Buy your house in Abruzzo in 10 easy steps.

 

The following is a brief summary of the steps which lead to a troublefree house purchase through my HouseAbruzzo estate agency.

STEP 1 - You find a house you like during a viewing with me and you ask me to make an offer to the owner on your behalf.

STEP 2 - I give you a full estimate of all purchase costs. The buyer only pays for the Notary, by the way.

STEP 3 - I take you to the Tax Office in Pescara (Agenzia delle Entrate) and within 15 minutes you have an italian tax code assigned.

STEP 4 - I take you to an italian bank of your choice where you open a bank account.

STEP 5 - I ask you to fill in a form called "Proposta irrevocabile d'acquisto immobiliare", i.e. the purchase offer. In this document you specify:
A* - the amount you offer for the property;
B* - the amount of the deposit you offer to reserve the sale of the property to you only;
C* - the conditions on which you make the offer for the property;
D* -the deadline within you intend to pay the balance at the Notary's office to finalize the purchase.

*notes on Step 5:
*A - It is a normal custom to make an offer which is slightly inferior to the sale price, provided there is a good reason to do that. My job is to make sure that the deal is convenient to both the seller and the buyer. So there is a lot of talking and negotiating between me and the seller before we get to the signing of the preliminary agreement.

*B - Normally it is 25% of the sale price. The higher the deposit, the better, as the Law rules that in case the owner of the house changes his mind, he has to return twice the amount of the deposit to you. The deposit consists in a bank cheque which you issue to the owner's name, cheque I hand over to the seller together with the purchase offer signed by you.

*D - The offer is valid on condition that the house is fit for the sale, i.e. there are no debts, mortgages, restrictions or pending rights on the property from third parties. Also you can add specific conditions (you want a septic tank installed before the sale, etc).

*E - The usual timeline is one or two months, enough for me and the notary to cross-check thoroughly the property and examine all aspects which could cause any issues in future.

STEP 6 - You sign the purchase offer document I prepared and hand the cheque to me, so that I can present both the offer and the cheque to the owner.

STEP 7 - The seller accepts your offer, signs the purchase offer document and takes your deposit cheque, which is called "Caparra Confirmatoria". This step is also know as "Compromesso" or "Contratto Preliminare d'Acquisto".

STEP 8 - I give a copy of signed the document to you, to the seller and I keep two copies, which need to be registered within 20 days at the Tax Office, together with a small advance payment to the Tax Office, money which will be computed at the Notary's office on payment of the balance due. I also give the Preliminary contract to the Notary's office together with all information on the seller and the buyer.

STEP 9 - In between the Compromesso and the Deed (in italian Rogito), my job is to double-check, together with the Notary, all I have checked before the Compromesso, to ensure nothing will go wrong on the day of the Rogito and after your purchase.

STEP 10 - When the Notary has finished preparing the documents for the Deed, you and I and the seller all meet at the Notary's office for closing the deal.

When you own a house in Italy, the municipality charges a property tax called ICI (Imposta Comunale Immobili), paid annually. Other bills are for the garbage, the water, the electricity and the gas usage.