Monday, February 25, 2013

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt did it too…


According to the L.A. Times the Jolie-Pitt have bought a huge farm in Italy. The couple joined a long list of celebs who found in Italy that special place where to secure their own investments.

The Jolie-Pitt family have bought Villa Costanza, a 4.4 acres property in the Valpolicella, the renown wine-production area in the Veneto Region.


Villa Costanza - Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie


At present the Villa is named after the founder (Costanza Caldera from Bergamo) of the Religious institution that owns the property since 1953, The Pious Mothers of Negrizia.
 
The Saibante family were the property owners since the end of 1500 until the beginning of the last century, when they left the property for the family's extinction. Eventually the Monga family succeeded. Today's visible structures are datable to the early decades of the 1600. The Palace is an upside-down U shape with two façades. The main one has an outstanding body and two aisles which are perpendicular to it; the one facing north looks at a fountain with a marble group. On the ground floor we find a porch that goes along the three sides of the building. The west wing, that already embodied some cottages,it was eventually uplifted, while in the late 700 it was probably used as stable. The noble floor windows are rectangular-shaped, while the center of the facade sticks out with three giant windows decorated by a nun from the institute. The courtyard is closed by a little wall in which are set 6 mythological statues preceded by two tuff-made lions. On the inside there's a well which origins goes back to 1623. Inside the buildings there are two large halls, one with a Cotto pavement and another with a Soffitto a Cassettoni (Lacunar ceiling). The other in its central body and stuck off on the courtyard has a stucco decorated ceiling and walls frescoed with landscapes. Today is used as Chapel. In the first hall, that is decorated with frescoes by Verona born painter Paolo Ligozzi (1629), high pedestals prop up two telamons (colossal marble male figures used as columns,) holding up two Ionic Capitals upon which the roof beams are based.
 
Paintings of army leaders and of continents are plugged into fake niches and in the overdoors. From the ancient garden there's not much left out: the fountain and an artificial grotto. The park was devastated by the Germans during World War II. There are still a few architectural pieces from the collection of Andrea Monga.
 
The area is a world famous enotourism spot, whose grow is of stellar proportions thanks to its Amarone and the Spumante. Let’s not forget Valpolicella is just a hour drive from Venice, what could be a better connection between the dolce vita and a great real estate investment?

A growing number of celebrities and big investors are choosing Italy and first of all Tuscany to invest their assets but other regions are entering the target list and Veneto is obviously one of them and not just because of Venice. 

Retire Rich by Luigi Foscale

 
Let’s not forget Veneto is the home of the Palladian Villas, a series of XVI century properties designed by Architect Andrea Palladio for the wealthy Venetian Merchants of the Renaissance period. As many of you certainly know, the Villa Rotonda (or Villa Capra) by Andrea Palladio was taken by Irish Architect James Hoban as model for the project of the White House in Washington D.C.

Indeed all the Palladian Villas are protected by UNESCO as part of a World Heritage Site.

Although here is not just a matter of cultural heritage. As a matter of fact the very first reason for buying here is beauty, the beautiful landscape, the beautiful architecture, the monuments, the Palladian Villas, then there’s the wine, and the delicious food…

All these elements are tourism attractions and tourism brings money. That’s why buying a property in Veneto is a very valuable investment, because it’s a tourist attraction, and any property lying in any tourist spot has an additional value to its square meters.

A property in an Art city can be considered like an AAA bond thanks to the economy linked to it and the many people who come see it and who work with its visitors. A Coffee shop in front of the Arena di Verona will always be in business, like any other travel and lodging business in any classical tourist site. Is this brick culture or culture of brick?

In this case it’s both. The connection between culture and brick as investment is very profitable. If we follow the cultural economy equation we’ll find out:

Unique Culture = Interest = Tens of millions of Tourists = retail businesses that work = properties linked to Culture that are crowded = properties that return value.

Obviously you don’t have to be a millionaire to be part of this high return business.

Luckily also those who only have €100G can be part of this investment plan and regarding the growth, the sky’s the limit.

Besides investing in Italy which is the nation with the 90% of the world art heritage and the highest number of UNESCO protected sites, it also means having the chance of enjoying yourself the value of culture by enriching your knowledge (that never hurts) and more important by investing in highly valuable cultural sites you give the local economy a contribution to preserve the world’s heritage.

In the end, if you think like the Jolie-Pitt family, that Culture is a great investment form, and that buying a triple A real estate bond can be a profitable choice, you re on the right page.

I personally invest in Culture-related properties and I find myself very comfortable with it.

Investing in Culture is the best investment you can do because it helps growing your pocket, your knowledge and your spirit too!!!

Luigi Foscale

Monday, February 18, 2013

A Real Retire Rich Story

 
This week I would like to submit you a very interesting case study that it was also showed on Discovery Channel’s “Europe’s richest people”. 
 
Indeed I think it’s extremely important to study rich people, how they did make their fortune and how did they manage to keep their wealth along the years.
 
I won’t reveal this person’s name for now but I can anticipate he’s a famous pop singer who went through some real hard times before he made it and who during his long career he collected something like 87 among gold and platinum discs. 
 
What’s interesting however is the fact that instead of squandering all of his money in a short time or living a losing life which would had ended in misery, like many people in the sport or in the show business, (among them even some American basketballer who at the latest London Olympics instead of focusing on his own job, tried to pick up another discipline’s gold medallist girl who was instead very smart and flatlined him).
 
During his whole career our singer saved up a fortune of about $110 million and he has been living with his wife for more than 40 years. Together they have four children, nine grandchildren and a beautiful dog.
 
I think it’s a great example of a Retire Rich story. 
 
How did he do it? 
 
Let’s study together the money psychology of this Retire Rich leader.
 
First of all he knew the show business was an erratic world and our singer was enough smart he knew money had to be invested in real estate.
 
With this simple-as-abc statement our singer managed to build a fortune along the years. 
 
It’s amazing to see how such a very simple statement may change a man’s destiny. He was convinced that in an erratic environment you needed financial stability. 
 
And he was right.
 
While you are reading these words, you understand you can adopt these beliefs too, you understand your financial destiny depends on what your beliefs are. Rich beliefs attract wealth.
 
In addition, our singer pronounced some words that could be considered as a real manifesto: “Always invest in the brick ‘cause it’s steady….it’s one of the best investments ever”. “Bricks can’t be spent, they’re there…. I am not a great businessman, my job is singing.”
 
“Always invest in the brick.“
 
”...it’s one of the best investments...”
 
“...Bricks can’t be spent...”
 
While reading these words, you understand that the right intuition about money can also lead you to wealth.
 
Attention and care over his fortune in the early years allowed this singer to keep his wealth. 
 
“How to handle money is very important in today’s world”.
 
“You have to be careful.”
 
“You could have made millions, and find yourself with your bank account empty.”
 
“Always look after your money.”
 
This is an entrepreneurial lesson. You have to learn how to manage your money.
 
Would you know what he invested on?
 
Our singer bought homes and hotels in different places: Las Vegas, Hawaii and Mexico. One of his best buy was the Pink Palace in Los Angeles, that he bought in the 70’s from a Hollywood diva for a knockdown price and which he sold in 2002 for $4 million. 
  
Don’t forget properties are the best investment as stated by a millionaire who has been accumulating properties for 40 years.
 
Our singer’s name is Engelbert Humperdinck.
 
He knows what life worth...
 
I really admire him and I wish to be an example like him one day. 
 
Luigi Foscale