The Three Steps to Property Purchase in Italy
Updated: Oct 21, 2021
Once you’ve found a home you want to buy, the next step is to make an offer, usually through an estate agent. There are no restrictions on foreign ownership in Italy.
Offer
When you find the right property in Italy you can place an offer. If the offer is accepted by the owner of the property, Gaia Servizi Immobiliari will collect all the documents related to the house.
The most important documents are:
Titles documents
Floor plans and land maps
Energy certification
There might be other documents required by the notary. We will provide to the notary all the documents he asks for. The notary will check all the documents, if everything is in order he will issue an estimate. The estimate will include: Notary fee, purchase taxes, registration taxes.
When the notary gives his approval, and issues an estimate, the buyer can choose to have a technical survey. The survey is not a mandatory document, it is not required by the notary. Nevertheless, the buyer might want to have it to be sure about the state of house. A survey can be provided by any registered surveyor, architect or engineer.
Preliminary agreement
At this point after the approval of the notary and after the satisfactory outcome of the survey if the buyer decides to have one done, Gaia Servizi Immobiliari can proceed to write a preliminary agreement.
The preliminary agreement is a pre-purchase contract where we will state:
Terms and conditions of the purchase
Buyers and vendors’ data
Property cadastral data
Price of the property
The preliminary agreement must be registered at the Agenzia delle Entrate (Italian Revenue Agency) to be an official contract. If the preliminary agreement is not registered, it’s value is reduced to a mere agreement amongst two people. When the buyer and the vendor will both have signed the preliminary agreement, the buyer must send a deposit of the 10% of the final purchase price. The deposit can be sent directly to the owner of the house or to the real estate agency that is handling the sale.
Usually the completion’s time after the signing of the preliminary agreement is two or three months. It is possible to complete the sale in shorter time or longer time according to buyer’s and vendor’s need. The terms of the sale will be stated in the preliminary agreement and will have to be respected. The preliminary agreement can be signed from abroad and sent by email. But two original copies with original signatures will have to be posted to Gaia Servizi Immobiliari that will take care of the registration process.
Final Signing - Deed of sale
The final signing will take place at a notary office here in Italy. To sign the final deed the buyer will have to be present, or he will have to sign a power of attorney in favour of the real estate agent or any other people who can attend the signing.
On the day of the final signing the buyer must complete all the payments: to the owner of the house, to the notary and to the agency.
On the d
ate of the final signing the buyer will receive the keys of the house and will become the new owner of it.
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