Tips to buy real estate In Italy

Tips to buy real estate In Italy

So, you have seen the movie "Under the Tuscany Sun". You like the how the female protagonist of the movie bought a villa and decorated it. Well! That is a good inspiration, but we have to accept that reality is very different from motion pictures. It is not that simple to go and purchase real estate as shown in movies where the female protagonist just steps out of the bus and buys a villa.
Hollywood is hollywood... the chances they have to find an old lady in Tuscany who sells a villa by a 'God' sign are as good as finding a rent control apartment in New York City. Not long ago somebody told me he was looking for a house near Rome for 18.000 Euros. Ok it may not be mathematically impossible but he has a better chance to buy a winning lottery ticket. So let see what we have to do realistically.

The first step is to research the process. You have made a good start. You are reading this article. Well let not waste any time and get down to business.

As we said, you need to conduct your research on the process of buying a home in Italy. A big help would be the internet. Today in the times of World Wide Web, you find information on any aspect of the buying process by few simple clicks of your mouse. Any good search engine can provide you with various links to the subject.

As you read on and educate yourself, you would realize that there are many differences, both in the terms and about financing options. It would be prudent to hire a legal help here in the United States as you begin the buying process. Also, it is suggested that you hire a legal help back in Italy too. This legal representation that you hire should have had experience in undertaking such international transactions.

Ideally, do your reading about the real estate market in Italy. As we mentioned earlier, some terms may be different. When we say terms, it does not restrict it to terms of contract, it can also mean, the terminologies used in the real estate market.

We in the United States are used to terms such as apartments, condominiums and houses. But you may come across terms such as seminterrato, bilocale, attico, villetta a schiera or cieloterra. It would be wise to familiarize yourself with these terms so that you can select the type of Italian real estate you are looking for. If you are into the market to buy or sell a house, experts have always suggested that you should contact a Real Estate agent. Well! They are not wrong. A real estate transaction usually starts in the region of $100,000, a massive financial undertaking. This suggestion holds true in anywhere, and even in Italy.

Another important step would be educating yourself with the various application you need to file, contracts that you would be required to sign and the applicable fees. Do not be surprised when you see a high set up fee. You see that real estate market is different in Italy then, here back at home. Unlike the United State which considers real estate as an investment, Italians are known to buy real estate to keep.

Back here in the United State you may have seen many television advertisements about lender fees. Different lending companies compete for the precious customer, YOU. But, this scenario does not exist in Italy. Therefore, the retail banks are less competitive and aggressive. Net Net! Be prepared to pay for high cost as transaction fee than compared to home. Also note that you would be required to pay agent fees and taxes (which may be higher there).

That brings us to another important aspect "Mortgages". Well! You do have two options. You can either take a mortgage in Italy. Or you can get financing with your local bank here back at home. However, your bank would require offering banking facilities in Italy too. You can also approach any international bank which provides this service. Last option would be to get a home equity loan here in the US and then wire the money to Italy. Sice usually interest rates are slighly lower here and it is easy to get and or pay off the loan it may have its advantages.

Considering the difference in the two markets you have to accept that it is more likely that you would not be able to get schemes such as Forget PEP, endowment and interest-only mortgages in Italy. These products and financing methods which we take for granted are a relatively recent development even in our real estate markets. Here In United states nowadays we encounter many other mortgage loan schemes, from adjustable rate mortgages to interest-only and negative amortization loans apart from to the conventional 30-year fixed rate mortgage.

But things are different in Italy. Do not get surprised when you see a different number of years mentioned under the section of repayment. At time you may come across bank in Italy asking you to repay your mortgage in 15 years or 10 years. Some are also known to have stipulations such as the loan to be repaid by your 70th or even 65th birthday.

An easier and cheaper way to purchase real estate in Italy

KeyItaly.com came about because we got frustrated searching on a hundred websites for Italian properties - one for villas in Tuscany, another for apartments in Rome, and so on. We aim to cover all types of property, in every region in Italy.

Save money on your purchase

And we make it cheaper. Buy through KeyItaly and we refund 0.5% of your purchase price. Tell us when the sale is completed and - as soon as we get confirmation and payment from the selling agent - we'll send you a cheque. Buy a €200,000 property and you save €1,000. Buy a €500,000 home and you save €2,500.

All you need to know

We think this is the best way to research and purchase real estate in Italy, but that can mean everything from a ruined farmhouse in Apulia to a villa in Tuscany, so we want you to make an informed decision. You'll find a comprehensive guide to the regions, buying process, and living in Italy on the left of the page … all you need to know.

Italy real estate, homes & villas for sale - An introduction to buying Italian property

Welcome to KeyItaly, a new way to buy property in Italy. Whether you're looking to purchase an apartment in Rome, a villa in Tuscany, a farmhouse in Umbria … or you're just browsing for real estate in Italy, this is the place to start.

More and more people are investing in Italian real estate — perhaps as a holiday property or second home; maybe to relocate or retire to, or as a holiday let investment. We help you to start at the beginning. In the menus to the left you'll find a complete guide to the regions of Italy, helping you decide whether you want to buy real estate in Liguria or Lombardy, perhaps invest in a villa on Sardinia or Sicily, or buy a farmhouse in the Italian countryside.

KeyItaly makes the business of buying Italian real estate easier and cheaper. Rather than you dealing with dozens of real estate agents in your search for Italian property, KeyItaly will be a one-stop. Over the next few months, our listings of Italian apartments, villas, farmhouses, castles, palazzi, condominiums and more will build to cover the whole of Italy. Whether you're looking for an apartment in Milan or a villa in Sicily, KeyItaly should be your first stop. You will be able to search the site by type of accommodation, area or region of Italy, price range … even proximity to airports.

But what if you don't know where to start looking for real estate in Italy? Again, turn to the menus on the left, which will help you build a picture of what you're looking for and where.

Accessibility is hugely important when you're buying property in Italy. Is your new Italian villa near an airport, a a major city or the main highways? Our guide to the major cities and airports will help you to decide exactly where you should be looking for Italian real estate, apartments and villas.

Once you've tackled 'Where to buy' you can move on to 'How to buy real estate in Italy'. Our links here will take you through the whole process of purchasing Italian property. We go from finding your dream home in Italy, to making an offer on that Italian farmhouse, villa or apartment. We look at the varying regional prices of buying real estate in Italy — a ruined farmhouse in Tuscany could cost you far more than a restored villa in Calabria — and we introduce you to the various professionals you'll be dealing with when you buy Italian property.

We'll point you in the right direction to get a mortgage for your real estate purchase in Italy, and how to transfer the money to Italy to finance buying your property.

Next we move onto the legal process of buying Italian real estate: everything from hiring a lawyer and a surveyor to completing the sale. Do you own your Italy real estate in your own name? Should you use a company to buy that farmhouse in Tuscany? You'll find plenty of interesting reading here.

And, once you've moved into your apartment in Rome, your villa in Lombardy, or your trullo in Puglia, there's plenty more to do. We cover dealing with the utilities and local taxation. Moving your belongings from home to your property in Italy, and employing the tradespeople to do the restoration work on your new Italian farmhouse, apartment or villa. Are you adequately insured? And are you minimising your tax liabilities? Buying real estate in Italy can yield real tax benefits, but can be costly if you don't do things right. You'll find information on that too.

Wall Street fuels Hamptons real estate prices

Wall Street fuels Hamptons real estate prices

GARDEN CITY, N.Y. — Forget window shopping the photos of million-dollar manses in the real estate shops on Southampton’s Main Street. If you really want to know how the housing market in the Hamptons is faring as summer beckons, Steven Gaines suggests an unusual yardstick.

He says the best barometer of how people in the Hamptons are doing is the price of the lobster salad at the local gourmet shop in nearby Sagaponack. Right now, it’s selling for $100 a pound.

“When you’re spending $100 a pound for lobster salad, what’s $15 million for a home?” says Gaines, a local author and aficionado of all things Hamptons.

With Wall Street booming and stock markets hitting record highs nearly every day, the real estate trade in the Hamptons couldn’t be better. And money appears to be no obstacle.

Houses are routinely selling for $10 million to $15 million, and people don’t think twice about shelling out $200,000 for a summer rental — that’s Memorial Day to Labor Day.

Last week, it was reported that financier Ron Baron paid more than $100 million for a 40-acre East Hampton property — no home, just land — located next to his sprawling estate.

“The houses in the $10-$20 million range are selling very well, which, of course, reflects the boom on Wall Street,” said Gaines, who hosts a radio program on Hamptons culture every Sunday from the lobby of the American Hotel in Sag Harbor.

Going back nearly a century, the Hamptons — an unincorporated confederation of villages and hamlets stretching 40 miles along eastern Long Island’s south shore — has traditionally welcomed the rich and famous from near and far. Pristine sandy beaches and bucolic country roads have been a haven for the blue bloods and the wannabes alike, all willing to plunk down parts of their fortunes on Hamptons palaces, big and small.

Judi Desiderio, president of Town & Country Real Estate, estimates 75 percent of her customer base comes from Manhattan power brokers. “As long as the economy in the city and on Wall Street is doing well, our high-end market is also doing well,” she said.

While the national real estate market has been described as “soft,” the same does not hold true for Manhattan or the Hamptons, says Stuart Epstein, the owner of Devlin-McNiff Real Estate.

“If there’s an imaginary bubble over Manhattan, I’d say that bubble extends 125 miles out to the end of Long Island,” he said.

By all measures, times have been very good on Wall Street. The banking sector has been on a tear, driven by a spate of mergers and acquisitions in recent months. The Dow Jones is getting closer and closer to 14,000. And Wall Street paid out about $24 billion in year-end bonuses last years.

“These folks,” Epstein said, “there’s a lot of them, they’re making great money and there are not all that many ways they can spend it.”

That cash inevitably tumbles into the Hamptons as people start flocking to the beach and boarding the sailboats and yachts this weekend.

Desiderio said many potential buyers remained on the sidelines the past year or so, but with the Dow soaring to record highs this spring, sales are beginning to sizzle.

“We also have the aging baby boomers who are looking at retirement,” she said. “What better place to retire to than in the country?”

On the rental front, Paul Brennan of Prudential Douglas Elliman says it’s been “a pretty typical” year.

“Good rentals always go, no matter how much, each year,” he said. “I wouldn’t say prices have jumped significantly on rentals.”

Epstein said the majority of the houses this summer are renting for between $50,000 and $200,000. For that, you’re likely to get a 4,500-square-foot home, with plenty of amenities, including a swimming pool.

Some fancier houses have rented for as much as $750,000 or $800,000, but those are the exceptions. (For the record, an $800,000 rental from Memorial Day to Labor Day comes out to about $8,000 per day.)

When prices climb that high, many people opt to buy rather than rent, brokers said.

“It’s the same old, same old,” says veteran real estate executive Diane Saatchi of the Corcoran Group. “People are spending an incredible amount of money to be in the Hamptons. It will be as crowded as ever.

“Naysayers keep saying, ‘it can’t last, it can’t last,’ but every year the crowds keep showing up and the restaurants are jammed. It’s the Hamptons.”

Regulation of industry costly, unnecessary - real estate agents

A proposal to tighten controls on the industry will create needless layers of bureaucracy that could cost house buyers or sellers, say some real estate agents.

Chief executive of First National Real Estate Paul Slatin says the extra costs are unnecessary. A better plan would be to make changes to the existing, industry-led framework, he says.

On Tuesday, the Government revealed a plan to regulate the real estate industry by setting up an agency to deal with licensing and complaints.

Associate Justice Minister Clayton Cosgrove says self-regulation has failed to protect consumers from rogue agents, and the changes are needed to restore confidence in the industry.

A new Real Estate Licensing Authority would be responsible for licensing and maintaining a public register of agents. It would investigate and hear complaints, and be able to impose a range of penalties, including ordering compensation and de-licensing agents.

The authority would be funded by the industry, probably through a mix of licence fees and levies.

Under the changes, agents would no longer have to be members of the Real Estate Institute.

The institute says it is not threatened by the prospect of losing control of the industry. Vice-president Mike Elford says the organisation will still have a role to play. He thinks that on the whole the changes are necessary.

There will be six weeks for consultation before the Government draws up legislation.

The industry has been self-regulated since 1976.

About 100,000 buyers purchase property in New Zealand each year.

Website to Sell Nonexistent Real Estate

HONOLULU - Real estate is often a long-term investment. But 10,000 years? Lo'ihi Development Co. will soon start offering oceanview lots speculators won't even be able to stand on for many millennia. That's because they're currently submerged more than 3,000 feet below sea level _ on an underwater volcano called Lo'ihi, located about 20 miles southeast of the Big Island.

His Web site will be renovated in the next couple of weeks to officially begin selling parcels for an introductory price of $39.95. Buyers will receive a brochure and a "deed," but much like Internet groups that claim to sell stars, they probably can't call themselves owners.

"What's the scam?" said Norm Nichols, co-developer of the online venture. "If you really think there's something here that you can't live with, nobody's forcing you to buy it. It's meant to be fun."

The Web site advertises, "Lo'ihi Seaview Estates: Real Estate for the Future. Grand Water View Front Lots." A photo of the sales office is a raft in the middle of the ocean.

Nichols and his business partner, Linda Kramer, both Honolulu entrepreneurs, envision online chat rooms and newsletters to discuss everything from street names to what kind of government to install. They want to hold a "homeowners association" meeting _ a boat ride over the volcano _ every April Fool's Day.

Scientists don't really know when, or if, Lo'ihi will break the surface of the Pacific Ocean. Many guess about 10,000 years, but it could be much longer than that.

Stephen Levins, head of the state consumer affairs office, said the offer could be a problem if it were serious. "However, if the Web site is clear it's a parody and you're not going to be receiving an actual interest in real estate, that's something else," he said.

On the Net:

Lo'ihi Seaview Estates: http://www.petroglyphs.com/loihi/default.htm

A service of the Associated Press(AP)

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