69 Cemento armato

Not a topic for those farmhouse renovation junkies out there but...

We are considering buying some land with a cemento armato which we would then have completed. We would be interested in financing part of the total cost with an Italian mortgage. Without wanting to get in to a big debate about the pro's and con's onf Italian mortgages, we are having some difficulty finding an Italian mortgage lender that is willing to finance it because it is not a finished property nor is it a renovation of an existing property.

Anyone able to shed any light on this or point us in the direction of a suitable mortgage lender?
:?

Category
Property Sales/Rental Advice

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 02/17/2005 - 13:16

We have friends who also planned to do the same thing. In the end they got cold feet as were concerned re the risk of escalating costs etc. However, I know they discussed such a mortgage with Banca Della Marche who were fully prepared to finance such a project. You do not say where you are considering buying but if it is in Le Marche it should not be a problem. Basically the bank needed proof from the commune that the land had been granted planning permission along with the usual proof of income etc. They were prepared to finance up to 80% of the value of the plot. As the house is being built, they consider that the value of the plot increases so will pay out a bit more. i.e: If the land is worth say 40,000 Euros they will initially finance a max of 80% (32,000), the house starts to be built so adding value to the plot which becomes worth 100,000 euros, they will then make up the difference to a max of 80% of the new value (80,000) and so on until it is complete and the total sum agreed at the start is reached. In effect they gradually drip feed the money as they do not want to give the full sum which then disappears and the house never materialises. The interest rates were the same as any other mortgage.
Hopefully this all makes some sense - the good news is that it is possible, even if you are not planning on Le Marche, it would be worth approaching the local bank in your area as they may well offer something similar.
Good luck with the project
Anne2

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 02/18/2005 - 04:05

Thanks for that Anne2. The area is Western Liguria and I think it's a slightly different situation to your friends as we are not actually buying the property until the cemento armato is finished i.e. the current owner of the land is responsible for building up to this point. This seemed to be the less stress option for us as the owner won't receive any money until they finish the cemento armato. It looks like the Banca Woolwich will consider a mortgage AFTER we have completed on the cemento armato to cover the cost of making it habitable.