Our small guide to buy a house
The following does not claim to be a complete guide on how to buy a house in Italy but rather my own little handbook on how to buy a house in the areas I deal with, the result of decades of experience in buying and selling houses and dealing with customers making their first purchase in Italy.
I am Naima Naspi, real estate agent passionate about history and old
charming architecture, enthusiastic connoisseur of the territory, tireless explorer of villages and countryside! For the last decade I have been helping Italian and foreign clients to sell and buy old houses and farmhouses in the villages and countryside among Lazio, Umbria and Tuscany, just one or two hours driving from Rome.
I will be happy to accompany you to discover this beautiful piece of Italy and help you buy the house of your dreams!
Let’s get into the topic!
THE KEY FIGURES
In Italy, to regularly buy a house there is only one indispensable professional, the notary, who will take care of writing the final sales contract. The approximate costs of this contract are written below.
It is absolutely not necessary to use a lawyer, as the notary and the agency know the processes very well and in particular the notary ensures that everything is done regularly.
You can buy the house directly from a private seller, without the help of a professional real estate agent, but is a less safe process, especially for a person who does not have a perfect knowledge of language laws and processes in Italy. To save money on the commission you risk running into problems that will cost you much much more.
Most real estate agents work with both buyers and sellers, representing both parties limited to the properties present in their listing. In this instance you identify the properties that interest you in real estate agency listing, ask for an appointment, come to see the properties, and, hopefully, buy it.
In this case the agent is paid by both the seller and the buyer, at the time of signing the preliminary contract. The average commission on the part of both is €4.000 if the house costs less than €100.000, and 4% of the sale price of the house if it costs more (to this, as to almost all professional services, you must add 22% vat).
Alternatively, I can provide you with another type of more personalized service, being your property finder, that is to say buyer’s agent: I can act as a guide on your homebuying journey in Italy, finding potential homes in the most suitable locations, representing only your interests when negotiating a home purchase, communicating with sellers and their agents, checking documents and assisting you up to the notarial deed, and beyond.
In my opinion, this is certainly the most profitable way to work with an agent who speaks English, is informed about the laws and procedures, and knows the territory perfectly.
If I work for you as a Property Finder, a part of the commission will be paid at the beginning of the search, when we sign our agreement, while the remaining will be paid when you buy your dream home.
BEFORE FOCUSING ON THE HOUSE, FOCUS ON THE LOCATION
I
taly is a country geographically speaking very diverse. Even areas very close to each other can have completely different characteristics and landscapes, and offer services of different levels.
Our first suggestion is therefore to travel to the areas where you plan to buy. Don’t just rely on photos and videos found online!
First of all, it is important to understand what your priorities are when choosing the location:
- Do you want to be near the sea, or a lake, rather to cultural places, museums, concerts?
- Are you looking for tranquility? Or contact with nature as wild as possible?
- Is it important for you to have an efficient public transport system available? In many areas of Italy there are few train stations, and in these areas it is almost essential to own a car. In our areas very often the most beautiful and cheapest houses are in very small villages, perhaps even with less than 100 inhabitants, and without a bar or shops. Could you take the car even just to have a coffee at the bar or to buy bread? Or would you rather like to have services within walking distance?
Don’t hesitate to ask me for advice on the area too!
AND NOW, THE HOUSE!
Once you have identified the area, think about the house… what are it’s most important features?
- How many bedrooms?
- Need a large living area?
- Is an outdoor space essential for you? Or, if the context is beautiful, can you do without it? (a house with garden or terrace has a higher price)
- Are practical features such as size, or rather aesthetic features such as a panoramic view or antique interiors, more important to you?
- What is your overall budget? (we will see shortly what the additional costs are)
Our advice: if you are buying for the first time in Italy, and perhaps don’t speak the language, exclude a fixer-upper and prefer those ready to be inhabited. Renovation is a complicated and expensive process even for Italians themselves, for both bureaucratic and practical reasons. Better make your life easier!
IT’S TIME TO VISIT HOUSES!
Once you have identified both the ideal location and the characteristics of the house, it is time to make a list of properties that interest you, and to plan a trip of a few days to visit them.
Please, get in contact with me only two or three weeks before your arrival to learn more about the properties that interest you! If you do it too much in advance, or when you haven’t yet planned the trip, you risk wasting your time asking for very specific information on properties that are no longer on the market when you finally arrive in the area.
Or… value your time and ask me to be your property finder. 😉
HOUSE FOUND! NOW, THE PURCHASE PROCESS
Once you have found the home for you, the purchasing process can basically be summed up in the following steps:
- we will write a purchase proposal (PROPOSTA D’ACQUISTO) for you addressed to the seller containing your offer, i.e. the price, the deposit you are willing to leave, the date within which you want to purchase the house.
- once you have signed this official proposal (you can also do it via email), it will be submitted to the owner
- the owner has usually about 7/10 days to respond, either by making a counter-offer or by accepting this proposal and then signing it. When the purchase proposal is countersigned by the seller, it becomes a real preliminary sales contract (CONTRATTO PRELIMINARE DI COMPRAVENDITA), binding on both parties.
- the deposit (CAPARRA) will be paid within 7/10 days, which is generally around 5 or 10% of the price.
- within 20 days the real estate agency will register this contract for you in the state office (Agenzia delle Entrate).
- A notary (NOTAIO) will be appointed to examine the documents and prepare the final sales contract which will complete the transfer of ownership
- in the time between the purchase proposal and the moment of the actual sale, i.e. generally from two to six months, you will have to get an Italian tax code (CODICE FISCALE, we can get it for you), and open a bank account in Italy where you will transfer the money necessary for purchase. Opening an account is not mandatory but it is absolutely advisable, both for the payment of the house and, after the purchase, for the automatic payment of the bills.
- The process ends with the signing of the notarial deed of sale (ATTO NOTARILE DI COMPRAVENDITA, o ROGITO), which takes place in the office of a notary, with the presence of both parties.
Normally the price of the house is paid at the time of signing with a cashier’s check (ASSEGNO CIRCOLARE), which is a check that has been guaranteed by the issuing bank.
If, as likely, you do not speak Italian, it will be necessary to have a translation of the notarial deed. Alternatively, you can appoint a trusted person who speaks Italian to buy on your behalf, through a notarial power of attorney (PROCURA). The notarial power of attorney can also be done abroad, but it must be validated via Apostille, the simplest procedure is to do it with an Italian notary while you are in Italy.
At this point, once the final contract has been signed and the price has been paid, the property will be yours! CONGRATULAZIONI PER LA TUA NUOVA CASA IN TALIA!
If you need it, we can provide you with a consultancy service and help in activating all the utilities in your name, or help you pay your taxes regularly, or take care of the necessary maintenance of the house.
N.B.: In this little guide we will not deal with the documentation of the house, a matter which is very complex even for Italians themselves. You must know that the house must be completely regular from all points of view (it must be legitimately owned, it must have all permits from the municipality, it must be regularly represented in state documents, it must have an energy performance certificate, it must not have any mortgages , etc…). Each house has its own characteristics and must be examined in detail. The documents are checked first of all by the agency, with the help of a surveyor or an architect, and then by the notary.
FOCUS ON COSTS
When you identify the houses that interest you, keep in mind that the price of the houses is hardly negotiable by more than 10%, sometimes not at all, and it is always better to ask the agency, because every case is different.
Furthermore, there are costs to add to the price of the house:
- the real estate agency is paid by both parties, the commission is 4% of the price of the house, with a minimum of €4000 if the house costs less than €100,000 (the tax called VAT at 22% must be added to the commission). The commission is paid at the conclusion of the preliminary contract, so you must plan to pay it at the same time as the deposit.
- registering the contract with the Revenue Agency will cost you a minimum of €280.
- when you sign the deed, you will have to pay taxes on the purchase of the house, and the notary’s fee. The taxes are 9% of the tax value of the house (not the commercial price), and the notary’s fee is from €1400 upwards. To these costs there are the costs for the translation or for the power of attorney, which can be around €500/1000. I always recommend that you get a rough estimate of the purchase costs from the agency.
After the purchase, you need to imagine these annual expenses:
House tax (IMU), based on the tax value of the property (it can be €300 per year but also over a thousand, ask the agent for an estimate!)
Waste tax (TARI), based on the size of the house and the number of people who live there (minimum €200 per year)
The costs for electricity, gas and water depends on the use of the house.
If you decide to move to Italy permanently in within 12 months from the date of purchase, you will get a tax discount.
That’s all!
I am at your disposal to help you buy the home of your dreams!
Below, Carlton and Shannon and I briefly share their experience of buying a property with me in one of the many delightful small towns in this region, and why it’s so appealing to invest in the Tuscia area:
Below, Brad, who chose to share some interesting properties from my catalog with his community, provides an honest account of his experience in Italy on his channel, including all its highlights and low points, and offers extremely useful advice based on his experience