# How much are your monthly/yearly costs for the apartment you own ?



## 50cent (May 3, 2017)

Hello,

I am a young working man. I am exploring the possibility to buy my own 'place in the sun'.
Italy is one of the few countries I did narrow my choice down to.
I will use it as a holiday home - I will be roughly 1 to 1.5 months per year there. When I
retire (in about 30 years), I will most probably move there permanently.
My goal is to buy a 3-room (or, as you call it - 2 bedroom) apartment, around 70-85 m2.
What is most important for me - to have the lowest possible cost when I am not there.
Hence, please kindly let me know what are the recurring monthly/yearly costs that you
have to keep paying. I will number the items, in order to aid you in writing your answers:

1) Water and electricity - those should be clear. Costs are according the the readings of
the corresponding meters. Do you have anything else to add ?

2) Condominio (I hope I am calling this right) - what I mean by this, are the regular
maintenance and repair cost for the apartment building and for utilities of the common
space, like the staircase, corridors like electricity for them and keeping them clean, etc.

3) I know that in Italy, there is a property ownership tax. Even 2 of them - IMU and TASI. I found on the internet, that primary homes are relieved from this tax. Bearing in mind what I wrote above - do I qualify as a primary home (no other property in Italy) or a primary home is considered only if I stay there most of the time ?

4) The apartment should also be insured against natural disasters and other damage
like fire, etc. - does any of you have such an insurance ? How much is it per year ?

5) Are there any additional recurring costs, that I didn't think about ?

Many many thanks for your answers and advice!


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## NickZ (Jun 26, 2009)

Water will be by the meter.

Both electricity and gas have monthly minimum fees. They cover the cost of providing the services to your home. I think I pay €18 every two months for gas even if I'm not home

You would have to pay IMU and the garbage tax. It sounds like you're one person. Between that and a vacation home it won't be much. But the amount various by town.

Condo fees vary by the building. It's something to ask the estate agent. Not all buildings have one. Some buildings have central heating meaning higher fees.

Who is going to look after the place when you're away? I wouldn't want to leave a place empty for ten months without somebody checking it occasionally. These days you can get many bills electronically but you might still get something in the mailbox.


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## 50cent (May 3, 2017)

Dear NickZ,

many thanks for the detailed reply!
About gas - I'll unsubscribe from that, because I consider it very dangerous.
There will be 2 persons registered at the address.
How much would be the IMU and how much the garbage tax ? I am looking at 2 possible areas - Mestre and Sardiny (either Cagliari or Olbia). Could you please look up the exact amounts for me ?
My italian is very poor, though I will learn it, if I chose Italy as a country.
I am planning to go there roughly twice a year - in the automn and in the spring. Maybe also for Christmas/New Year. But yes, there will be periods of 6-7 or more months when I won't be able to go there. I'd be checking options for mail forwarding. Or perhaps some neighbour might be friendly enough to check the mailbox from time to time, it depends.
Anyway, I will inform everybody I get in touch with, that a letter in the mailbox would be the most unreliable way to get in touch with me.


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## 50cent (May 3, 2017)

I tried to do some research on my own, and still, what I'm reading is totally unclear:

Italian News - Dr.Claudio Del Giudice

This new tax is levied at two rates 0.4 % on the value main residences and 0.76% on the value of most other properties.

-> When I will be spending just 1.5-2 months per year there, will the authorities recognize it as my main residence (as I won't own anything else in Italy) or they'll say that I live in another country, so it's a second home for me ???

From the tax actually payable on the main residence a standard Euro 200 deduction is allowed

-> While 0.4% of the value might be a lot, minus 200 EUR would decrease this tax a lot and will be something I absolutely can live with.


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## GeordieBorn (Jul 15, 2016)

You will have to pay house tax (IMU & TASI) as a second home. The cost will likely depend on the castrale value of any property you buy. You can't really estimate the cost until you have a place in mind.


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## 50cent (May 3, 2017)

Thank you, GordieBorn,

so, regardless of the fact, that I don't own other property in Italy, it will be classified as a second home ? And very roughly - what is the ratio between market and cadastral value ? Let's say for example an apartment, that sells for 100 000 EUR ? How much would that approximately be ?


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## NickZ (Jun 26, 2009)

There are older apartments that the value was set in the 1930s and hasn't been updated. There are new apartments the value is current. You can't know without having a property in mind. The estate agent should be able to get you this information.

If you're afraid of gas how will you heat the apartment? Electricity will cost way too much. You won't likely want to deal with wood. Even pellets can be a hassle in an apartment.


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## 50cent (May 3, 2017)

I am from central Europe - this is several hundred KMs in the north of Italy.
In my country, most of the buildings have very good insulation and high-quality modern windows. The winters here are quite cold and very very long. We have central heating.
Despite all of that, I am almost not using the heating. I just put on a thick pullover and
I'm OK. I think that in Italy it should be much better... Especially on Sardiny...
Anyway, maybe I should really look for another country, Italy is very attractive for me, because I have very good transport connections and cheap flights there. Also, the language is very easy to learn and it seems easy to get a citizenship through naturalization as well...

Many thanks for your help! If you would like to add anything else, I would be very thankful!
You, on the Italy forum gave me the best answers. Another countries where I posted the same questions, I am not getting any answers :-/


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