Dream of Montepulciano and Fonte MartinoWe actually just found our dream home! Now what? Are we actually going to put our money where our mouth has been over the past decade? Do we have the guts to make our dreams a reality? Are we actually going to make an offer? If we do, will it be accepted? If it is, then what?

At times like this, I realize the value of wine, not only as an Italian staple but as a vital medicine to find sanity! Although Toby doesn’t drink (although I suspect that will change) what a better time to start!

Ok, after the period of panic went away, we put on our adult hats, filled them with courage, and began to think reasonably. We no longer thought with naivety like we did so many years ago. So, we said to ourselves, now is the time to make this decision once and for all. Do we want to keep working corporate jobs or take the biggest risk of our lives to make our dream a reality? This is the moment when a good realtor takes off their realtor hat and puts on their shrink hat, and Cristina did that perfectly. It was absolutely no coincidence that she came into our lives. We will be forever grateful for her knowledge and ongoing friendship.

Quarantine time: Literally.

We said to ourselves, the time is here. It’s now or never… So, we literally locked the doors and turned off our phones over a weekend. Making the decision to quit successful careers, move away from family and friends, and leave the country we’ve known since birth was not an easy one. We took this very seriously. With every big decision we believe you should always use your mind and your heart to figure out what’s best for you. Starting with the mind, we crunched numbers, and more numbers and then some more numbers. We needed to make sure we had the means to purchase and renovate Fonte Martino and to make sure our guest house had a good chance to be a successful business. With each passing hour it became more and more clear that, yes, we can do this! Our confidence was on the rise!

Ok, now for the tough part: Searching your heart and soul to find the courage to actually look fear in the eyes and say, no, “you’re not going to win this time”. We can do this!

We had a great life in Cleveland which has been our home for almost 20 years. What we considered doing was a huge risk and we were not taking this lightly. But after an intense weekend, we ultimately decided that we have one life on this planet, so let’s stop the “what-if’s” and live life to the fullest!

Before we decided to make an offer, we needed assurances that we would be able to receive all the necessary permissions to build our guest units and have a pool. This process took much longer than expected. But, we eventually received those assurances, meeting so many wonderful people along the way…

We sent an email off to Cristina, letting her know we wanted to make an offer. We think she might have been more excited than us! ALMOST!

After excellent guidance from the realty company, we settled on a price. We were pretty confident that we would receive a counter. HOWEVER, much to our disbelief it was accepted! We were on cloud nine and overcome with joy…

Conquering fear is one of the most difficult things to do but we have no regrets and we are going on the journey of a lifetime… and we are thrilled that you are all a part of it!