Sale conditions

How to purchase a property in Venice

In this page we explain you sale conditions, or rather the steps necessary to complete the purchasing of a property:

1) proposal of purchase or proposta d'acquisto: this document is a written offer on a property in which the purchaser acknowledges that, having seen the property, he wants to make a firm offer stating his terms regarding finance, survey, etc... He will also be expected to put down a non-negotiable bank cheque as an escrow (deposito) corresponding to 5% of the purchase price, which becomes binding if the offer is accepted. This deposit is held in a special bank account under the responsibility of the estate agent.

2) Preliminary purchase contract or preliminare: this contract, which is binding on both parties, clearly states that X promises to sell to Y, who promises to buy. Y has to deposit a sum usually corresponding to 10/20% of the purchase price (caparra confirmatoria) which includes the previous 5% already deposited. The notary will then require about a month to make all the necessary enquiries, e.g. find out if there are legal problems or if there is a mortgage on a property, and prepare all the paperwork needed for the final document.
In some cases, steps 1 and 2 can be carried out at the same time.

3) Final purchase contract or rogito notarile: this final contract is signed in the notary's office. Balance of total payment is given to proprietor, and on final signature purchaser becomes legal owner and receives the deeds to the property and the keys.

All properties in Italy are registered at the local land-registry office (catasto) and as far as the Italian state is concerned are given a certain value depending on district, number of rooms, etc. This value can differ greatly from the property's commercial value, perhaps because the property has recently been restored, or it's in a wonderful position with a great view, etc.

When a house is sold it has to be registered. The registry tax (imposta di registro) is 3% on a first house and 7% on a second property. The agency fee is usually 3% plus VAT (IVA-21%), and is payable at the signing of the preliminare contract.

All property transactions must go through a notary who is appointed by the buyer. There can be a slight variation in price between notaries, but not much. The higher the price of a property, the higher the notary fees are likely to be.
This applies for Italians too, not just foreigners. The registry tax is calculated on the value stated at the land-registry office which can be considerably less than the commercial value.

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