Incase there's nothing to share about a new project for ages, and to avoid being too anticlimactic after my 6 year hiatus, I figured I should at least provide an update on the last project that we had the offer accepted on in my last post. That was May 2018 (without Mr RR seeing it! Only the third time I've done that!). We finally completed the purchase in May 2020! (I know! 2 years! Crazy how delays happen when you throw a new global pandemic, a new mum of triplets and a chance at an insanely generous government grant into the mix with an Italian property purchase!!) We then proceeded with the renovation (not overly straight forward when you can't travel abroad and have toddler triplets at home!) and finally launched it on the Airbnb platform 1st August 2022 - the busiest month of the season here and a very welcome chance to recoup some of the investment.
There's an abundance of holiday apartments here, so I knew for my second project I wanted to buy something special and distinctive to be sure it stands out. When I realised my plan A of buying a seafront property in the centro storico was going to be tricky, I had to find a new USP. Properties here are almost all tall and narrow and split into smaller units, so a spacious, airy property all on one level for large groups to stay in together - I believed there was a real market for it.
And so I am thrilled to introduce Primo: a luxury 4 bed, 5 bath apartment sleeping 8 adults + 2 children, all on one level, with 2 living rooms, kitchen diner plus separate kitchenette, located in the heart of the old town with balconies overlooking the intermingling lives of locals and tourists below. Available as a whole and also divided into 2 apartments for flexibility to rent for smaller groups.
With nothing but 5* reviews and wonderful compliments on the design the last 2 years, I'm very, very proud of it and of myself! Speaking plainly, it's challenging enough to develop property when it's what you do full-time. Developing property in another country, while being primary parent to 4 kids including toddler triplets with no practical support due to Covid lockdowns is a whole other level!
To illustrate: the summer we finished this project, I twice stayed up literally through the whole night working on 1000 little details that remained after the builders had finished because it was realistically the only time I could get anything done. It was the first time I've set up a property that was going straight to being a holiday let as opposed to a standard long term let. When you rent a property to long-term tenants they bring their furniture and day-to-day belongings and sort out where to put everything. Not so when they're guests coming for a short holiday! It was a crazy big job and looking around at all the somewhat random second hand local furniture I'd bought off Facebook Marketplace and had had delivered via friends locally, and all the towers of boxes of decor bought off the internet courtesy of Ikea, Amazon, Sklum etc in a corner like some warehouse facility, plus of course the mounds of leftover materials and items that were surplus and needed storing somewhere, I was emphatically told by the property manager I wouldn't be able to sort it in time for the professional photographer coming. "Impossibile!" The fact that I did all this after spending my days toilet training the triplets was just... a lot! I was beyond exhausted: I was broken, but I plugged in my phone and put on my tunes and got it done. Afterwards, honestly, for a while I didn't know when I would be able to come back as I just had too much of a negative association to the town following all the stress. I've never had that before. This has always been my happy place. Had I just totally ruined everything?
Please know, I don't want sympathy. I'm fortunate to do something that I find so fulfilling, pays me well for my time and allows me to be my own boss, and that I love 95% of the time, but I've also always said this blog would share the tough times as well as the good and I don't think any project will ever push me harder. This developing game ain't for the weak of heart!
So anyway, you get the message! How better to celebrate all that work, stress and progress than...
Before & after photos!
First off, remember little man - then 3 years old, an only child, gorgeous hair tumbling down his back! - looking up at the giant doors to the balcony?
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