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An Australian family are quitting the country for Italy over the cost of living, revealing how their move from the Gold Coast could allow them to become mortgage-free.
Krysti-Glory Gallo, who works in styling and design, and her husband, Ricardo Parata, an education worker, began searching for homes in Italy late last year in the hopes of improving their quality of life.
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who → see → life
They came across a €205,000 (about $330,500) three-bedroom terrace in the historic Tuscan city of Lucca that they plan to move into in February 2027 with their two children, aged seven and 11.
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they → come → children
Ms Gallo told Daily Mail their decision to move was a 'no-brainer' because they didn't want to continue paying off the remaining $600,000 mortgage on their Gold Coast home.
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they → tell → home
'We realised moving overseas was a better option than staying in Australia when my wage no longer covered our mortgage,' Ms Gallo said.
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Gallo → realise → mortgage
The couple purchased their Gold Coast property in 2023 for $525,000 and expect to sell it for about $1 million later in 2026.
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couple → purchase → 2026
Ms Gallo said the mortgage would have cost about $1.295million in total if it was paid over the full 30-year term.
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it → say → term
The couple estimated they will walk away with about $450,000 in equity after selling the property and paying off the mortgage.
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they → estimate → mortgage
Krysti-Glory Gallo, who works in styling and design, and her husband Ricardo Parata, an education worker, began searching for homes in Italy late last year after soaring living costs became unmanageable
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costs → work → Italy
Knowing that no matter how much equity we had in our house, we were unable to use it whilst the cost of living continues to rise,' Ms Gallo said.
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Gallo → know → living
She added they could swap their Gold Coast home for the similarly sized property in Italy using the roughly $450,000 profit the couple expected to make.
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couple → add → profit
'We now take that equity to another country (Italy), have zero mortgage, and have 100 per cent equity from day one.'
Ms Gallo also said the relocation would allow the family to live in a more comfortable financial position.
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family → take → position
'Ricardo is working two jobs, one full time and the other means nights, weekends and travel, yet we're still checking our bank accounts before we buy the necessities.
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we → work → necessities
It was either continue to whinge about our situation or find a solution and the solution was in front of us the whole time.'
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solution → continue → us
The couple said they had three income streams between them and earned about $150,000 to $160,000 a year, but spent a minimum of $120,000.
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they → say → 120,000
They estimated a move to Italy would allow them to live off just €45,000 (about $72,500) a year if they owned a property there.
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they → estimate → property
Ms Gallo also said the relocation would allow the family to live in a more comfortable financial position
In a series of TikTok videos detailing their relocation journey, Mr Parata said the move was about improving the family's quality of life rather than earning more money.
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move → say → money
'We aren't replacing our lifestyle for income reasons, we're replacing our lifestyle so we can actually enjoy our life,' he said.
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he → replace → life
One thing I will add is that Italian incomes are a lot less than Australian incomes, but when cost of living is a lot less, you can do more with your income.'
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you → add → income
Their Italian home will be ‘like for like’ with their Gold Coast townhouse, with three bedrooms and two bathrooms spread across three levels.
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home → spread → levels
However, its 30sqm garden meant the property was also an upgrade.
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property → mean → ?
‘We actually have more land in Italy now with a decent yard for our kids,’ Ms Gallo said.
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Gallo → have → kids
‘Although it has been renovated completely (roofing, plumbing, electrical and heating), we will update it to make it our own aesthetically.’
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it → renovate → it
They came across a €205,000 (about $330,500) three-bedroom terrace in the historic Tuscan city of Lucca that they plan to move into in February 2027 with their two children, aged seven and 11
Although the Lucca property was one suburb away from their preferred area, Ms Gallo said they were attracted by its proximity to shops, other amenities and the local school.
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they → come → shops
She estimated the completed renovations would have cost them about €70,000 (A$112,746) if they completed it themselves.
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they → estimate → it
Although the Lucca property was one suburb away from their preferred area, Ms Gallo said they were attracted by its proximity to shops, other amenities and the local school.
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they → prefer → shops
'It had everything we needed and it is ready to live in right now,' she said on TikTok.
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she → have → TikTok
It's literally a five-to-10 minute bike ride to the suburb we were originally looking at and the children can still walk to the local school.
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children → look → school
'Our youngest will go to school 200m across the road.'
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youngest → go → road
Ms Gallo told Daily Mail she was looking forward to the family enjoying a better quality of life in Italy.
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she → tell → Italy
'At the moment, no matter what we have done to simplify our life, it just never seems like we have a minute spare to breathe and our time together is rushed,' she said.
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she → do → minute
We hope that our days don't feel long.'
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days → hope → ?
The couple purchased their current property in 2023 for $525,000 and expect to sell it for about $1 million later in 2026
She said the family would also spend some weekends travelling to other countries.
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family → purchase → countries
'We can fly to places like [the] UK, Germany and Greece for the weekend for the price it costs to fill up Ricardo's ute.'
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it → fly → ute
Although her children were initially hesitant about the move, Ms Gallo said they understood the benefits of experiencing the other side of the world.
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they → say → world
The boys naturally took time to understand the reason behind the move, but our oldest is now aware of what it costs to keep a house here in Australia and the challenges that we are facing,' she said.
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she → take → that
'They're also aware that they will finally be able to experience the other half of their culture.
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they → experience → culture
'Ricardo and I are both Italian, so for them to have dual citizenship and eventually be bilingual will only open doors for them as adults.'
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have → open → adults
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