Buying a property in Italy: Purchase procedure

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Trevi Elite provides its clients full legal support when buying a house in Italy. The procedure for buying property in Italy consists of several stages.

Irrevocable Offer of Purchase

When making a decision on the purchase, the manager draws up an Irrevocable Offer for the purchase of a real property, which indicates the details of the Buyer and the Seller, a detailed description of the real estate, the deadlines for concluding the final Purchase and Sale Agreement, the proposed price, procedure and terms of payment.

The irrevocable offer must be supported by a cash deposit – usually 5-10% of the proposed amount, the deposit is held by the Real Estate Agent before the Seller accepts the offer to buy, otherwise it is returned to the Buyer.

An irrevocable offer shall be deemed for the Buyer – the Seller shall be given a period (5-7 days) to make a decision on the sale of the object, if after that period no response from the Seller is received or a refusal is received, the irrevocable offer shall become invalid.

For the duration of the Offer to Purchase, the property is withdrawn from sale and the Real Estate Agent is not entitled to offer it to other interested buyers.

When the Seller accepts an Irrevocable Offer for Purchase, the cash deposit becomes a confirmatory (caparra confirmatoria) – in accordance with Article 1385 of the Civil Code – in case of non-fulfillment by the Buyer of its obligations, the cash deposit remains with the Seller, in case of non-fulfillment by the Seller, it is obliged to return the confirmation deposit to the Buyer in double.

To conclude the Purchase and Sale Agreement, the Buyer must have the Codice Fiscale tax code, which can be obtained from the consular department of Italy in Russia or in Italy at the local tax office (our manager will help to issue it on the spot).

Preliminary contract

The preliminary contract is considered legal binding and is regulated by Article 2932 of the Civil Code of the Italian Republic.

This step can be considered interim, the Preliminary Agreement is not necessary to conclude, but in practice it is applied quite often, especially when the Buyer resorts to lending or the conclusion of the final Purchase Agreement is extended in time to several months from the date of acceptance of the Irrevocable Purchase Offer. The preliminary contract is drawn up in the form of a private contract that has all the force of law, but can also be executed by a notary.

The Preliminary Agreement shall specify:

  • detailed cadastral information about the object,
  • information on title documents,
  • information on the presence of encumbrances, mortgage loans, if any (the Seller is obliged to withdraw them before the final Sale and Purchase Agreement),
  • information on the construction permits received, construction amnesty, if any, the deadlines for the delivery of the facility and its stages in the case of new buildings.

Usually, when signing the Preliminary Agreement, 25-30% of the value of the property is entered, which also become a confirmation deposit – in accordance with Article 1385 of the Civil Code. The preliminary contract is subject to registration with the Tax Inspectorate, while tax is paid 0.5% of the amount of the confirmation deposit and state duties.

Upon agreement of both parties, it is possible to do without signing the Preliminary Agreement, and immediately after the acceptance of the Purchase Offer, proceed to the signing of the final Purchase and Sale Agreement, if the object is ready and has no encumbrances and if the Buyer has the entire amount immediately.

Final Сontract of Sale

The final stage is the Contract of Sale, signed in the presence of a notary and subject to state registration with the relevant authorities by a notary, in which the transfer of ownership takes place.

The Contract of Sale shall be drawn up by a notary acting on behalf of the state in the interests of the Buyer and the Seller.

If the Buyer does not speak Italian, he shall not be entitled to personally sign the Sales Agreement. In this case, we offer services of an interpreter and witnesses. The Contract is drawn up in two languages;

Or it is possible to appoint a legal representative to sign the Sale and Purchase Agreement by issuing a notarial power of attorney, and in this case a personal presence with a notary is not necessary.

The Buyer enters into ownership immediately after the signing the Sales Agreement. The original of the contract is kept by a notary or in a notary archive, and a notarial copy certified and registered in state registers is issued on hand.

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