Italian property sales — the notaio or notary public

The notaio (notary public) is the legal executive who handles the buying and selling of property in Italy. He acts on behalf of both the vendor and the buyer, unlike the solicitor or lawyer who would handle the transaction in the UK.

This official has a sliding scale of charges, dependent on the declared sale value of the Italian property. As a rule of thumb, property in Italy up to a sale value of €50,000 attracts a fee of €1400, up to €250,000 a fee of €2000, up to €300,000 a fee of €2200, and up to €500,000 a fee of €3000. Beyond half a million, add €100,000 for each incremental increase of €25,000.

In addition, there is a fee for the initial contract, or compromesso, (50 per cent of the above in each case). The notaio will also charge you for the following: expenses (rimborso spese), searches (visure), indemnities (indennita), access rights (diritti accessori) and authenticating the documents (autenticazioni).