I find homes in Southern Europe and help you buy them. Founder @AffordiHome. 30k+ read my free property newsletter 👇
Dublin, Ireland
Joined January 2010
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Hong Kong, New York, Queensland, Frankfurt, Texas
That's where our guests flew in from for our first ever property retreat in Tuscany. Here are my thoughts:
- by day 2 people were already asking where the next one is. people don't just want a house in Italy or another country, they also want to belong to something
- topics like how to stay in touch, meet regularly, swap houses once they've bought, look out for each other were coming up regularly
- the day after it ended 2 of our guests were already staying at the hotel of an expat we'd invited. the community happened on its own
- no little groups formed. 5 days and everyone kept mixing, talking to each other, sharing etc.
- every speaker stayed with us, some for a full day, some overnight. breakfast, lunch and dinner cooked by a private chef, one table for everything. Nobody gave a talk and left, and this was key since that's where most of the bonding happened
- most people want things done for them. they don't want to chase lawyers, tax advisors and agents one by one, they want the right people and one point of contact to get sh*t done for them
- you can absolutely mix business with pleasure. lawyer, tax advisor, a full day of viewings, wine lunch at a winery, a cooking class..and the best bits weren't even planned. one guest loves cigars so every night after dinner we sat outside with cigars and wine laughing our heads off
- buying in Italy is simpler than most think once you have the right team
- on the last night I sat down one on one with every guest. We got top marks across the board. One of them is an investment banker with a wealth of experience in real estate/seminars/community building, and his only note was more breaks for people taking work calls
- what I'd change: more breaks, clearer info on dress code, and keep it to 10-12 people max so it stays one group
- Tuscany was the right call. Val di Chiana in October is hard to beat
We worked hard to get the organisation right, so I expected it to run smoothly. What I didn't expect was people from 4 continents and completely different backgrounds clicking this naturally. Might be luck, but glad everything worked out so well.
AI is going to automate a lot of things, but sitting around one table with real people isn't one of them, and I think it's only going to get more valuable.
p.s. I wasn’t sure if this would be the first of many or the first and last one, but having experienced this week and after hearing everyone’s feedback (both from guests+speakers) it would be criminal not to continue and do more of these. Not sure about the country for the next one - repeat Italy? Or Spain, Greece, Portugal, France?
You’ll be surprised how much 115 acres on a lake in France costs
- 115 acres (46 ha) of woods, meadows and moorland
- ~700 m (2,300 ft) of lake shoreline
- an old hamlet going back to at least the 1600s: 3 homes (stone house, timber house and a wooden cabin with a conservatory) + old stone barns to restore
- 179m² (1,927 sq ft) of living space + another 486m² (5,231 sq ft) of outbuildings
- ~30 chestnut trees, hazelnuts, an apple and plum orchard + a riding arena
Price: €692k ($777k)
Location: central Brittany. ~10 min to shops, ~25 min to Guingamp (direct trains to Paris in ~2h45), ~40 min to the north coast beaches
Serious piece of land for the money.
I share my best property finds in Europe through my Free newsletter and you can subscribe here if you like: affordihome.com/subscribe?ut…
90% of all my videos in the last 6 months have been taken on my Meta glasses, including this one I took while cycling last week in Tuscany.
I know they’ve had some privacy issues recently, but that aside the quality of photos, videos and audio has been really good.
(not affiliated in any way, just a satisfied customer)
Super simplified take, but if:
- robots could fix the labour shortage + make housing more affordable to build
- AI lets more people earn from anywhere
Then the most interesting housing market in Europe could become the hundreds of empty villages in places like Spain, Italy, Portugal, etc., that become liveable again and worth moving to.
200 AUAR micro factories. That’s all the UK needs to clear its entire yearly housing backlog. 🏗️
I just visited AUAR in London. They are building fully autonomous micro factories for houses. A robotic arm, a robotic saw, a robotic assembly table. All of it fits in a shipping container.
The bet: Ship the factory to the construction site. Build walls there.
For 100 years people tried to industrialize housing. Every attempt failed.
Transport costs kill the economics. The factory is too expensive, the product too heavy.
AUAR inverts it. Ship the factory, not the product.
Two containers build a village. Ten build a small town. 200 build everything the UK needs in a year. And now they are starting to scale production.
Mollie and Gilles are architects who spent a decade researching construction robotics before it was cool, they even wrote the book on it.
We visited them as they are finishing their latest micro factory for a home builder on the US East Coast. One micro factory. 40 homes. Next they will help to build new UK cities for a million people.
Disclaimer: we’re small investors, big fans..
Disclaimer 2: Yes, the housing crisis can be fixed by robots. 🦾🇪🇺
Full video on Youtube: youtu.be/FhUQ4YVQL3g
This looks like a sultan's palace but it's actually a villa in Spain for €559k
- 3 bed/3 bath, 185m² (1,991 sq ft) on a 1,000m² (0.25 acre) plot
- built 2004, decorated by a Moroccan craftsman
- two domes, arched veranda, pool + jacuzzi
Price: €559 ($627k)
Location: La Cabuzana, Almería. ~5 min drive to the beach, ~50 min to Almería airport
Not for everyone, but whoever wants this really wants this
I share my best property finds in Europe through my Free newsletter and you can subscribe here if you like: affordihome.com/subscribe?ut…
Tim retweeted
A real pleasure to be part of this first Tuscany property retreat. Great conversations, inspiring people, and a fantastic atmosphere throughout.
Congrats Tim, looking forward to the next one!
Hong Kong, New York, Queensland, Frankfurt, Texas
That's where our guests flew in from for our first ever property retreat in Tuscany. Here are my thoughts:
- by day 2 people were already asking where the next one is. people don't just want a house in Italy or another country, they also want to belong to something
- topics like how to stay in touch, meet regularly, swap houses once they've bought, look out for each other were coming up regularly
- the day after it ended 2 of our guests were already staying at the hotel of an expat we'd invited. the community happened on its own
- no little groups formed. 5 days and everyone kept mixing, talking to each other, sharing etc.
- every speaker stayed with us, some for a full day, some overnight. breakfast, lunch and dinner cooked by a private chef, one table for everything. Nobody gave a talk and left, and this was key since that's where most of the bonding happened
- most people want things done for them. they don't want to chase lawyers, tax advisors and agents one by one, they want the right people and one point of contact to get sh*t done for them
- you can absolutely mix business with pleasure. lawyer, tax advisor, a full day of viewings, wine lunch at a winery, a cooking class..and the best bits weren't even planned. one guest loves cigars so every night after dinner we sat outside with cigars and wine laughing our heads off
- buying in Italy is simpler than most think once you have the right team
- on the last night I sat down one on one with every guest. We got top marks across the board. One of them is an investment banker with a wealth of experience in real estate/seminars/community building, and his only note was more breaks for people taking work calls
- what I'd change: more breaks, clearer info on dress code, and keep it to 10-12 people max so it stays one group
- Tuscany was the right call. Val di Chiana in October is hard to beat
We worked hard to get the organisation right, so I expected it to run smoothly. What I didn't expect was people from 4 continents and completely different backgrounds clicking this naturally. Might be luck, but glad everything worked out so well.
AI is going to automate a lot of things, but sitting around one table with real people isn't one of them, and I think it's only going to get more valuable.
p.s. I wasn’t sure if this would be the first of many or the first and last one, but having experienced this week and after hearing everyone’s feedback (both from guests+speakers) it would be criminal not to continue and do more of these. Not sure about the country for the next one - repeat Italy? Or Spain, Greece, Portugal, France?
Tim retweeted
Great job Tim & Anastasia!!! It was pretty intense with lots of questions answered. Everything Tim outlined was true. (Full disclosure, I was the cigar smoking guest). Well worth it and glad I can claim that I was a member of your inaugural retreat.
What €125k to €1M buys you in Tuscany
Yesterday we took our retreat group to see 5 homes around Cortona and Montepulciano, one at each budget, starting cheap and working our way up. The point was for everyone to see what their money actually gets them here:
- €125k: renovated 1 bed
- €460k: 3 bed/3 bath
- €695k: 4 bed/4 bath
- €890k: farmhouse, 5 min to Cortona's historic centre
- €1M: 4 bed villa, walk to Montepulciano's historic centre
The video is from the €890k farmhouse. When we arrived the owner, an elderly lady, was up a ladder on her own picking her olives by hand.
Italy doesn't do retirement 😅
