Buying a home in the Big Apple. It is the dream of many around the world, but especially many Italians. In fact, New York is, according to surveys, the most beloved foreign city for Italians.
So let’s take a look at what it takes to realize this dream. First of all, no, you do not have to be an American citizen. In fact, you don’t even need a visa to buy real estatein America-or in New York in this case. On the other hand, a real estate purchase will not give you a chance to get any visa, subject to a few exceptions – see EB5 program, but this has to do with qualified projects in deprived areas, and deserves separate discussion.
The only ingredient needed is liquid assets to finance the investment. Generally one can start already with a budget around 500,000 euros up to multi-million dollar purchases. As a price per square meter we are not too far from the values of major Italian cities, such as Rome and Milan, and you can buy around 10,000 euros per square meter. Slightly more complicated, on the other hand, is the mortgage issue, as those who have no income in the United States hardly qualify for local banks. There are, however, mortgage broker options that can find financing: normally not exceeding 50 percent of the purchase price and with rates 1-3 percent higher than the national average (today about 6.5 percent).
That said, the type of real estate we are going to consider certainly deserves a closer look. Aside from Town Houses, which would be the townhouses (along the lines of Sex and the City, to be clear), Condominiums & Coops make it big in the city.
The concept of condominiums is very similar to what we have in Italy, where you can buy the property, rent it, finance it, renovate it and be the actual owner of the walls. Different is the case with coops, which are run by a board of directors that very often does not authorize the rental of them, or at least limits it quite a bit, definitely favoring their purchase as a primary residence. In addition, the buyer of these types of properties is subjected to extensive document requirements and must pass board approval. A number of historical celebrity rejections of some mansions are very famous: it caused a stir, for example, Madonna’s rejection: it is said that the mansion did not want to have paparazzi outside, as well as some reservations about her lifestyle…
The advantage of these co-ops is sometimes the price, on which you can get up to a 20 percent discount compared to condominiums. This, clearly, is also due to the restrictions involved.
Last consideration deserves it, in my opinion, the historical moment in which we find ourselves. The market today is definitely opportunistic from a price point of view, especially for those who buy cash – thus without using a mortgage. Even, on selected properties we are seeing discounts of 10% to 30%, which for NY is very rare, being a mature market with stable values. Rising interest rates and the geo-political situation has certainly contributed to this uncertainty and on the other hand has created fantastic opportunities for those who are ready to act. On the other hand, those with a nest egg still choose New York and real estate as a safe haven asset over other assets and locations in the way. The Big Apple is, in fact, still a guarantee and a new real estate cycle is presumably beginning: we expect prices to soar in the coming years.
Who, then, is ready to call Central park, 5th Avenue or Wall Street home? Now, more than ever, you can!
The article Home in New York? The dream of many Italians comes from TheNewyorker.
