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Why Invest In Italy?
The breathtaking natural beauty spanning volcanic black beaches and glacier-carved lakes, a dizzying anthology of artistic treasures, excellent food and wine and a populace prone to spontaneous trattoria singalongs have universal appeal. The dolce vita, or 'sweet life', is not a cliché, it's a proud national emblem. Many visitors leave haunted by the feeling that they've seen their personal paradise. Some return and commit to Italy in the most emphatic way possible: they purchase a tiny piece of it. Italy sells itself.Volumes have been written over centuries by expatriate poets and authors trying to capture the essence of Italy's magic, and every conceivable metaphor has been elaborated for this purpose. No matter how you deconstruct this unique fascination, one common theme almost always emerges. Simply put, Italy makes people happy.
Those looking to put a spark back in married life make the pilgrimage. Those looking for an escape from the confined space of their office cubicle can contemplate infinity on the shores of the Mediterranean. Those looking to improve their physical health can feast on fresh ingredients in any trattoria. Those looking for human contact only need board a train - they can count on a nearby passenger to spill his or her life story. Italy is a miracle cure for most ailments and a prescription for feeling good.
Sounds like a bunch of cliché? Perhaps - but most clichés are true and that may explain why people identify so strongly with this country. Consider the following seductive stereotypes.
Solar over Lunar
It has been said that the Italians are governed by the sun, while those who live further north are governed by the moon. Smiles and laughter are more forthcoming and extrovert or having a bubbly disposition are prized personal traits. Sunshine makes grapes blacker and lemons sweeter and colours the local diet. Warmth also heats libidos (it has been noted that Italian men fall in love frightfully fast). On the other hand, when the sun does not shine brightly, this careful balance of elements is off kilter. Prolonged exposure to the cold and rain would do untold damage to the Italian character.
Quality over Quantity
This is another truism, seen especially in Italy's retail world. An elegant woman prefers to drop several hundred euros on a single item rather than fill her closet. A businessman will purchase one pair of hand-stitched leather shoes per year and polish them regularly rather than buy replacements. Those who can afford it would drive a Ferrari over a garage full of Fiats. Quality is the only criteria considered in cooking. For example, deciding what to eat has little to do with cravings. It has to do with what produce is available at the local market that morning.
Italy's elongated shape reads like an inverted thermometer, with heat waves in the south and freezes in the north. Geography and climate have produced a cuisine celebrated for being low in fat and cholesterol. Olive oil replaces butter, and fresh vegetables, meat and fish are boiled, stewed and grilled in infinite combinations. Even wine is hailed as health food now that it has been discovered that a glass or two a day is good for the human heart and spirit. A French food critic once brushed off Italian cooking as too simplistic. He said that it was all based on a combination of two things: flour and tomato. An Italian colleague had a quick reply up his sleeve: "That's where its genius lies".
Small over Big
Everything seems petite in Italy - cars, streets, parking places, men women but not the restaurant portions. Italy is a reasonably big country but it is so tightly packed that you can travel to Naples from Rome in less than two hours. Wander a few kilometres from home and you're likely to discover a whole new world with different dialects, cultures and cuisines. Wander across the piazza in front of your home and you're likely to run into a long-lost friend.
Slow over Fast
Italians love life in the slow lane (....but see below). A Sunday lunch is a full day's occupation. Coffee and cigarette-breaks at the office are not an exercise in brevity. If they were measured in mere minutes, they would not be a break at all. Dinner wouldn't taste as good if you gathered all the ingredients at the local convenience store. This is the reason why we are also promoting the real taste of Italy with www.italyoverseas.com. The perfect meal entails finding the best bread store, travelling kilometres to the best butcher then backtracking to the best pastry shop. Even during the most hectic days, most find a quiet moment to read the newspaper.
Fast over Slow
Italians love life in the fast lane just as much. Speed demos dominate the roads and literally edge slower vehicles out of their way. Wisecracks and humour are exchanged like rapid fire and Italians have an uncanny swiftness when it comes to 'getting with the program'. They know how not to stand in a queue and yet be the first in the line. Love at first sight is faster than the speed of light, and a sincere smile flashed in a second can be the start of a lifelong friendship.
If you are as unmoved by those stereotypes as Italy is not just the country of pizza dough-throwing, mandolin-playing, moustache-twirling playboys singing "O Sole Mio" with a red-checked tablecloth around their waist, then consider these more tangible reasons to move to Italy.
First and foremost is quality of life. All other considerations -ranging from beautiful surroundings, geography, better weather, good food and wine, healthy living and cheaper prices- fall under this heading. Without a doubt, quality of life is what sets Italy above the rest. Investing in the country doesn't just mean buying a new home, it means acquiring a new lifestyle to go with it.
People with a penchant for aesthetics will have all their senses satisfied. By most accounts, Italy houses half of the world's artistic treasures, spanning from fine art to architecture. There is simply too much to explore in one lifetime.
Beauty as well as healthy living brought English Romantic poets like Keats and Shelley. Both moved to Italy to escape tuberculosis and the damp of home, and both found their final resting place in Roma.
Why Buy?
There are two main reasons why foreigners buy property in Italy. The first is because they are in the market for a holiday home, and the second is because they are looking for a sound investment for their savings. Following that, other motivations get drawn into the mix. For example, some simply want to live in Italy, or open a business. Others identify with Italian family values and choose to raise their own children there. Others still come to enjoy good weather and good food in their retirement years.
No matter what your reason, buying a house will certainly propel you into a whole other level of intimacy with Italy and the Italians. And during that process, you will undergo a personal transformation. You will become a little more italiano and a little less straniero (foreigner). So as you become a little more italiano, you also become a little more cittadino del mondo (citizen of the world).
From Monica Larner & JohnHowell: Buying a Property in Italy
Italy for Investment
Italy accounts for about 10% of the overseas property market, and cheap flights are dramatically boosting interest among would-be buyers. Is also a fact that it is one of the safest countries in Europe in which to own property as buyers have a high degree of protection under Italian law. Italy remains one of Europe’s most popular tourist destinations and offers surprisingly good value for money. Based on UNESCO studies, Italy owns more than 50% of the world historical and artistic heritage.
Foreign interest in Tuscany, especially the area south of Florence known as "Chiantishire", has so inflated the market that most restored farmhouses are unattainable. Now they are bought and sold by pop and movie stars and the elite of the business world.
A similar phenomenon is now under way in Umbria considered the “anti-Tuscany” because its prices were so much lower than its neighbour.
Property prices in these desirable areas have rocketed, and there are pockets where they have increased by as much as 50% in a year.
Many owners of second homes in both areas view the rental market as a means of covering the running expenses of their property or, with a little forward planning, as a source of revenue.
Much of Tuscany and Umbria has become very expensive.
Where in Italy?
Chances are that you have already fallen, irretrievably, for the charms of the bel paese - the fair country.
If you are now house-hunting, Properties Around Italy pride themselves in finding the right area and property for you. Whilst some of us go for the sunny shores of the Adriatic coast, others may wish to languish in the mountain regions of Abruzzo.
Whether it is your desire to purchase a beach front apartment, a typical town house in a medieval village, a historical “palazzo” of the XVI century, a typical Italian farmhouse or an “Agriturismo” property in order to commence your new business in your new country (together with your new life!), then Properties Around Italy are here to make your dream come true.