Expert
Property Advice
from Portofino
to Saint-Tropez
Expert Property Advice from Portofino to Saint-Tropez
A legal background (Genoa Bar Exam 1995) with 30 years of buying, financing, restoring, developing, and selling international properties of 5 MIL plus, and multi-unit assets of 10 MIL plus.
Property Expert Luca Catalano, LLM
In the spring of 1994, I purchased my first property in South Kensington, London. I had just been gazumped, a frequent practice in England, meaning I had made an offer on another property in Pimlico, not far from Victoria Station, which I expected to successfully acquire before another buyer swooped in and outbid me.
At the time, I was completing my LLM (Master’s degree in law) in London. The reasoning didn’t seem difficult to me: the houses were relatively cheap compared to rental prices, and the finance side of residential real estate was thriving. Furthermore, I saw an opportunity, which indeed turned out to be one. Over the following two years, I got my bar exam in Italy (Genova, 1995) and officially became a solicitor/lawyer. However, my involvement in the real estate business gradually became my true new venture. This led me to dedicate myself almost exclusively to real estate development, first in London, and then in Italy and France (an area near Monaco, where I became a resident in 2000), mainly in the second home sector.
Expert Property Management and Investment Services
1. Services regarding existing properties in the portfolio
Assistance for all operations that the client may need: building permits, and amnesties, including access to bank financing that optimizes tax liabilities in some countries.
Since these aspects often require the preparation or management of recovery and renovation projects taking into account urban planning and construction issues, the role of the Property Expert is also to express an opinion on the most useful opportunities in each circumstance and to coordinate other specialized professionals such as architects, surveyors, structural engineers, and geologists, with precise timing and methods, especially because of the sale of the properties in question.
Supervision or organization of the sale or rental agreement for assets, even of significant value. The advantage of starting these activities under the professional management of the Property Expert is the substantial saving of time and money.
Expert Property Management and Investment Services
2. Management and coordination of the Due Diligence phase
Management and coordination of professionals and local firms that deal with specific aspects of the control processes during the due diligence phase: verification and control operations during the purchase, rental, and evaluation phases in the case of the purchase of real estate of a certain value, such as during the inheritance phase or attributions to family members.
Coordinating the core team of professionals (local lawyers, architects, etc.) is the key role of the Property Expert because it allows for higher efficiency of the processes related to the property and protects the interests of the property. The Property Expert becomes the specific reference for the reality of the real estate.
In the case of real estate agents, the synergy develops at a local level. For example, if the Property Expert is located in Monaco, real estate agents in Monaco can contact him for clients interested in purchasing a property in France or Italy, or outside the area of expertise. interpretation of these professional realities increases the quality standards of the services offered, reduces time, improves cost management, and affects the negotiating power of all the professionals in charge.
Expert Property Management and Investment Services
3. New acquisitions and real estate projects
All initiatives related to new acquisitions and new real estate projects focused on creating added value and returns on the sums invested: investment properties or development opportunities.
In collaboration with the Property Expert, initiatives can be addressed with mixed pricing modalities that include a share of the margin of the transaction in favor of the Property Expert, to reduce the risk for the Client, with a variable direct involvement of the same in the transaction.
In the first two cases, the Property Expert’s fees are calculated on an hourly rate for the time dedicated to each separate transaction; however, in the third scheme, the agreements provide for an annual percentage on the value of the individual project (normally 2%) to cover general and administrative costs, in addition to a percentage (20%) of the total margin (after deducting costs before taxes) resulting from each initiative.
