Here at The Local we’re an international team living in Italy – which means we’ve either grown up navigating Italian bureaucracy or been through the simultaneously exciting and nerve-wracking process of moving countries.
Our new newsletter is aimed at people who are in the process of moving, have recently moved and are still grappling with the paperwork or perhaps are just thinking about it – and we’ll share a regular selection of practical tips. Our team is also available to answer questions from subscribers to The Local.
A beginner’s guide to buying a house in Italy
With its old houses often going for a song, Italy attracts numerous foreign buyers looking for an affordable second or retirement home. But for people completely new to the process, what does buying an Italian home actually entail?
Mario Mazzeschi, managing partner of the law firm Mazzeschi Consultancy, says there are four major stages to buying a house in Italy, from signing a contract with an agency – who typically take two percent to five percent of the asking price – to completing the purchase.
In between, you’ll be expected to sign proposta irrevocabile d’acquisto (binding proposal) and pay a deposit, followed a compromesso (preliminary contract), and eventually a final contract.
You’ll want to protect yourself from hidden traps by hiring a surveyor, who could save you a hefty chunk of change. “We had such a case once where the buyer shaved €5,000 off the asking price because his surveyor found something,” says Mazzeschi.
In all this, it’s worth bearing in mind that there are different rules for residents and non-residents of Italy, which may influence your thoughts about whether it’s worth pursuing Italian residency.
Non-residents, for example, can only buy if their country has a reciprocal arrangement in place with Italy – excluding residents of Canada and some Swiss cantons – while Italian residents benefit from lower taxes and cadastral costs.
Can you get a mortgage in Italy as a foreigner?
If you’re considering buying a home in Italy as a foreigner but don’t have the funds to purchase one outright, there’s good news: it’s generally possible for foreigners to take out a mortgage in Italy.
Persuading an Italian bank to lend to you as a foreigner, however, is likely to be less straightforward and more time-consuming than it is for Italian citizens.
Non-residents in particular are likely to require the services of a specialist mortgage broker who can help you access information about rates.
Italian banks are also known to be strict lenders and tend to require a larger deposit (regardless of whether or not the buyer is Italian) than international buyers may be expecting.
“In general, expect your down payment to be higher than it would be in the US or UK,” say lawyers from legal consultancy Italy Law Firms on their blog.
You can find out more about buying a home in Italy by browsing The Local’s Italian property section.
Questions
The Local’s Reader Questions section covers questions our members have asked us and is a treasure trove of useful info on all kinds of practical matters. If you can’t find the answer you’re looking for, head here to leave us your questions.
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I successfully obtained two mortgages in Italy, the second one being paid back in US dollars. I also had a mortgage broker who helped facilitate the process, but all in all I found it very straightforward and fairly easy. With very few hoops to jump through. It was helpful that the bank I have my mortgages with (in Como) deals with foreigners quite a bit, so it was not a strange process for them. At the time of my first mortgage, interest rates were below those in the United States so the money was virtually free. Now mortgage rates have caught up in Italy and the going rates are much higher, but still reasonable. Both mortgages are payable every three months rather than the usual one month. The down payment was 40%.