Sometimes we can see the future but we have no “proof” of what we think is going to happen. When I decided to move from Italy to the US with my family, in the beginning of 2008, I also made the transition from a very successful computer journalist and editor to an entrepreneur dealing in real estate at an international level. I was very lucky to have a wife, Maria, who was completely supportive of me and was ready to go through all the uncertainties and changes in life to make it happen.
I had imagined that the very strong euro to dollar exchange rate and the availability of cash for investment in Europe and particularly Italy would have spurred a whole new industry, connecting the two sides of the Atlantic. I had also envisioned it would have benefited both ends.
The top page of page 15 of the Financial Times dated July 21, 2009
I had no evidence of it except for the couple deals I already made myself from Italy using the capital I had obtained by selling my own home in Milan. But I was confident that my decision couldn’t be too wrong: in a market ridden with foreclosures and bank owned properties, where cash is king and where many local US investors have deserted the playing field, the chance of buying with an upfront discount of at least 20% given by the exchange rate creates big opportunities for those who are brave and competent enough.
(The meeting in Monte Carlo: Daniele introduces the speech by Mark Jackson while I translate)
It was kind of astonishing to me that I could buy a big single family home in Florida for one fourth of the money I got from the sale my house in Milan. And there are houses that cost less that a parking spot in Rome. Yet there were no marketing data that could support my idea: I was developing a brand new niche.
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