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LA TORRETTA Q&A
1.
How much would the renovation cost ?
The
estimated cost of renovation is between 220,000 and 330,000 Euros, (=
$250,000 to $370,000) including the swimming pool, depending on the quality of
the job and finishing. Eg:hand-made
terracotta tiles vs industrially produced ones / under-the-floor heating
vs traditional one based on radiators / bathroom fixtures of design vs cheap
ones, etc....
No
renovation as been done yet.
2. How would you have renovated La
Torretta?
Every
renovation project must start from the roof .
You need to carefully dismantle it, taking care not
to break the beautiful old tiles with their time patina, then replace the rotten
logs, put a thick layer of modern insulation, and then re-assemble the tiles on
it.
But in parallel I would have also started working on
the Barn, http://www.italiahome.com/torretta/barn.htm
to renovate it in –let’s say- 2 months. The
barn is right in front of the main house, at the other end of the garden, let's
say something like 25 metres away.
Once
completed, it will comprise a large room of approx 35 square metres, plus a
small bathroom (shower, lavabo, WC) and small kitchen. The doors will be
organized in a way to avoid direct air-flow from these 2 places to the main
room.
The
main room will be divided into bedroom and dining-living-tv room.
The
overall cost for renovation, including the bathroom and kitchen equipment, the
taxes for the Italian Government (because the barn was not originally destined
to residential use and the wanr a tax of approx 4kEuros), roof insulation,
heating, gas, water, electricity, etcetera (but not the TV, the bed and whatever
furniture you may want), will be in the range of 40 to 45 K Euros.
The
barn could be a nice "lovers nest" from where to witness, monitor and manage
the renovation of the main house and tower, and in the future could be a
visitors quarter, or simply an extra unit to rent-out to tourists.
3. Is it
difficult or lengthy to obtain a renovation permission ?
The
local “geometra” has confirmed that the renovation plan which was done by my
architect is OK and will get a speedy approval (2-3 months).
This
is not surprising if you consider that the renovation alters virtually nothing
of the present status, with the exception of bringing-back some symmetry in the
facades by opening a couple of windows and moving another one or two.
Only
modification likely to be required: the pergola should be on wooden pillars
rather than on the bricks-cement columns shown in the drawings.
Worst
case scenario: they require that the pergola is on wooden pillars, and moved few
metres away from the house.
The
swimming pool must be within the 6m x 12 metres size.
The
geometra is : Enzo Rossi, tel +39-0575-658551off , +39-335-676150 mobile. His
assistant speaks English.
(
FYI: the geometra is a sort of country-side architect. This one is born here and
is in daily contact with the local office that grants authorizations. He is the
one who obtained for me the permission to divert the small road to the edge of
the property.)
4.
Why didn’t you apply for the renovation permission?
I haven't applied for permission of my renovation because
when the design was ready I already started being in financial trouble, and
postponed the whole thing to better days.
Instead of better days, I got some worst ones, and I now
sell the house.
5.
Is the house livable today ?
The
structure is NOT livable today, unless you are a teenager with a sleeping bag
and not caring to use the countryside as your toilet. The structure is in good
condition, there are no leakings in the roof, but there is no running water, no
toilet, no kitchen.
I am now sorting-out with the architect for another
interested buyer how to create a "starter kit" , ie: a minimum
infrastructure to allow few people to live there while the Torretta is being
restored, and try to pgive it a cost and a lead-time to be ready. Once the
results will be available, I'll let you know.
- no electric wiring can presently be deemed as
"safe". It is mandatory to make it new, so to obtain the
"inhabiting authorization" from local authorities.
- no bathroom there. Just the archeological remains of a
toilet, which I would not recommend using.
In the countryside, houses were inhabited by animals on the
ground floor, and by humans on the 1st floor. Unfortunately, such humans had
lower hygiene standards than us, decadent bourgeois of the 21st century.
- the well is meant to be a back-up to the town drinking
water in case of drought, and also a source for the swimming pool because
filling it with town water would be rather costly.
6. Is the structure
solid ?
Yes,
the walls and structures are OK, but it needs all the electricity and piping,
etc.
However,
the number 1 point to start from in all renovations projects is the roof .
You
need to check all wooden poles and
replace the weak ones, then put a layer of insulation (which was not known last
century), and finally check all terracotta tiles on the roof and eventually
replace the defective ones.
Once
the roof is consolidated and insulated, the house is assured against weather
nuisances, and all other works can start.
So
the property is at present in what I call a "camping-style" status.
You
can put a bed and sleep there, but you will need to use a flashlight in the
night, and the olive trees will be your toilet.
7.
New path for the small road passing in front of the house
the
re-direction of the white road does not involve the opinion of my neighbors.
Because the white road is not a private one; it is a "public path for the
country workers" or something like that. So, it is used by everybody, and
in particular by those who work in the fields nearby.
I
applied to the local council asking to divert it , I got the authorization, and
that's it.
Obviously,
the authorized new path must guarantee that the neighbors and the field workers
will not get any sort of discomfort by the new set-up versus the old status-quo.
Pls,
have a look at the map attached http://www.italiahome.com/torretta/smallroad.htm
, where I drew in red the re-directed road. As
you see, the neighbors will only need to do 2 more turns if compared to before,
but nothing else.
By
the way, the only neighbors using this small road are those living in the house
on the right edge of my property.
Also,
the road is not a dead-end one, and normally the neighbors use it from the other
end, ie: not passing in front of La Torretta (this is their personal choice;
they are free to use it from the other end too, of course).
8. Cost of purchase:
a) tax of 2% of the declared value, if you are (or will become) resident in the
house, which will then be your "main residency".
This
applies as well to foreigners that decide to become Italian residents.
b) if a) does not apply, you pay a tax of 10 to 20 % (I do nor
remember) of the declared value if the house is a holiday house. This applies
equally to both foreigners and Italians. This incentivates the buyer to declare
a low value of purchase (see also point d)
c) fee of the notary: I do not remember, but consider something in the range of
6 to 7 KE.
d)
consider that after 5 years from the purchase there is no more added-value tax
on the plus-value you might resell the house for.
In
my case, I am still within the 5 years, so I have a strong motivation to
sell at a low "declared value", otherwise I would have to pay around
45% of the plus-value.
e) what is the "declared value" ? in Italy , the Land Registry has all
houses and flats on record, and has attributed to each a value.
Today,
thanks to inflation, the European property boom, etc.. the Official Value of my
house is around 100 KE.
So,
whoever buys it and declares that he paid for it 110 KE makes the Italian Govmt
happy, because it will be able to collect a slightly higher tax than the minimum
one on the transaction.
No
evidence of the actual money transaction is required.
f) on top of the above, consider another 1 to 2 K E for miscellanea.
(I took the following info from the website of a Tuscany property agent, so it should be really precise)
TAXATION
(Only one of the taxation bands listed below will apply, depending on which
category the property buyer falls into);
When buying a property in Italy the sale is generally made with the assistance
of a surveyor or an estate agent and a solicitor (official representative of the
Italian Government). At the moment of the Solicitor contract the buyer has to
pay (directly to the Solicitor) some government taxes and the Solicitor.
--3% on the price declared for the main building if it will be used as first
residence in Italy (the buyer has to take the residence in Italy and he has 18
months starting from the purchase act to do that);
--10% on the price declared for all the buildings where is not possible take the
residence;
--4% V.A.T. on the price declared for the main building if the seller is a
company (the buyer has to take the residence in Italy and he has 18 months
starting from the purchase act to do that);
--10% V.A.T. on the price declared for the main building if the seller is a
company and the buyer doesn't take the residence and for all the other
buildings;
--18% on the declared price for the agricultural land if the buyer is a private;
--20% on the declared price for the purchase if the seller is a company that
hasn’t in its object the properties purchase/sale;
--11% on the declared price for the agricultural land if the buyer is a
agricultural businessman(he has three years starting form the Solicitor contract
to show that is an agricultural businessman); --4% on the declared price for the
agricultural land if the buyer is a farmer who's cultivating the land by himself
for all the year long;
--1% on the declared price for the agricultural land if the buyer is a farmer
who's cultivating the land by himself for all the year long it can demand the
facility of PICCOLA PROPRIETA CONTADINA (INFORMATION IN AGENCY);
--If the property is owned by a limited company, it is possible to transfer to
the buyer the quotas or shares of the company and therefore there is an high
saving and all the buyer has to pay is a fixed tax of around 1,000.00 euro.
9. Appliances
I
have applied for electricity a couple of years ago, but never actually
progressed my application, due to the decision to postpone the works.
However,
it is a matter of days to get the electricity in any quantity you might need.
I
intended to ask for 10 KWH, so to make sure the 3 units (main house, tower and
barn) and the swimming pool would get sufficient power.
Water:
the water from the local authority is available at the Torretta, but , again, I
didn't make a request.
I digged a 110-metre
deep (!!) well tapping the first and the second sources of underground drinking
water, and I am the only one in the neighbourhood to have done so. This would
allow the Torretta a secure supply of drinking water even in a drought like the
one of last summer 2003.
Gas: the city gas is available at the church, which is 200 m from
La Torretta, and which is the last building of a small village (Montecchio
Vespone, AREZZO).
10. Mortgage?
I
presently have a mortgage on the house which costs about 8k Euro every six
months.
There
are still 200k € to pay, and the buyer -if interested- could take it over if
he has the minimum requirements, such as a job and a salary. So, the buyer who
takes-over my mortgage will have to pay me approx 195k€ or so, he will take
the mortgage for the other 200k€, and cash he saves could be better
used in the short term to restore the property.
If
you prefer to look for some new financing by yourself, as you know rates are low
and the offer is strong.
11. A brief description of La Torretta property
The house today on sale is composed by :
-
Main house
of approx. cubic shape comprising G/F and 1/F, of approx 125 sqm each. Tot of
approx : 250 sqm.
-
Tower
on 3 levels, for a total of approx
:
70 sqm
-
Bread oven and cellar
: 8 sqm
-
Barn
composed a by a large room and 2 smaller rooms for approx
: 40 sqm
-
Old water reservoir
: 20 sqm
The house is located at he centre of 3.7
acres (1.5 Hectars) of land, mostly olive trees terraces.
In total there are today 410 olive trees,
giving a low output, due to the neglect they suffered for many years.
Once cured by proper pruning, fertilizing
and cleaning from grass, they could well produce 5 to 8 litres of excellent
extra-vergin olive oil each.
Between the house and the barn there is a large flat area, suitable for an open air patio for dining and for a garden. The flat area actually continues behind the barn with a large and spacious terrace, where the swimming pool could very well be located.
(Pls, note that there is no swimming pool as
of today).
In front of the house, in the direction of
the castle (southward), there is another flat area presently used to grow olive
trees, which could become a second
larger garden or a kids playground, etc..
The small white road passing in front of the
house is presently used only by the house owners and the people living in the
house down the road ; however, the road exit in front of the church is quite
steep and the road itself continues after the other house, which prompts the
inhabitants of the other house to use the small road from the other end,
therefore not passing in front of the Torretta.
In any case, I already obtained the
permission to divert the small road to the edge of the property, thus leaving
the garden and the main flat area completely free from strangers traffic.
A well was digged at the depth of 110
metres, in order to reach the first fresh water supply (at approx 30 m.) and
the second one too. The second one is much larger and untapped by the
neighbours, and will ensure abundant supply of excellent fresh water even during
the summer droughts that frequently affect Tuscany.
Also, the swimming pool and the high number
of bathrooms forecasted in the renovation project will make an alternative
reliable water supply something like a must.
A house like this one, in this position,
once restored and decorated with taste (which does not necessarily mean
“expensively”) and equipped with a swimming pool, will be able to command
the following approximate rents:
-
2,500 to 4,000 Euro / week
for the Main House (5 bedrooms)
-
1,200 to 1,800 Euro / week
for the Tower (2 bedrooms)
for the period April to October (included) +
2 weeks for Christmas.
We recently interviewed a person in the same
Cortona area renting out a 4-bedroom farmhouse to foreigners, and he told me
that he started his activity in 2002 and during the same year he rented his
house for 34 weeks.
____
^^