Expert: Tami Coleman-Maro - 9/18/2008

Question
Hi,

I have a very complicated question, and would deeply appreciate answer(even a rough guess!). OK, 3 families own a villa in Northern Italy on the unfahsionable Italian Riviera near Ventimiglia (1 large villa, with numerous rooms with 7 bedrooms(sleeping c.15 people in full, plus drawing-room/dining-room/kitchen/and 3 terraces)
1 small-sized,3-roomed 1-floor house for 3 people and 1 very small, 2-roomed, 1-floor house,separate toilet, for 2 people). I belong to one of the families, and we now have a timeshare arrangement where we stay separately in alternating months every year. Trouble is one family is under the delusion that the place is worth 5-6 million pounds. My own guess is that it may be worth as little as 600,000 pounds for the following reasons, outlined below, and I'd like your professional opinion based on that(even though you can't travel there to have a look - I'll provide links to some photos of the place further down):-

The property is terraced as it's on a steep slope going down to the sea(c. 10-12 terraces in depth before the beach-gate to the sea, with the houses at the top). The land itself was valued at somewhere between 250,000 or 300,000 euros, c.10(?) years ago. The 3 buildings were reportedly built with relatively shoddy building material in the 1950s but have recently been done up(ie no more cracks appearing in the ceilings/walls as a result of trains going through a tunnel below the property by the coast. The garden(quite large) has an ugly concrete fortress on the right side of the garden, which the railway authorities had to build so as to protect the tunnel(and our houses) from having cracks developing due to the rumble of trains going by underneath - the trains don't make any noticeable noise, by the way).

The garden itself is relatively well-kept on the left-hand side facing the sea, with fruit and veg being grown, the walls of the terraces collapse every so often in a few places, and are rebuilt(we need to install some special support to prevent this in future)- the right hand side is mostly wild - the most frequent plants in the entire garden are cactuses/cacti.

Anyway, the other family claim that, due to the property's "sentimental value", that the place is worth c.5-6 million pounds. I've pointed out that the Italian Riviera is much less desirable a location than the French Riviera:- for one thing, there are very strict planning-laws which prevent properties simply being torn down or built up just like that, whereas the French Riviera has much looser restrictions(due to dodgy gangster-friendly politicians there) - the result is that there are no big hotels on the Italian side. Also, the really desirable places for the rich are Cap Ferrat and St Tropez in France or the Emerald Coast in Italy - the nearest fashionable place in Italy, San Remo, is a 100 miles away or more, and the rich prefer to live together, generally speaking.The property is, however, within 20(?) minutes drive of Monaco/Monte Carlo and 3/4 hour(?) drive to Nice, by motorway. Oh, and there's a railway going right next to the coast on the Italian Riviera, which is one main reason why there are very few, if any, hotels/seaside resorts on the Italian side, and why there is very little tourism in that area. We're one of the few properties with direct access to the sea for miles.

There is direct access to the beach, but the beach, being near the border, is owned by the Italian Navy, so is public(we get strangers going there at weekends and school-holidays). There is no lift to the beach, unlike in our neighbours, so old or very unfit people find it difficult to go up the steps from the sea. The beach is basically just rocks and pebbles, with no sand, except in the sea.

Oh, yes, the rent my mother quoted for renting the big villa was, recently, 3,000 euros per week. It cost a further 750 euros to get the smallest, 2-roomed house, for a week, the middle house has never been rented for some silly inconsequential  reason. These are, apparently, average market-rates for such a property.

Oh, and I should add that very few people have ever expressed interest in buying the property, but those who did all seemed to assume that, since the property was not being properly maintained/repaired, that they could get a low price.

Other than the above, we just have a very basic, primitive garage at the top of the property, and a "pergola" at the bottom of the garden, on the right.

Here are some links to photos:-

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y144/StrontiumDog/c96c1ac9.jpg
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y144/StrontiumDog/6156a445.jpg
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y144/StrontiumDog/3ca5d33b.jpg
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y144/StrontiumDog/730d7432.jpg
The beach(not owned by us):-

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y144/StrontiumDog/HouseandGardeninItaly/imm035....
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y144/StrontiumDog/HouseandGardeninItaly/imm037....
Terraces:-http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y144/StrontiumDog/HouseandGardeninItaly/98c159c1.jpg
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y144/StrontiumDog/HouseandGardeninItaly/5f4e5ae...
Garden:-
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y144/StrontiumDog/HouseandGardeninItaly/4c7478f...
Upper Terrace:-
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y144/StrontiumDog/HouseandGardeninItaly/bbad01c...
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y144/StrontiumDog/HouseandGardeninItaly/imm012....
Middle terrace:-
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y144/StrontiumDog/HouseandGardeninItaly/imm011....
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y144/StrontiumDog/HouseandGardeninItaly/imm010....

Drawing-room:-
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y144/StrontiumDog/HouseandGardeninItaly/imm009....
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y144/StrontiumDog/HouseandGardeninItaly/imm008....
Kitchen entrance-area:-
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y144/StrontiumDog/HouseandGardeninItaly/imm007....
(sorry, no other images available)
Anyway, my point is that, unless we get some crazy Russians buying the place for millions(as they've done in St Tropez), we are highly unlikely to get a decent prize. What price do you think is reasonable for such a property in this part of the Mediterrranean?

Thank you for your time,
Geoff  

Answer
Geoff,
 Thank you for writing such a well informed question, but I regret not being able to help you.  I have no experience out of the country, as my speciality it Pawleys Island, South Carolina.  I will comment that real estate is in terrible shape here - as a Broker for twenty years, I have never seen it so bad.  Sorry I couldn't help and best of luck with your property.
Tami