Getting a house in Italy is a long life dream for many foreigners. Beautiful sea, historical cities and good food attract thousands of tourists every year, most of them dream to live in Italy.
Who can buy a house here and which are the main steps to realize your dream?
Who can buy a house in Italy?
Fortunately, Italy does not impose limitations on owning a house for foreigners. The way to purchase a property is different based on the nationality of the foreigners and the agreement stipulated with the other country. Indeed, Italy divided them in categories:
- if the foreigner is a European citizen or live in the European Economic Area, he/she can buy a home following the same procedures as Italian citizens;
- the same path can be follow by stateless or refugees, as long as them have lived in Italy for the last three years;
- for other countries, Italy has international treaties based on reciprocity conditions. For instance, an American can buy a house in Italy, and vice versa, because the international contract allows the purchase of a property.
Italy does not have great restrictions and most of the foreigners can buy a home in Italy.
Now, let’s see which are the main steps to purchase an house and start to live the dream in Italy.
Which are the main steps?
The only difference between buying a house in Italy and buying in other countries is that you need specific paper because you are not an Italian resident.
- Define the main points
When you want to buy a house in Italy, you need to clarify those points:- budget and in which Italian bank open an account;
- documents, as it is described below;
- main purpose: vacation house or permanent residence;
- in which area, you want to get the house: city, at the sea, in the mountains;
- establish the main services that the house needs to have.
- Mandatory documents
When you decided to buy an house in Italy, you need these documents:- passport;
- Italian tax code, which is mandatory and it must be requested by the foreigner to the Italian Tax Office.
- Relying on a real estate agent
Working with a real licensed estate agent is very valuable because she/he can help you with documents, house research to meet your needs and the purchase agreement.
It is important to check if the agent is registered at the Chamber of Commerce, because otherwise your purchase agreement could be not valid because it is not registered at the local tax office. - Checking the house you selected
When you find your perfect house, there will be a complete due diligence check of the property to be sure that the house does not have any problems, both technical and legal aspects.
If there are some irregularities such as physical changes or paperwork changes, you can ask the seller to comply with them, deal with it by yourself (but you need to be really aware of what is needed) or give and search for another house. - Making an offer and closing the deal
Once you selected the right place, you can submit an offer and your agent will help you negotiate. If your offer is accepted by the seller, you have to stipulate the preliminate contract in which it declares that the house will be yours when the conditions have been met.
Then once the confirmatory deposit is transferred, the last step is to sign the public deed in front of the notary and alongside the seller.
Those are the main steps to realize your dream to live in Italy.
If you want to buy in Italy, rely on a real estate agent or agency that is licensed and registered like those who work with Kaaja.
If you need more information on Kaaja services, check the website or contact us.