Buying a home in Italy — completion or the rogito

The deed of sale is known as the ‘rogito’, and the signing equates to ‘completion’ in a UK property transaction. The period of time between compromesso and rogito is somewhat nerve-wracking. You’ll be familiar with such problems as gazumping, gazundering and chains falling apart, but there are additional issues with your purchase of real estate in Italy.

We’ve touched elsewhere on sottodichiarazione, the practice of under-declaring the price paid for real estate in Italy (because of course taxes and the notaio’s fees are worked out on the declared price). There are even formulae for working this out. But there is also the principle of prelazione, third parties’ right to buy, allowing neighbours adjoining the land first refusal on the property at the asking price. For obvious reasons, it’s vital that the price in the deed of sale is not lower than the price you supplied to the neighbouring farmers. Should they discover the disparity, the deed of sale can be challenged within a year.

Completing on your Italy real estate — power of attorney

Now to the completion date or data del rogito. If you can’t be there you can assign power of attorney to a friend or agent in Italy. For completion you’ll need your codice fiscale (tax code): your solicitor or the real estate agent can arrange this for you. You’ll need to provide a passport or other valid identification, and to ensure your finance is in place. Arrange a translator if your Italian isn’t good, as things can get confusing here. The rogito is signed and the balance of the price given to the seller of the property. Resist efforts to get you to pay in cash, and even banker’s drafts can go astray. Far better to arrange an electronic transfer in good time.

Take a deep breath and stump up for the following on your new real estate in Italy. You’ll be paying real estate tax (imposta ipotecaria e catastale) of 3 per cent, stamp duty of 7 per cent, a local tax (valore catastale) of between 0.4 and 0.8 per cent, mortgage fees and estate agents’ fees … both vendor and purchaser pay the estate agent, usually 3 per cent apiece. You’ll also have to settle with the geometra, notaio and pay your fees for connecting to the water, electricity and gas mains. Reckon the fees here to total 15 per cent of purchase price.

Register the deeds on your Italian property

Your notaio must file and register the title deeds (and lodge your taxes) immediately. Only when the deeds are with the land registry is the property yours, so this is important. He should also inform the local police (carabinieri) or the questura of the change of ownership within 48 hours. Ensure that utilities have been changed into your name. Check that you are properly insured too.