Latest news with #DoingItaly
CNBC
17-05-2025
- Business
- CNBC
42-year-old American pays $1,850 a month for a 3-bedroom apartment in Italy: 'People actually use their vacation time here'
Back in 2003, I spent a semester in L'Aquila, Italy and fell in love with the country. That study abroad experience changed the trajectory of my life. Two years later, I returned to pursue my master's degree in marketing management and communications at Bocconi University in Milan. Fashionable, fast-paced Milan was miles away from the sleepy, neighborly L'Aquila, and the city's nightlife actually reminded me of my hometown of Miami. After I finished school, I knew I wanted to stay. It was the beginning of a two-decade-long, and counting, love affair with Italy. I moved here permanently in 2012 after I married my Italian husband, Diego. Today, we live in Milan with our six-year-old son, Lorenzo. I run a company called Doing Italy to help other Americans make a home for themselves here. We rent a 1,227-square foot 3-bedroom, 2-bathroom apartment for about $1,850 a month. We've lived here for about three years. We found this place when Lorenzo was three. The apartment hadn't changed much in the last 40 years, so we set about renovating to make it feel more current, and more like us. In the United States, doing significant work a rental might be frowned upon. But in Italy, there are government incentives, like tax credits, for people renovating their homes, even renters. Our landlord also gave us eight months of free rent for renovating the apartment The renovations cost us about $41,000, but between the government rebates and the rent pause, we saved roughly $33,400. This bathroom is one of my favorite rooms, but it required a ton of work. We gutted it completely, changed the faucets and added the hexagon tiles, which I love. We sourced the tiles from an adorable, friendly and family-owned company in Tuscany. When we got here, the kitchen had not been renovated in about 40 years, so it needed a lot of work. We actually had our movers bring not just our kitchen wares from the old apartment, but the appliances, too. We tore out the sink and the stove from our old apartment, and had them installed in the new place. It was a memorable transition. We also added a few new cabinets and a new countertop. We demolished the existing wall tiles, but kept the ones on the floor. We also closed off two lateral doors that used to open up into the kitchen, to give us more countertop space. To open up the living space, we knocked down an entire wall. The living room has natural hardwood floors that we sanded and added a lighter stain. Since the flooring in that corridor space was tile, we sourced a bit of wood flooring to best match the rest of the room. The bookshelves, the grey couch and the lighting fixture are some fun focal points of the space. My son's favorite part of his room is the giant map that we put up on one side of the wall. He loves pointing out all the different locations on it. I love it because it helps bring all of our worlds together in one place. One of the most important additions we made to the apartment was the air conditioner in our bedroom. I grew up in Miami and my family is from the Caribbean, so I can handle a little heat. My husband on the other hand, not so much. I also love our dresser, which was handmade by my husband's great-grandfather in the 1800s. It needed a little bit of work to bring it back to life, so we had it restored. When we go to the market, there are so many quality ingredients to choose from. Fresh, delicious produce is relatively easy and accessible here. We source items like pasture range eggs, milk and butter either farms that are right outside the city, or from the farmer's market in the city. Leisure time is also a serious business in Italy. A perfect example of this is the evening ritual and tradition of the aperitivo. As soon as the workday ends, people will stop into a café for a glass of wine and food for an hour or two. It's deeply ingrained culturally, so much that whenever we leave the park after school, my son says "facciamo un 'peritivo'" — although he very adorably doesn't pronounce the "a." We'll head over to a neighborhood spot with our friends. The kids get their own table with juice and chips, the grown-ups will sit at our table with our adult beverages, and no one looks at us like we're inconveniencing them. I love raising my son in Milan. Having kids here doesn't mean your social life ends. There are a ton of parks, galleries and museums, and a wide variety of family-friendly activities. On average, Italians get four to six weeks of paid vacation every year, and unlike in the U.S., people actually use their vacation time. From Milan, we can get to Lake Como or Genova, on the seaside, in under two hours, and those are just the easy day trips. I grew up in a middle-class immigrant family. The fact that I now get to regularly vacation in places like Italian Dolomites and spend weekends in Vienna is not something I take for granted. I feel incredibly blessed, and I couldn't be happier to be here.
Irish Examiner
04-05-2025
- Business
- Irish Examiner
US demand for Irish passports soars as many Americans consider moving to Europe
US applications for Irish passports were at their highest level in a decade in the first two months of this year, as an increasing number of Americans consider moving to Europe in the wake of Donald Trump's election as president. Average monthly passport applications in January and February of nearly 4,300 were up about 60% from last year, according to data from the Department of Foreign Affairs. It was a similar case for other European countries. Applications for British passports in the last three months of 2024 — the latest period for which data is available — were higher than any quarter in the past two decades, with 1,708 applications submitted. Surge in visa applications In France, government data showed that long-stay visa requests from Americans stood at 2,383 in the first three months of 2025, compared to a total of 1,980 over the same period last year. From January to March, French authorities granted 2,178 long-stay visas versus 1,787 the year before. Relocation companies and websites helping people to emigrate say that, at any given time in recent years, a significant number of Americans have shown an interest in moving abroad, citing issues including political divisions and gun violence. Some stars left the US after Mr Trump's re-election in November, including talk show host Ellen DeGeneres and actress Rosie O'Donnell. Ms O'Donnell has moved to Ireland and has spoken of making efforts to secure Irish citizenship. Thea Duncan, the founder of Milan-based relocation business Doing Italy, said she has been receiving enquiries nearly every day since the election from ordinary Americans seeking information. Uncertainty in the US 'People are uncertain about what's happening and what's going to happen,' Ms Duncan said. In Britain, a company of lawyers called Immigration Advice Service said it had seen a more than 25% increase in enquiries from the US. Its director, Ono Okeregha, said several clients had expressed worries over political changes under the Trump administration, particularly over rights for same-sex couples as several states consider weakening protections for their marriages. However, there are many hurdles for would-be American emigrants. a relocation platform, identified some of the disincentives: difficulties in securing jobs abroad, restrictions on remote work, lower salaries in Europe, and the US tax system — which taxes its citizens on worldwide income. For those who proceed, however, there are several visa options. Digital nomads visa for remote workers in countries such as Portugal, Spain and Italy are popular. Retirement visas, work permits and student visas are also in high demand, according to relocation firms. But some people here in Europe — already struggling to cope with mass tourism and a housing crisis — don't relish the prospect of more foreign arrivals. National authorities are restricting some controversial schemes that offered access to visas for the wealthy. The option of buying real estate to secure a golden visa is no longer a possibility in Portugal, and the Spanish scheme ended in April after the system was criticised for stoking an affordable housing crisis. Rebeca Caballero, from Spanish real estate developer Gilmar, said they had received an influx of interest from American clients in the six months before the scheme ended. "I secured investments from three clients who bought homes for the golden visa without even coming to see them," Caballero said. Reuters
