Buying a property is an important decision and Italy, like many countries, has complex laws and procedures for purchasing your dream home in il bel paese. For foreign buyers of Italian real estate, unfamiliar Italian customs and habits and the use of Italian for transactions and in documents add to the complexity.
Buying a property is an important decision and Italy, like many countries, has complex laws and procedures for purchasing your dream home in il bel paese. For foreign buyers of Italian real estate, unfamiliar Italian customs and habits and the use of Italian for transactions and in documents add to the complexity.
With more than 100 years of combined experience working in Italian real estate and skills comparable to none, Italian Property Lawyers assists foreigners who want to purchase their dream home in Italy. We follow our clients in all steps of the real estate purchase transaction and provide them with tailor-made services, based on their specific case and needs. We assist clients throughout Italy.
Our work takes place in four phases closely linked to each other.
If want to purchase real estate in Italy, you probably already have an idea of what type of property you are looking for, your budget, the area where you would like to invest, and renovations you want to do.
Before you start taking any steps, contact us. We save our clients time, money, and headaches by providing advice on what they need to do before purchasing real estate. We take into consideration your needs and carefully select properties that will correspond to what you are looking for. To accomplish this, we:
1. analyze the real estate market in the area where you want to invest:
The price of a propertyThe depends on many factors such as the location, the type (villa, apartment, etc.) and the condition of the property. We analyze these factors to determine if the sale price is reasonable and provide a detailed report so that you can decide whether you want to make an offer.
2. analyze the real estate market in the area where you want to invest
The price of a propertyThe depends on many factors such as the location, the type (villa, apartment, etc.) and the condition of the property. We analyze these factors to determine if the sale price is reasonable and provide a detailed report so that you can decide whether you want to make an offer.
Your lawyer, architect and real estate agent play an important role in the due diligence process:
They check to see if any liens have been placed on the property and the deed of provenance.
They asses whether the property complies with the local building code and local ordinances and whether unauthorized work has been done on the property. They also check that property map registered at the Property Registery office matches the property.
They check the apartment building rules, the certificate of habitability and the energy performance certificate.
After checking these documents, we can move on to the next step, but not before we do three more things to complete the purchase:
In any case, don’t worry, we’ll take care of everything!
This is the most important part of the entire process, as well as the most complex. The three most important steps of the process are:
Making an irrevocable proposal to purchase the property
Drafting and signing a preliminary sales agreement
Drafting the deed to transfer ownership of the property
After these three steps are completed, you are the owner of your property in Italy!
When you are sure you want to buy specific property, we draft an irrevocable purchase proposal that both you and the seller sign and that contains all the details of the purchase agreement.
This document reserves the property so that the seller cannot sell it to another buyer. Earnest money must be deposited in an escrow account, and if you decide not to proceed to the next step without a valid reason, you will lose the deposit. If the seller no longer wants to sell the property, you will be entitled to double the earnest money paid. This purchase proposal will also be one of the documents that the bank will require if you want to obtain a mortgage.
This is the second step and takes place after signing the purchase proposal. The signing of this contract is binding, and the buyer and seller must sign the completion deed within a certain period or be in breach of contract. To prevent the seller from selling the same property to other people, the preliminary contract is generally registered with the registry office.
This is the final step of the procedure. Both the buyer and the seller sign the completion deed before a notary public. If you do not speak Italian, you will be assisted by an interpreter and if you cannot be present, you can get a power of attorney so that your lawyer can sign the documents on your behalf.
In this third and final phase, the buyer must pay the agreed price (usually through cashier’s check or bank transfer). After the signatures, the notary public will register this document with the registry office. From this moment on, you are the official owner of a home in Italy!
