Having visited the island of Alonissos for the first time in September 2014 for two weeks, it was clear that this lush, green,'rock' in the middle of the crystal clear waters of The Aegean Sea was to become our home. We got back to the UK and quickly got a plan of action to start to prepare for a change of life - a new life! Within nine months from returning to the UK from Alonissos, we were packed and ready to leave with one-way tickets!
The first thing we did to fulfil our dream was to put our house in Devon on the market; with an excellent estate agent appointed ('that was myself') through "Bradleys Estate Agents," we quickly got an offer, next was to give notice to the very same estate agency that I was working for. Now to start to sell or give away the surplus 'stuff' that we had accumulated over the years! Some 'useful and essential' items were put into storage so that they could be utilised in Alonissos. We were to make several trips by van that we bought in the UK to Alonissos, bringing many of our personal belongings. We used the van to also bring specific items bought from the UK to place in our new Alonissos home.
Surprisingly once the decision was made to move, it wasn't as daunting as we thought, in fact the process was pretty easy - saying goodbye to our friends and family was a little more tough...but new friends to be made were just around the corner and our family and friends would visit us in Greece regularly. Now with everything either sold, given away or put into storage we were almost ready...
Two days before our departure, having gone through all the emotional turmoil of saying goodbye, we sold our two last large possessions, our cars!
We arrived on Alonissos on June 10 2015, with just two suitcases, and in all the excitement we didn't even arrange for accommodation and so we booked into a hotel for the night. The next day we found a furnished apartment in Patitiri to rent for a year, whilst actively looking to buy a property. We had already identified a property we had seen in September and had been negotiating during the winter months. We went on many property sites and it was clear that at the time, estate agency on Alonissos was rather primitive.
We had seen a small house in the old village and after going through a minefield of red tape and anxiety (I used my experience gained as an estate agent to good use)- we secured the purchase in October of the same year. The whole stress and costs of the buying process inspired me to help others wanting to do the same, but with my experience gained as an estate agent in the UK and personal experience here on Alonissos I was in a good position to be invaluable to future buyers and sellers. The seed was sown to help people buy and sell property here on the island of Alonissos.
An old little house in the old village of Alonissos that was once a goat shed was soon to become our home.
We gutted the old house completely and started to renovate it to make it suitable for all year round living. My partner Sue had been interested in interiors and I was more than artistic and skilled at redecoration, so the big long winter refurbishment commenced.
New electrics, plumbing, paint, plaster, floors, kitchen and heating soon transformed this little holiday house into an all year round home; a traditional and sympathetically restored old village dwelling.
We moved into the house on June 4th 2016, almost a year to the day of arriving on the island and just seven months from buying our house. Our first visitors and close friends from the UK came almost the next day, the paint was still drying!
Now we have a successful and growing property website with enquiries coming in weekly, we are in a position to help others with the entire process of buying and selling property here in Greece and in particular this little island in the Aegean called Alonissos...our home.
