 liters of wine, coffee’s and a grappa (digestive) 175 euros!!!!! And i forgot to mention we all had a glass of pro secco (aperitif) which everyone gets free and thin samples of pizza free of charge! Very welcoming indeed!

If you wish to try this restaurant and fancy a day in the city, for shopping, designer labels or visit some of the roman ruins the address is:

The Ranch. Via G. Vanini 4- Brindisi telephone 3404888716

It is easy to find ask anyone in the city! www.pugliaresidential.com

Alternative Ways Of Getting To Brindisi

We have been looking at other ways of getting to Brindisi other than Ryanair etc, and we found that if you live in London it's not difficult at all, from London city airport, Air one, a small airline company can fly you to Rome, from Rome an internal flight to Brindisi. The most important part is to check what time the interconnecting flights are due.

On a similar note Alitalia from most major airports either to Rome or Milan, then an internal flight to Bari or Brindisi.

We have also found that that doing either of these can save you you a substantial amount of money! (in the peak season). it is worth doing the comparisons as it can come to £50-£100 return! plus you don't have to run for a seat and you get a drink or a meal.
our director has tried these other avenues and tells me he "felt as though the good times were back" he says he has been fortunate as 3 trips either way and instead of waiting 4 hours for the internal flights, Alitalia and Air one have always allowed him on an earlier flight at no extra cost, making this alternative worth considering......

More information on web site

With the launch of the furniture showroom, we will be adding more information and pages to our website. this will show that not only can we sell property, build property, renovate but we can also furnish your new property cheaper and more reliably than anyone else in the area!
No waiting time, same day delivery.

we will add pages to: www.pugliaresidential.com

Puglia and the heatwave

The heatwave as we predicted is now beginning to wain, we always stress to buyers in the region to make sure those which have purchased a property with land should always ensure that bracken and grass/hay should always be removed in the summer, and you can be penalized by the local authorities if you do not do so.
So far the authorities have been lenient on new owners around the Brindisi/Ostuni areas, but come on guys your putting people's lives in danger! and it's not like you've not been told.

Below is a short snippet from the BBC:


in Puglia, southern Italy, holiday makers had to escape by sea from wildfires that swept down to the beaches and claimed at least four lives.

The extreme temperatures have starting falling slightly and forecasters expect thunderstorms to affect many parts of southern and eastern Europe over the coming days.