Purchasing a property in Italy

C

Coffee House

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Myself and my wife are looking to purchase a property in Italy and are just planning to buy it for a break away home. It is not our priority to rent it out as we just want it to invest money for a small 10 year mortgage - hence own it after 10 years, but use it at least 5-6 times a year - mainly for 3-4 days at a time around the months of Feb,May, Sept (not high season). We are just looking at a nice small 2-3 bedroom house in a small village in the centre of Italy, as it has easy driving access to the beach and the moutains - Skiing in Winter, Beach in summer.
I suppose I am posting here to see if anyone has purchased in Italy and was looking for their experiences with dealing with the Italian authorities/estate agencies etc.

We plan on visiting a couple of times for 2-3 days at a time in different months to get a feel for the place, but would like to purchase in the next few months (before Sept)

Has anyone gone through this and care to share their experiences, and one question: Do I need to employ a solictor in Italy aswell as my own here in Ireland - how best does that work?

Thanks
 
Hi Coffee House,
A friend of mine recently purchaesed a place in Italy (I have emailed him for more inforation re same - will post it when I get it).
They told me that they had to hire a "notary", and a solicitor and their equivalent of and EA was also paid a percentage of the cost of the property.
One thing I do remember about our conversation was that property laws are very unusual over in Italy, someone may own a house but not the land the house is built on, and the purchase can get caught for more money. So it is very important to find out if the seller actually has the authority to sell the house.

As soon as I get more difinitive information I'll post it up.
 
Hi Coffee House,
PLease note below is my friends advise on the purchase of Italian property.

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It would be in your best interest to hire a solicitor in Italy. Once you have found a property that you wish to purchase, you will need to choose a Notaio (Notary). The Notaio will be the one that does the searches for any liens against the property. They will also have to hire a Geometro (Structural Engineer) to make sure the property is sound. If you arn't fluent in Italian you will need to hire a translator

Make sure that they find out whether or not the property is free hold or lease hold. If the property is lease hold, you would own the actual property but not the land that it is on. They will also have to hire a Geometro (Structural Engineer) to make sure the property is sound.

The laws on purchasing property is different over there then here. There will be three deposits required. The first deposit is kind of a booking deposit. I am not sure, but I think that this around 2 to 3 thousand Euro. The second deposit is 10% of the cost of the property. Once you get to this stage they have to sign committing to purchasing the property. If they pull out at this stage, they forfeit both of the first two deposits. The third deposit is the remaining balance of the mortgage.
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Excellent, thanks for your comments!

Basically at the moment Im looking at the following:

Irish Solictor Fees
Italian Solictor Fees
Notary Fees
Structural Engineer Fees
Estate Agents Fees

and make sure that I find out whether is it free hold or lease hold.

Thanks again!
 
There is no need to hire a solicitor to buy a property in Italy, just a notary (notaio) and as far as I know leaseholds don't exist. Find a notary that speaks English instead of a translator.
 
Thanks Alba,

So I presume my solictor will liase with the nataio who will inturn do the searches required on the site. And as long as I get a nataio who speaks English, I can then cut out the need for another Solictor and Translator.

Thanks again for your advice!
 
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