Southampton, England, United Kingdom

Judith and Roy Wade-Duffee,

Initially we had no real intention of buying in Italy and really fell into it. We had always loved Italy and visited on a number of occasions, including our honeymoon. We were ‘invited’ by another property developing company, involved in a completely different type of property / concept to undertake an inspection trip to view their project. Whilst researching this company on the internet I came across BdV, by accident, and this seemed so much more attractive to us not only the nature of the Hamlet but also the approach to selling the product and the up front information available. We organised an inspection trip with Lee, were subjected to his ‘soft sell’ techniques and the rest is history.Roy and I, at the time of purchase, had stressful lives not only with work commitments but also with family issues which impacted on us significantly. We were looking to find some form of a haven, bolt-hole and a retreat where we could relax and unwind a little, still be in touch with the real world, if required and near enough to return home if a crisis arose during our ‘away time’. Bdv seemed to fulfill all of our needs at that time.Suffering badly from vertigo and sitting in the outside seat on the way to the Hamlet, my first memory was OMG and the journey up being breathtaking (sometimes literally). I arrived requesting a very large gin and tonic and whilst being blown away by the views and scenery wondered how on earth I was going to brave it back down again or whether I needed to register with the Embassy in Rome as a permanent resident!Over the course of the inspection trip my confidence in Roy getting us up and down alive gradually increased. Once I had survived going up and down in the DARK there was a serious chance that BdV could become the haven we were looking for. Everything else was idyllic … it was me being cowardly that held us back. We did sign on the dotted line by the time we left and have not regretted the purchase.I still do pray, however, before we set off up or down the road that we will not meet either Fulvio or Lee coming Kamikaze style in the opposite direction!!!One of the factors we considered was whether we would get sufficient use out of the Hamlet, at that time, to justify the expense.Or would we have insufficient time to be able to maximise our investment. We also were aware that we wanted to visit other places and not ‘feel obliged’ to return because we had bought at BdV. Roy’s brother Mark and his wife Janet were also interested in BdV and also had similar time constraints. We decided that the solution would be to purchase a fraction between us, with each couple choosing to take separate holidays or together and each having the ability to bring guests along as well if they chose.Initially I calculated the cost- effectiveness of the purchase against the price of say ten year’s worth of holidays at a similar location (allowing for multiple trips a year) and once it stacked up against this then I felt any ownership beyond that was a benefit that did not need to be justified further. This combined with the fact that once the inventory was sold the fractional potentially had the ability to increase in value once demand exceeded the limited supply, increased the attractiveness of the proposition in the event that we wished / needed to sell at a future date.My heart was already sold and the joy of knowing that BdV was ‘there when we needed it’ and to be enjoyed in perpetuity probably outweighed the financial cost analysis, in any event.I think the first year following purchase Roy and I visited five times, Roy on one occasion going alone to do photography and mountain biking. Far too arty or sweaty for me!!!

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