Dear [NAME]

Our adventure story begins in September 2005 arriving at Olbia Airport on the North-East coastline of Sardinia on our way to the Grand Hotel, Baja Sardinia on the Costa Smeralda for our annual holiday. We enjoyed the holiday so much that we decided to buy our ‘Place in the Sun’ property  in Sardinia having also visited, many times, France and Spain as prospective countries where we might buy our holiday home. Sardinia came out ‘top of our list’, so we made a plan to investigate available properties in the northern half.
We found that Sardinia, apart from being very beautiful, is quiet with just 1.6 million indigenous population, (apart from the month of August when the Italian mainlanders arrive for their annual holiday) driving on the roads is a dream as very little traffic is encountered and white sandy beaches with emerald colour sea. People are extremely hospitable and the crime rate is very low meaning the streets are safe at night.
Via the internet we found 3 property agents and arranged to visit Sardinia early December 2005.
After spending one week viewing potential properties we decided to go with agent Antonello of Demuro Immobiliare who provided the most interesting holiday homes.
We were looking for a two bedroom apartment with living/dining room, separate kitchen and bathroom with interesting views not too far from the coastline, our budget was €150,000. Antonello showed us 6 properties one of which was under construction in the village of Limpiddu close to the town of Budoni just 20 minutes drive south of Olbia Airport and importantly less than 5 minutes drive to a beautiful white sandy beach with crystal clear water. The apartment was on the Ground Floor with a large patio and small garden to the front and side. The quality of the building design and construction is very high (the local builder had just completed a villa for Gianfranco Zola the ex-Chelsea footballer) and our thanks go to Demuro Immobiliare for finding such a ‘good buy’.
We signed contracts to purchase the Limpiddu apartment before returning to the UK for Christmas.
The property was finally completed in September 2006 when we experienced our first holiday visit. Antonello was very supportive during the moving-in period by introducing us to Cinzia the Italian/English translator, Giancarlo the Landscape gardener, Kitchen and Furniture designer, equipment suppliers and all the shops, banks, warehouses one needs when equipping a new property in an overseas country.
Without the support of Antonello and his family members we would have struggled to complete our ‘Place in the Sun’. We now always look forward to our regular monthly visits during the summer months, enjoying the superb Sardinian wine and food plus driving around the countryside admiring the dramatic landscape that is Sardinia.

Alan & Carole Green
kingswood, Surrey, UK