Amongst the sale are palaces, beaches, islands and forts estimated to be worth in the region of $6 billion. Italy’s current debt is around $2.3 trillion.

Some of the highlights of the sale include:

Villa Giulia Museum, Rome
Built on the outskirts of Rome by Pope Julius III in the 16th century, this beautiful museum will be up for sale although it is currently unclear as to whether the objects within the building will come with the sale or not. The National Etruscan Museum has an art and relic collection dating back to 600 BC and is famed for its frieze of ancient Greek boxer Kreugas eating his opponent’s brain.

Caprera Island, off Sardinia
Caprera Beach is a tourist hotspot that was named World’s Sexiest BEach in 2007. The 45 miles of coastline is home to a wide range of sea birds and wild goats called capra that give the beach it’s name.

Santo Stefano Island, The Pontine Islands
This deserted island houses an abandoned 18th century prison that closed it’s doors in 1965.

Other real estate up for sale includes a 900 year old Norman palace in Palermo, real estate along the Dolomite mountain chain, and a beach on Lake Como.

The Agenzia del Demanio, the government agency that controls the national treasures, will first offer the real estate to local and regional councils who will then be able to sell them over the internet.

However not all are happy about the property and real estate sale – in particular from environmentalists and opposition MPs who claim that much of the land, which is currently largely protected areas, will be developed on.

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However for property investors who wish to invest in property in Venice, Italy, it is possible to buy Venetian property for a lot less money.

The beauty of Venice for overseas property investors is that it is a tourist trap. Each year, many tourists visit the area thanks to the history, culture, architecture and unique atmosphere of the city. This means that buying property well will ensure a steady rental income for any property investor.

Although the property market has recently slowed, there is still interest in the housing market and prices are remaining relatively stable. In particular, the high-end properties have seen virtually no drop in their value and the city has seen very few repossessions or distressed sales.

Probably the best properties to buy for renting out are small apartments in grand old buildings. These flats feature the charm of Venice without breaking the bank and the flats should be easy to rent out to families on holiday in Italy. Small apartments can go for as little as 250,00 Euro.

If you are planning to renovate an old flat, be warned that making adjustments to notable historic buildings in Venice can take a long time to get all the necessary approval. Developing a building into a set of apartments is very challenging and will require a thorough understanding of the planning system to gain all the necessary permissions for the conversion.

When buying a property in Venice, it is advisable to put everything into writing – including your offer for the property. Once this is signed by you, the property vendor and the agent, it is legally binding. You will then have to pay a deposit – this will be returned if your offer is rejected. A further deposit of around 25% will then need to be paid once your offer has been accepted.

If the property vendor pulls out having accepted the larger deposit, they must return it plus some money in damages. It is a good idea to put any deposit money into escrow as this makes the money easier to retrieve if the vendor does decide to pull out of the property deal.

Tax is levied at 10 percent of the land registry value if the property you are buying in Venice is your second home. If you are planning to live in the property, the tax will be 3 or 4%. Do not be tempted to declare the property as your Venice home if you are not planning to live there as the local authorities will check.

You will also need to fork out some money for a notary – normally budget about 1% of purchase price – as well as a conveyancer (around 3,500 Euro) and around 300 Euro if you’d like a copy of the property contract in English.

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Nude sales are when an elderly person sells their family home, normally to a stranger and at a significant discount, on the condition that they are permitted to live in the property until they die. The purchaser also normally pays cash for the property. These sorts of property sales are known as ‘nude sales’ because the property owner is totally stripped of ownership of the house.

Currently, nude sales only account for around five percent of all Italian property transactions however as the economic crisis deepens, it is predicted that this desperate form of property sale will start to make up a larger percentage of property transactions.

The figures show that nude sales are already increasing – in 2000, there were around 18,000 nude sales; In 2008, this figure had increase to 40,000 sales. Around 85% of Italians over 65 are thought to own their own homes so there is massive potential for nude real estate sales to continue to rise.

Nude sales represent a risk for the property investor purchasing the property – the value that they pay for the house is determined by the life expectancy of the current owner. The older the current home owner, the closer the property will be to the current market rate of the property. This means that if a purchaser buys a house and the person dies relatively quickly, not only will they have bought a house at significantly under market value, but they will also be able to move in more quickly. However if the vendor lives for significantly longer than expected, it can be years before the property purchaser can do anything with the property.

History provides us with an interesting lesson in the risk of nude sales here. According to the Move Channel, in 1965 French lawyer Andre-Francois Raffray entered into a nude sale with 90 year old Jeanne Calment. Raffray expected to move into the apartment with his family in the coming few years.

Unfortunately for Raffray, Calment went on to live for a further 32 years – and in doing so became the oldest living woman in history – dying in 1997 at the age of 122. By the time she passed away, Raffray had been dead for two years and had never gotten to live in his apartment.

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The principal Italian property tax (ICI) will cost a lot of money if it is abolished – it is estimated that around 2 billion Euros will be lost. Sceptics claim that if Berlusconi is intending to put all of his pre-election pledges through, he will require 63 billion Euros to fund them all and promises are all well and good, but finding the money will be a lot harder.

However, the news still looks promising for foreign property investors looking at property in Italy – fees and taxes are a large part of any overseas property investment therefore the abolition of any of these will make a significant different to property purchasing in the country. There is already no capital gains tax on Italian properties if they are owned for more than five years, therefore if Berlusconi does go ahead with his pledge, there is even more incentive for people to buy in Italy, and this in turn could help push property prices up. So, taking a punt and investing in Italian property now may give you a good return on your investment in a relatively short period of time.

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Up until a few years ago, most property investors would not have looked twice at the region however that is starting to change. Italians themselves are flocking to the region alongside the British. The main attraction of the area is the prices – they are much lower than their surrounding neighbours by up to 40%, and yet the area still has beautiful stretches of coastline and beaches. A one-bedroomed flat will probably cost in the region of $200,000, with a three bedroom three-storey townhouse in the $650,000 region, although it is possible to pick up farmhouses from as little as $100,000.

Transport links are good with a regional airport a short drive away. The area is also steeped in beauty with many of the converted houses and flats in the area retaining original features such as wooden shutters, exposed beams and small balconies. With some believing that nearby Tuscany has been ruined by hordes of tourists and overseas property investors, Le Marche seems the perfect option – an authentic Italian experience without the hordes or tourists or the normal tourist trappings. However, this does mean it is a good idea to ensure your Italian is up to scratch as many people will not speak English as fluently as in the main towns.

For investors, the numbers look to stack up too. In the past five years, property prices in the area have grown by around 5% and it is expected that prices in the area will rise further in the next few years. Rental yields are in the 5-7% range – whilst not astronomic, they are good, sustainable figures.

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