The basic idea is easy enough: a state offers a temporary residence permit to overseas buyers who invest a qualifying amount rent hotel in chlorakas property. The minimum investment differs greatly across programmes, and the authorities revise it regularly.
An important distinction stands between residence and citizenship. The permit lets you live there, typically with renewals, while a passport normally requires a long period of residence. An agent's promise of nationality simply for buying an apartment is a red flag.
Beyond the investment itself, such permits impose further conditions. Frequent requirements involve a clean criminal record, private health insurance, documented income and a minimum stay in the country each year. Ignoring one of these can cost you the residency while you still own the home.
Fiscal residency is a different question altogether. Owning rapallo property does not automatically make you liable for local income tax, though crossing the day-count threshold frequently does. A number of states apply a threshold based on days spent locally, and the implications extend to income earned elsewhere.
The realistic approach is essentially the same everywhere: pick a property you would want anyway, and treat the permit as a bonus. Programmes get restructured sometimes at short notice, and a property chosen only for a permit becomes difficult to let and difficult to sell.