Buying a property in Italy
There are 3 main stages to buying a property in Italy:
1. Making an offer
When you have found the property that you would like to buy in Italy, it is the time to make an offer. This should clearly state the amount you are offering, terms of payment (amount to be paid at preliminary contract and amount at final act) and details of the property to be purchased. The offer must be accompanied by a deposit of approximately €10,000, which is usually paid by cheque or bank transfer direct to vendor.
If the vendor accepts your offer then this will become binding. If however it is rejected, your money will be returned to you in full.
2. Preliminary Contract - (“Compromesso”)
The second stage is the preliminary contract that sets outs in more detail all the exact information of the purchase of the property. This includes the date by which the final act must be signed, payment amount and method of payment, and any other clauses that the two parties wish to include. This needs to be in line with the Italian Civil Code and the vendor needs to guarantee the state of the property, necessary planning consents and that any mortgages will be extinguished by the time of the final act.
At this stage, the vendor will pay the agreed amount as stated in the offer. It is usual for this to be in region of 30%. Estate agents fees are paid at this point. Both the vendor and the purchaser keep a copy of the signed “compromesso” and are legally bound by it.
3. Legal Act (“Rogito” or “Atto notarile”)
The Legal Act must be signed in the presence of a public notary or “notaio”. Both the vendor and the purchaser must be physically present, or have legally appointed a representative by a legal deed. The outstanding amount of the purchase price must be paid prior to signing
You will at this point require an Italian Tax Code (“Codice fiscale”) which can be obtained at the Italian Consulate in your home country, or in Italy.
The notary has the responsibility to read aloud all the act, which can be quite a lengthy process. The notary needs to ensure that all parties have understood the act that will be in Italian. At this point you can appoint an official translator, or when, as the purchaser you appoint the notary, it is worthwhile considering one that has an official translator employed within the office.
The purchase act is signed by the vendor and by the purchaser and then countersigned by the notary. All government taxes and fees are calculated on the declared value of the property as at the local land registry. These need to paid over to the notary.
Notary fees also have to be paid at this point. The Act is formally registered by the notary and then will be ready for collection in about 6 weeks. This document is equal to a Title Deed and shows ownership of the property.
Legal and other advice
The above sets out only a brief overview of the purchase process. It is important to understand that buying a property in Italy is very different from buying in your country of residence, especially if you are UK or US based.
UK Solicitor
The notary is an extremely important part of the process and he performs a number of checks regarding the property, but he effectively acts for both parties. We advise that you may wish to consider appointing a solicitor from your country of residence, specialised in buying property in Italy. We recommend the International Property Law Centre at internationalpropertylaw.com who have many years experience advising English speaking purchasers in Italy, or Stefano Lucatello, Senior Partner, of the UK solicitors Maxgold.com. Stefano is the Italian Consular Agent for the North East of England and again has many years experience assisting purchasers in Italy.
Surveyor
Although not obligatory, we would recommend that you have a survey and can help you organise this.
Official translator
You may wish to use the services of an official translator, and again we can provide you with contacts.