What are the procedures to follow when buying in Italy?
What are the procedures to follow when buying in Italy?
It is good to inquire and arrive prepared before carrying out a very delicate action such as buying a house. Precisely for this reason, we recommend that you always rely on an expert in the sector, real estate agents or real estate agencies that offer consultancy activities in the search for the property, manage the first contracts and can ensure assistance in the various stages of the sale which are:
• the negotiation or pre-contractual phase;
• the irrevocable purchase proposal;
• acceptance of the purchase proposal;
• the preliminary contract;
• the deed of real estate sale or notarial deed.
The customer or company coming from abroad must necessarily follow the regulations of the Italian law which imposes some fundamental requirements such as the possession of a tax code issued by the tax office, or it can be requested at the Italian Consulate (in any city of origin ) while for companies it must be requested directly from the competent Revenue Agency in Italy. The buyer, in the event that he cannot be present himself during the transition period, entrusts an Attorney with the task of following the necessary operations until the end, which will take place after registration.
Let's better define the points to follow:
- One of the most important phases is undoubtedly the negotiation, necessary to define the terms and details of a transfer, such as to be able to satisfy both the buyer and the seller. From here the payment methods are established, the limits with respect to the delivery of the property and the signing of the deed of sale, the notice by the buyer of the possible need to access a mortgage and the communications of any existing constraints on the ownership by the seller.
- The second phase concerns the purchase proposal that binds the party proposing the purchase after signing. However, it is not binding on the seller until he signs it. If at the expiry of the term of validity the seller does not accept, the proposal will be useless. Therefore, for both parties, it is advisable to include mortgage registrations or charges of any kind in the proposal. During the proposal it is right to read the main documentation relating to the property, as well as indicating whether you intend to take advantage of a mortgage or any other payment procedure.
- Acceptance of the proposal follows, accompanied by a non-interest bearing check which in the event of non-acceptance by the seller will be returned, on the contrary if the contract is concluded, with the approval of the seller, this sum will become a confirmation deposit. (Article 1385 of the Civil Code). All payments must be made through checks or bank transfers and must be kept until the notarial deed is signed. With the contract concluded, the Real Estate Agent has the right to receive the commission.
- The preliminary sale is a document that sees the commitment between the two parties to sell and buy, with a precise identification of the parties themselves (if there are more than one) and the object for sale. This can be drawn up with the assistance of a professional, who in Italy often identifies with the figure of the Notary, who will take care of the drafting of the final deed and will make an accurate assessment in the tax field, will carry out inspections of mortgage surveys. and cadastral, will verify the validity of each clause, will check the personal data, the exact identification of the parts and the property, the agreed price, the payment methods, the date on which the parties intend to stipulate the notarial deed indicating the chosen notary, of the existence or not of mortgage or other bonds. This is followed by the registration of the purchase proposal and the preliminary at the Revenue Office and the transcription of the preliminary at the Land Agency Real Estate Advertising Service.
- Finally, the signing of the final sale contract, or notarial deed which is the main sales contract, signed by the buyer and the seller before the Notary, chosen and paid by the buyer. The notary has the task of verifying that the property is full, not burdened with prejudicial formalities and of checking the identity of the owners and the identification of the property to be purchased. From that moment the asset will be transferred in all respects from the seller to the buyer.
What are the taxes to pay while buying a property in Italy?
What are the taxes to pay while buying a property in Italy?
When you buy a house you are subjected to the payment of certain taxes, such as VAT, registration tax, mortgage tax and land registry tax. Taxes may vary according to the destination of the property, that is, if it is a first home, and by the seller, for example if it is a private individual, a construction company or another company inclined to buy and sell real estate.
Let's analyze the possible hypotheses better.
• PURCHASE OF THE FIRST HOME
If a private individual buys the house, the taxes to be paid are:
- Registration tax at 2%
- Fixed mortgage tax of € 50.00.00
- Fixed cadastral tax of € 50.00.00
If the seller is a construction company and the works have been completed for a maximum of 4 years, the following will be paid:
- 4% VAT
- Fixed registration tax of € 200.00.00
- Fixed cadastral tax of € 200.00.00
If, on the other hand, you buy from a construction company that has completed the work for more than 4 years, or if you buy from a non-construction company that is solely dedicated to the purchase and sale of the property, the taxes to be paid are:
- Registration tax at 2%
- Fixed mortgage tax of € 200.00.00
- Fixed cadastral tax of € 200.00.00
• PURCHASE OF A SECOND HOME
In this case the taxes to be paid change, if a buyer buys a property always for residential use but it is not a first home, there are two possibilities:
1) It is bought from a private individual, from a non-construction company, from a construction company after 4 years from the end of the works;
2) Or it is purchased from a construction company within 4 years.
In the first case, the following must be paid:
- Registration tax at 9%
- Fixed mortgage tax of € 50.00.00
- Fixed cadastral tax of € 50.00.00
For the second hypothesis instead:
- 10% VAT (20% if it is a luxury property)
- Fixed registration tax of € 200.00.00
- Fixed mortgage tax of € 200.00.00
- Fixed cadastral tax of € 200.00.00
But how are the values on which taxes are calculated?
It is of obvious interest to know how the aforementioned taxes are actually paid and calculated. They can be credited directly at the time of registration of the deed of sale. If a private individual is buying, the taxes are calculated on the cadastral value of the property. If the buyer is not a private individual or the sale concerns land, shops and offices, the calculation will refer to the price notified in the deed of purchase and not to the cadastral value. VAT is also calculated from the purchase price when the value added tax is to be paid. If, on the other hand, the purchase price is explicitly indicated in the deed, the buyer can clearly ask the notary that the taxes are counted on the cadastral value and not on the price paid. So even on the notary fee there is a discount of 30%.
The real estate market during and after the pandemic
The pandemic caused by COVID 19 has already changed our lives in unimaginable ways until a year ago and despite collective efforts to implement mass vaccination as soon as possible, the disease is still with us and we do not know how long and how the its aftermath will continue to influence our society. Analyzing the impact of this historic event within the universe of markets and in particular the real estate one is obviously not a simple exercise, but having already passed almost a year since the first tragic deaths in Europe and the first containment measures from governments, we are starting to have enough data to develop credible analyzes, focusing mainly on the residential real estate market.
For the drafting of these forecasts we used data from Istat, Nomisma, Scenari Immobiliari, MerctaoImmobiliare.info and Corriere della Sera.
The general trend of the market
Obviously there has been a slowdown, but less dramatic than expected, in fact there is a general decrease in the price of houses, but a limited decrease, with the new market going against the trend as evidenced by the IPAB index (House Price Index) of the Istat, which reports price increases for the first three quarters of the year. On the other hand, by analyzing the number of transactions, a drop of 14% emerges in 2020 compared to the previous year, a significant but not dramatic number, if we consider the two months of lockdown in which it was not possible to visit the houses or obviously conclude the transactions. , just think that in 2012, considered a tragic year for the brick market, but without the tragedy of the pandemic, the reduction was 24%. According to the Nomisma and Scenari Immobiliari study centers, after a slow recovery during the summer of 2020, due to the arrival of the second wave of infections also in 2021, this slight decline will continue and we will be able to speak of a real recovery only in 2022 and 2023, but this positive scenario is closely linked to the hope of a rebound in the general economic situation and to the success of the national vaccination plan.
Smart working effect
As Corriere della Sera points out in an analysis of its economic insert of January 2021, the real game changer of the residential real estate market could be the so-called smart working: working from home is a novelty for Italy and certainly has significant advantages. for workers, but also for companies that could reduce their operating costs, it is therefore easy to predict that alongside many workers who will return "in presence" once the pandemic is behind us, there will be others for which will go back further and will continue to work from their home, also benefiting from the imminent arrival in Italy of 5G connections. What does all this mean for the real estate market? First of all, a progressive shift from the city to the suburbs, from large urban centers to locations located in the hinterland or in tourist resorts, many second homes will become main homes. From this also derive the forecasts that see the real estate market of large Italian cities still in difficulty, with the exception of Milan, a city with a generally more dynamic market and which in 2024 will host the Winter Olympics. Also as a result of smart working, the demand for large and comfortable homes will grow, with spaces to be used exclusively for work from home and with a strong demand for homes with outdoor spaces. A good example of this trend are the data that MercatoImmobiliare.info provides on its website about the real estate situation in the province of Lecce, as in Salento the number of transactions and the value of the properties generally follows the values of the rest of the national territory, but putting the magnifying glass on the dynamics of prices and on real estate prices divided by type of house, it clearly emerges that the type that recorded the greatest percentage appreciation is made up of farmhouses and farms, whose prices show an increase of about 5% in the last 3 months, closely followed by detached houses and houses, growing but with minor increases. An increase of this magnitude achieved during a period of pandemic means that the famous Apulian farms, which have long been protagonists in worldly magazines and guides to luxury and well-being, are no longer seen only as fairy-tale ceremonial locations or luxurious tourist destinations. , but as real assets on which to build the future of one's family.
Watch out for the Ecobonus
While the new homes will be designed to meet this new need of buyers to have homes that are also comfortable work environments, it is also foreseeable to bet a strong increase in interest for all used, old or currently disused properties. for which works and renovations are planned facilitated by the 110% bonus (topic that we will soon discuss in more detail, with a dedicated article on this blog).
Archeology of Salento: the hinterland
It is enough to identify Salento on any map to observe its geographical centrality within the Mediterranean Sea, universally recognized as the cradle of all Western civilization; observing the position of the Salento peninsula we immediately understand how this has been, over the centuries, an almost obligatory passage for the movement from east to west that characterized the history of ancient peoples already in the phases preceding the Greek and Roman eras. Starting from this consideration, it is easy to understand how the Salento area has been over time first a landing place and then a home for many peoples during their historical adventure, but what our adventurous predecessors left as a testimony of their life and struggle for the conquest of one's own identity? There is still much to see and for convenience and ease of reading we will tell you about it in two different posts on this blog: this one, dedicated to the Salento archeology of the hinterland and the next which will be dedicated to the archeology of the Salento coast.
The first appointment is on what is geographically defined as the "Messapian threshold", that is the splendid town of Ostuni, considered the northern limit of the Salento peninsula. The local Museum of Preclassical Civilizations houses the remains of Delia, also known as "the Woman of Ostuni", a hominid whose remains were discovered in October 1991 by the palethnologist Donato Coppola, in a cave at the local archaeological park. The remains date back to about 24,000 years ago, but the importance of Delia is given by the fact that together with it, or rather in her womb, the remains of a fetus in the terminal phase were also found, and therefore Delia is still today the oldest mother of which history has direct knowledge.
The journey continues "in the feminine" with the Venus of Parabita, two statuettes from the prehistoric era, found in 1965 by the team of prof. Giuseppe Piscopo at the local Grotta delle Veneri, which represent two pregnant women hugging each other: this type of works of art are called Paleolithic venus. The statuettes are carved from horse bone and have an age of 12,000-14,000 years. They are kept at the MARTA (National Archaeological Museum of Taranto).
Going up the thread of Salento history it is necessary to face the Messapian period. The Messapi were a population that in the classical era occupied a large part of the Salento peninsula since their arrival, dated around 700 BC. until the Roman conquest of the whole Salento area which took place around 260 BC. Their origin is uncertain, but the most plausible hypotheses consider them a union between the Illyrian and Cretan people, who met in the Salento area during their explorations towards the West. Speaking of the Messapi, if you want to know more about their history, it is essential to take a walk in the "Parco dei Guerrieri", a site brought to light in 1981 after the works by the University of Salento, in collaboration with the Ecole Francaise of Rome. The park today looks like an open-air archaeological area of about 20 hectares, distributed over an even larger area that goes from the town of Vaste to the Serre di Poggiardo, the natural hills on which the first Messapi settlements were born in Salento. Recent excavations have brought to light the remains of what must have been one of the most important cities of the Messapia; the path of the ancient walls, the foundations of the city and therefore of the huts that stood there and of which a faithful reproduction can be observed right at the Park has been recovered. Countless tombs still intact have also been unearthed, with all the funerary equipment and the remains of a pagan temple.
The Romans arrive in 260 BC. as we have seen, and this time the city of Lecce flourishes, with the Latin name of Lupiae, passing from a simple military station to a real "municipium", experiencing a period of absolute splendor that coincides with that of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius, period in which it was enriched with the construction of a theater and an amphitheater and connected to Porto Adriano (today San Cataldo).
In the Middle Ages, the nerve center of the Salento area moved to Otranto, which remained so until the brief Ottoman conquest in 1480 and immediately ended the following year. Despite the brevity of the Turkish occupation, the event remains central to the identity of the town of Hydruntina, as evidenced by the impressive relics of the Martyrs of Otranto, which can still be seen today at the local Basilica of the Annunziata.