We just got back from three very hot weeks in Europe, and because we are who we are… we looked at a lot of real estate.

 

I was reminded in so many ways that real estate is done differently around the world. How's this for strange? In Rome, residential leases are "4+4" — four years, with a four-year renewal option.

 

Oh, and if you're renting or buying, it's BYOK: bring your own kitchen. Not just the appliances, the cabinets too, which are legally considered furniture in Italy, so tenants and owners take them when they move. I asked about the bathrooms. Toilets and sinks are, in fact, included.

 

We also, naturellement, looked at some real estate in Paris, where the sellers haven't heard about staging and professional photography. It was hilarious to see €5 million condos in the Marais listed with iPhone photos and yesterday's clothing all over the floor. Brock & Lori Paris, coming soon?

 

Still, Europe definitely gets the pied-a-terre fantasies going, at every price point.

 

The architecture in Europe is truly phenomenal, so I totally get that someone would see the stonework, the ironwork, the vintage floors, and go down this path. The truth is though… Europe is hard to get to. Really hard (also Air France is the worst, fly Delta).

 

And once the renovation is done and the novelty has faded, most people end up visiting a couple weeks a year. And there are some FUNKY laws in Europe about tenancy. 

 

I think the rule-of-thumb on a second home is the same rule as your work and your friends, and your kids’ school and basically most of adult life: the closer the better.

 

So after three weeks of working through European second-home fantasies, and meeting a NYC couple with a vacation house in Sardinia (“we make it out here maybe once a year”), I think we are sticking to SoCal.

 

Where the kitchens are included.