You may be more likely to snap up a bargain in the winter months but, with the arrival of spring, now is a more appealing time for a visit to Puglia and still a good time to look. I have been trawling through estate agents, looking for interesting properties ready for my property finding trips later this month and during March. These usually last 3-4 days and are a combination of informal seminars about the buying and restoration process, exploring the local area and also viewing properties. There are still places on the March 7^th– 10^th and 21^st – 24^th trips – email personalpuglia@gmail.com for details. As always we can offer a full project management service on any of the properties below which need restoration.

I have said before that properties in Nardò have gone up significantly in price over the 4 years that I have lived here. Now, a one bedroomed apartment will cost around 75-80,000 including restoration if necessary, 2 bedrooms 120,000 + and larger properties 170+. For the first time I am also noticing a shortage of properties – lots of one bedroomed apartments and larger properties but much fewer with two bedrooms – and those that there are need a lot of work. When interesting things come on the market they go very quickly.

One which certainly won’t stick around, but which I really like is a larger than normal one bedroomed apartment (120 sqm), most recently used as an office, with both a garden and a roof terrace, on the market at 40,000. The layout is such that you could have guests on a sofa bed in the living room without feeling cramped. It does need rewiring and replumbing, the bathroom is currently inadequate, and it needs a kitchen. There is room for a second bathroom.

Another one I really like needs a lot of work, but the vendor is a builder and prepared to do the restoration which helps. The price is 38,000. It has huge potential – original flooring, a room with a vaulted ceiling with plaster rosettes, a fireplace, a deep balcony and a roof terrace with a view of the castle. It is small, only two medium sized rooms plus bathroom, but it is in a medieval courtyard where the owner has other properties which he runs as holiday lets – so there is plenty of overspill for any guests, and room on the roof terrace to all eat together.

I am juggling new property searches with developing my first ‘Puglia property fund’ project, so I have yet to venture further north to the Valle D’Itria to look at some properties there. I have also seen some very interesting looking 2 bedroomed properties on paper, in other Salento towns, particularly Aradeo, Tuglie, Galatone and Galatina which I plan to go and see over the next ten days. As soon as I have a round up I will publish them here – so do follow this blog to be kept updated. I will also post properties on the new facebook page, facebook.com/propertyinpuglia .

My new project is part of an old Palazzo in the historic centre of Nardò, which is beautiful now but will be stunning once restored into a four bedroomed apartment with large open space living area and extensive roof terraces – we may even add a spa! Unusually there was a lift connecting all the floors – we plan to extend this to the roof terrace as well. This property lends itself particularly well to the fractional ownership model which I have written about here. Eventually I would envisage there being 5-8 owners each with their own private storage area with built in cupboards for their personal items, using the property (or deriving a rentla income from it, 4-8 weeks a year.

We are initially looking for 200,000 euro to purchase the property – minimum investment 25,000. Original investors can hold onto their shares or sell once the property is restored and furnished at a significant profit. Email personalpuglia@gmail.com for details.

In where to buy in Puglia I wrote about the shortage of countryside properties in the Salento, but have recently seen some gorgeous properties to restore in the countryside near Aradeo, in an area which is much greener and more fertile than the surrounding areas as once it was marshland and now has a system on underground canals. Two of these have been bought by some clients of mine who plan to open an agriturismo, but nearby I visited an enchanting property set in about 4000 sqm of land with a citrus grove as well as olive trees and a well. On the market at 55,000 it has a wealth of period features and is in structually sound condition. Once restored it would provide two bedrooms and bathrooms and also has a roof terrace with lovely countryside views. A pool would be possible. The only downside is that there is another property attached to it which is structurally bad repair and would need demolishing and rebuilding. This is apparently also for sale however. The price is not clear at the moment – but if one considered 65-75,000 for both properties this would be realistic and the added footprint would provide at least two extra bedrooms and bathrooms. As well as being beautiful and peaceful this area is ideal as there is a good restaurant nearby and it is only a 10 minute drive into town.