Want to buy a house in Italy?

Some good Advice

The first thing to do when looking for a house in Italy, as everywhere…I think, is to choose the Macro Area you’d like to live in ( Mountain, Hill, Plain, Lake, Seaside, Isle ). After choosing the type of Macro Area, you must choose the Location ( Metropolis,City of big, medium or small dimensions; Countryside ). After you have selected the Location, you must think about the Urban Area, within this same Location, in which you would like to live ( Old Town, First Suburbs, External Outskirts, etc…). After choosing the Urban Area, to look for your home, you must understand which typology of house you’d like ( apartment, duplex, townhouse, villa, single house with several apartments, rustic house, etc… ).  At this point, you have really focused your research! And now, it is time that you have to deal with your budget … in fact this aspect will influence your research greatly.

Having a large budget will open a sea of ​​possibilities; if, instead, you will have to deal with a tighter budget, the search will become a little more difficult.

There are, in my opinion, some, very important rules to follow when you want to purchase a residential property, which I list below:

1. Always give absolute priority to the Urban Position in which the property is located! The Position, in fact, is the first and most important thing to select. Much better to buy an ordinary property in a beautiful Area, or in an Area destined to appreciate in value, rather than a beautiful property in a bad Area. The Position ( Area ) will determine the value of your investment in time and can give you good rewards if, and when, you decide to sell it.

2. Consider the general build quality of the house you are interested in, and the general state of its facilities. In this, unless you are experienced, take some advice from an expert who can give you good advice. For example, the geological state of the terrain on which the building has been built, the conditions of its electrical wiring and of its plumbing system, the condition of the roof, the presence of any damp, etc … . Ask  the Company, in the case of a new house, or to the private seller, whether it is a used house, the largest possible number of documents ( relating to electrical and plumbing systems; usually they are called: Certifications of the systems, are not mandatory in used houses, but if they are present they are always an ameliorative factor

3. Keep in mind the position of the windows. A southern exposure will give you more light and heat, but it could also cost you more in terms of electricity needed for air conditioning, a northern exposure will keep you cooler in summer, but colder in fall and winter. Exposures are, generally, always recommended toward South, South-East and South-West, because they give the house a greater joy and warmth.

4. If you want to have space around the house, then check, through a visit to the Town Hall, if there are potential building sites intended to begin in the vacant land’s lots nearby the house that interests you.

5. You make well the counts, when dealing with a possible restructuring, since it is ,often, easy to make mistakes, both in excess even and in lack. Get help from an experienced friend in making these counts to avoid surprises at a later stage.

6. Do not sign any offer to buy, expensive or not, in any real estate agency, without first having read it carefully and, in case you are not experts, having showed it to one of your trusted experts (realtors, lawyers, accountants, etc … ).

7. Do not give a high Deposit at the preliminary contract ever! If you really want to “block” a house, because you are afraid that it could “escape”…do it, but, however, with a very low deposit. Keep almost the whole amount, equivalent to the cost of the house, until you are in front of the Notary. If they insist in asking you more money, you must always ask an irrevocable Bank’s Guarantee, at first demand, on your behalf, and corresponding to the sums that you will go to pay prior deed (you are entitled for law).

8. If possible, find a house that is not too far from essential services (supermarket, pharmacy, bus stop or subway, etc …), as this will increase the saleability and value.

9. Always check that the price you requested is, in principle, accordant to the Market of the moment, in the area. Make, for instance, some calls to Estate Agents, or inquire at the Construction Sites, about the requested prices for buildings similar to what you are dealing, for not being “cheated” by the seller.

Remember that the used houses, in general, depreciate from 30% to 50% compared to the new.

10. Take some mortgages’ informations about the property that interests you, a few days before signing the preliminary contract, through a visit to the offices of the Cadastre ( Mortgage title search ) or any offices of the Conservatory of the Building Registers. To conduct this research you will need to have with you: address of the property, personal data and tax code of the owner.

11. Ask the seller, if it is a used house, built after September 1967, the mandatory certificate of use and occupancy (agibilità ) issued by the Municipality, for use of the home itself. Also ask for all documentation relating to the Building Permit and any subsequent DIA (statements of activities beginning ) relating to changes made in the house during the years.

12. In case of a used home, ask the seller to have a Cadastral plan of the same. Check that the Land Registry Plan is exactly the same of the house you want to buy. If  it weren’t the same, you have the right to ask the seller to restore all the changes made into the house,  just  to make it become the same as it appears in the official Plan . Today, in fact, in Italy, you can not make a Notarial Act relative to an house that’s different from its Cadastral registered  Plan. The expert sent by the Bank, that will finance the purchase, will communicate to it any differences, and the Bank will not grant you the loan until these differences won’t be rearranged.

After these 12 valuable tips, to keep in mind, you can go into more detail of your Searching Area.  You already have identified the Macro Area, the Urban Location, the Precise Position, the Gender and the House Conditions… you’re really interested in … You are at a good point!

Having focused so well your search on what you need, now you have to find it. The advice is to contact a Realtor, or more than one, of the area, without delay. You should always keep in mind my 12 advices, and confront the agents with a bit of healthy suspicion. Often you will be dealing with serious and prepared professionals , but it can happen some of them will try to enchant you that. So, if you are not already experts in the field, observe all the proposals and take some time to think, even if they try to speed you to do buy it.

For any special searches of properties in Italy, you can ask for opinions and advice for free, by registering at the site: wwwpeterhouses.com ; and writing to: postmaster@peterhouses.com.

The site, to the extent possible, will give you some informations, consistently with its possibilities. The site will also give you some free, good advice on this matter, without taking any responsibility in relation to any advice given, which will be considered fully and completely accepted by the applicant. The Website www.peterhouses.com, therefore, assumes no liability for any misuse of these recommendations that may be made by the applicant, who with their request, implicitly declares to have read, understood and accepted that reported here.