For many international buyers, acquiring a property in Italy is not simply a transaction. It is the decision to make a place part of their life for years to come: a Tuscan villa, a historic farmhouse surrounded by vineyards, or an estate with olive groves and land.
These buyers usually arrive with experience; they understand markets, value location and appreciate quality. What they often find is that Italy follows a different purchasing logic — one where the important decisions are made earlier than expected. A written offer can bind before the notarial deed, and the notary secures the legal transfer without certifying that the building itself matches its approved plans; that verification belongs to a surveyor, and it belongs before the offer.
The purchase usually takes three to six months and develops through three legal stages: the offer, the preliminary agreement and the final notarial deed. The sequence itself is straightforward. The important question is when each decision becomes binding, which checks belong before commitment, and which professional is responsible for each part of the process.
A historic Italian home is rarely valuable because it is perfect. Its character comes from its history, its architecture and the way it has evolved over generations; the objective is not to remove that character but to understand it fully before ownership begins. My role is to provide that clarity — bringing together the legal, technical and practical elements that let international buyers decide with confidence. The figures below reflect practice in Tuscany and the current Italian property framework.
The purchase at a glance
| Step | Timeframe | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Preparation | before the search | Tax number, bank account, financing, strategy |
| Offer (Proposta) | 7–15 days | first binding purchase decision |
| Preliminary contract (Compromesso) | 2–4 weeks after acceptance | both sides become financially bound |
| Notarial deed (Rogito) | a further 2–3 months | transfer of ownership |
In short
- The purchase runs in three stages over three to six months: offer, preliminary contract, notarial deed.
- Costs on top of the price: 10 to 15 percent, often less on a private sale.
- The notary secures the legal side. Whether the building matches its permits is established by a separate surveyor.
- Non-residents can finance 50 to 60 percent of the price.
- EU and Swiss nationals buy without restriction, and no visa is needed.
- Protective clauses belong in the offer, not in the preliminary contract.
Codice Fiscale and a bank account first
Nothing in Italy works without a tax number, an offer included. You get one at an Italian consulate in your home country within a week or two, or in Italy directly with your passport. It costs nothing.
The bank account takes longer, and you need it for the deposit. Opening one runs to one or three weeks. Both are worth sorting out before you start looking in earnest, otherwise they are missing at the moment an offer has to move quickly. How to apply for the tax number and the account is set out in a separate guide.
The process: three contracts
Unlike many international markets, Italy does not move directly from agreement to completion. The purchase unfolds through three distinct legal stages, each creating a different level of commitment — and the first of them, the offer, already binds the buyer, not the notarial deed.
The first decision: the offer (Proposta d’acquisto)
The first binding step is not the notary but this offer. The offer binds the buyer, not yet the seller. The buyer submits a bid and lodges one to three percent as security; the seller has seven to fifteen days to respond, and may keep negotiating in the meantime.
The offer is also the last point at which protective clauses go in without friction: the mortgage condition, confirmation of planning compliance, the cadastral check, and, where farmland is involved, the neighbours’ waiver of their pre-emption right. Which of these a particular house needs comes out of the survey. If the right clause is in the offer and the survey later turns up a problem, the buyer can withdraw. Without these protections, the buyer’s flexibility becomes significantly limited, because the preliminary contract leaves little room to add such conditions.
The preliminary contract (Compromesso)
With the compromesso both sides become financially bound for the first time. Two to four weeks after acceptance it follows the offer. Now the real deposit is paid, the caparra confirmatoria, usually around ten percent of the price. From here both sides are bound. If the buyer pulls out, the deposit is lost; if the seller pulls out, it is repaid twice over. On a country house at two million euros that is two hundred thousand on each side. The same bond protects the buyer: the seller can no longer hand the property to someone else who bids more later.
The preliminary contract must be in writing and registered, which carries a fixed fee and a small percentage on the deposit, both set against the final bill at the notary. Over the two to three months to the rogito, the agreed points run in parallel: the mortgage offer, the cadastral check, any outstanding pre-emption rights.
The notarial deed (Rogito)
The rogito closes a process whose quality was decided months earlier. Ownership passes at it. The notary is chosen and paid by the purchaser and remains independent of both sides. The deed is read aloud in Italian, and anyone who does not follow the language relies on a sworn interpreter (required, roughly five hundred to fifteen hundred euros). The balance of the price has been transferred by then or is ready as a banker’s draft. On signing, keys and title change hands, and the notary registers the buyer at the land registry within thirty days.
| Stage | Duration | What happens | Risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| Offer (Proposta) | 7-15 days | Binding bid, 1-3 % security | No right to withdraw without clauses |
| Acceptance → preliminary contract | 2-4 weeks | Technical and legal survey | Deposit amount is set |
| Preliminary contract → deed | 2-3 months | Financing, cadastral check | Delays possible, rarely critical |
| Total | 3-6 months | With listed status or pre-emption: 9-12 months |
What the notary checks, and what he does not
The notary secures the legal framework: the chain of title twenty years back, the land registry, mortgages, rights of way and the anti-money-laundering checks. He records the building permits in the deed; if those details are missing, the sale is void.
What he does not check is whether the papers match what was actually built. Whether the conservatory was permitted, whether the pool ever had a building title, whether the barn that now serves as a guest house was ever reclassified — that is established by a geometra or an architect. In Tuscany it is rarely a formality.
Many older houses have a discrepancy somewhere; that is normal and seldom a reason to walk away from a house. I have the check done by a surveyor before the offer, and I settle the result with the notary. If an unpermitted terrace surfaces beforehand, it can be reflected in the negotiation; after the purchase, the new owner carries the retrospective permit, the sanatoria, anywhere from a thousand to over twenty thousand euros depending on the case. The survey itself costs a few thousand. More on this: Due diligence in Italy.
What the purchase costs
As a rule of thumb, 10 to 15 percent on top of the price. The figure turns mainly on one question: whether you buy from a private owner or from a developer. On a private sale of an existing property, the transfer tax is calculated on the cadastral value, which usually sits well below the market price. On a new build from a developer, VAT applies to the full price instead.
| Item | Guide figure | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Transfer tax (Registro or VAT) | 2-22 % depending on case | Largest single item |
| Notary fee | EUR 1,500-4,000 plus VAT | Registration and land-registry taxes run separately through the notary |
| Agent's commission | 4 % plus VAT | Buyer and seller each pay their own share |
| Technical survey (geometra) | approx. EUR 2,000-5,000 | Before the preliminary contract |
| Interpreter at the deed | approx. EUR 500-1,500 | Required if you do not speak Italian |
| Lawyer (optional) | EUR 2,000-5,000 | For complex situations |
The notary’s own fee usually sits between 1,500 and 4,000 euros. What makes “notary costs” look higher is the registration and land-registry tax the notary collects and passes to the state; that belongs to the transfer tax, not to the fee.
A worked example: a casale in Chianti, 1.2 million euros
Private sale, second home, cadastral value 350,000 euros. The transfer tax is nine percent on the cadastral value, so 31,500 euros. The agent’s commission adds four percent plus VAT, 58,560 euros. Notary, surveyor, interpreter and the fixed land-registry fees come to about eight thousand. That totals around 98,000 euros, a little over eight percent of the price — below the rule of thumb, because the tax runs on the low cadastral value. The same house from a developer, with ten percent VAT on the full price, would come to over 180,000. I prepare the exact breakdown before the offer. For detail: Taxes on an Italian property purchase.
Financing as a non-resident
Italian banks lend non-residents 50 to 60 percent of the price, in exceptional cases seventy. The review takes four to eight weeks. Banks want translated proof of income, statements, and their own valuation of the property, and they want to see the registered preliminary contract before they open the file.
Someone who views a house and wants to make an offer the next day has not settled the financing. Without a mortgage condition in the offer, the buyer is on the hook for the security if the bank declines. The pre-approval therefore comes at the start, before the viewings.
One point has nothing to do with money and belongs here all the same. Without an express declaration at the notary, Italy applies community of property, regardless of the marital regime at home. Anyone who wants separation of property states it in the deed, and that is worth discussing before the appointment. More on financing: The mutuo for non-residents.
Visa, lawyer, special permission?
EU nationals buy on the same terms as Italians. The same holds for Swiss, US and British buyers under reciprocity. No proof of investor status, no quota, and no visa for the purchase itself.
A lawyer is not required by law. On a straightforward purchase, an experienced agent and the notary are enough. In certain cases a specialist property lawyer still pays for himself: a gift in the chain of title, pre-emption rights, listed status, or a developer purchase with several instalments. The two to five thousand euros are then usually money well spent. Anyone who wants to know who does what in Italy will find it under the three roles in Italian property law.
Who accompanies the buyer
Several professionals accompany a purchase in Italy, and it is easy to assume they all work toward one shared goal. In fact each has a defined remit, and good guidance does not mean one person answers every question; it means each question is handled by whoever carries the responsibility for it.
The agent (mediatore) mediates between the two sides and is bound by law to impartiality; he is not, by default, the buyer’s exclusive representative. Distinct from this is an express mandate (mandato): with it, a buyer engages someone to act for his interests alone in the search, the checks and the negotiation, taking commission only from him. For international buyers used to buyer representation as standard, this is the point that matters — knowing whether you are working with a neutral intermediary or someone engaged on your side. How the agent’s commission is structured is covered separately.
The other roles stay separate. The notaio secures the legal form and the transfer of title, without advising the buyer strategically. The geometra or architect establishes the building’s condition and the scope for change. The lawyer reviews the contract for his client, the commercialista the tax structure. How I coordinate these professionals is set out on the buyer support page.
What can extend the timeline
In most cases the purchase takes three to six months. Four situations can stretch it to nine or twelve, and all four can be spotted in advance.
Where farmland forms part of the plot, tenants and neighbouring farmers hold a statutory pre-emption right with a thirty-day window. On a podere with an olive grove that is the norm. Where the property is listed, the Soprintendenza holds its own pre-emption right of sixty days, and any structural change later needs a separate consent. Where the house was given away at some earlier point, its marketability can be limited as long as forced heirs could contest the gift, and some banks lend on such properties only with conditions. That window runs until ten years after the donor’s death, not from the date of the gift — so a gift some way back can still matter if the donor died only recently. And where the plan on file at the cadastre does not match the actual layout, that blocks the appointment until a geometra corrects the record.
By buyer’s situation
Existing house from a private seller. The commonest case in Tuscany, and the cheaper one for tax, since the transfer tax runs on the cadastral value. The attention belongs on the technical survey, as many older houses carry structural discrepancies. A survey does not take the character out of an old Tuscan house; it turns that character into a known quantity before ownership changes.
New build from a developer. Here the tax runs higher: VAT on the full price, ten percent on ordinary homes, twenty-two on the luxury categories A/1, A/8 and A/9. The cadastral category should be settled before the offer. In return the buyer gets a bank guarantee on the instalments, an energy certificate at class A, and a ten-year warranty on structural defects.
Buyer with financing. The bank review takes four to eight weeks and begins before the viewing, not after. The mortgage condition in the offer protects the deposit if the bank declines. Detail: Bank financing for non-residents.
Listed building. The timeline lengthens, the restoration costs more than on an unprotected house, and every change needs an additional consent. Against that there are tax reliefs that absorb part of the extra cost. See: Restoration in Tuscany.
Buyer intending to let. The tax structure has to be in place before the purchase, not after. Rental income runs either under the flat tax (cedolare secca) or under progressive income tax. Since 2026: from more than two units let on a short-term basis, the activity is treated as a business, with the duties that follow. See: Letting in Tuscany 2026.
After the rogito: ownership is the beginning
The rogito feels like the finish line; for ownership it is the start. A farmhouse, a villa or an estate with land needs continuous attention: maintenance, technical oversight, the occasional restoration that rarely ends on schedule, and the annual IMU on a second home. Much of it can only be handled from abroad with reliable people on the ground, and those are easier to find before the purchase than after.
Anyone letting the house settles the tax structure before buying — the flat tax (cedolare secca) or progressive income tax, and the threshold above which short-term letting is treated as a business. A buyer who considers from the outset who looks after the house in winter and who organises a letting chooses differently at the selection stage. For management and letting I put buyers in touch with specialist local partners.
Frequently asked questions
How does buying property in Italy work?
In three stages: the offer (proposta), which binds the buyer; the preliminary contract (compromesso), with a deposit of around ten percent, which binds both sides; and the notarial deed (rogito), which transfers ownership. From offer to deed usually takes three to six months.
What is the difference between proposta, compromesso and rogito?
The proposta is the written offer and binds only the buyer at first. The compromesso binds both: the deposit is paid, and a withdrawal costs the buyer the deposit and the seller double. The rogito is the notarial deed that transfers title and price.
How long does buying property in Italy take?
Three to six months from offer to deed. With listed status or an agricultural pre-emption right, it can run to nine or twelve.
What is the most common mistake foreign buyers make?
Commissioning the planning survey after the purchase rather than before. Beforehand it costs a few thousand euros and can be reflected in the negotiation. Afterwards the new owner carries the retrospective permit alone.
What happens if the seller backs out after the preliminary contract?
He repays the deposit twice over, or the buyer can sue for performance. The reverse holds too: a buyer who withdraws without cause loses the deposit.
How much is the agent’s commission in Italy?
In Tuscany, typically four percent plus VAT. Unlike in many other countries, each side pays its own share, so the buyer does not carry the whole commission. It falls due at the preliminary contract. Detail: Agent’s commission in Italy.
What does the notary cost when buying a house in Italy?
The fee is usually between 1,500 and 4,000 euros plus VAT, depending on price and complexity. Higher figures you sometimes read include the registration and land-registry taxes, which the notary only collects and forwards. The buyer chooses and pays the notary.
Do I have to move my residence to Italy after buying?
Only to claim the reduced tax rate for a main home. Otherwise there is no residence requirement.
Can Swiss nationals buy without restriction?
Yes, on the same terms as EU nationals. Financing can be a little more involved, as banks price in the exchange-rate risk on income in francs.
What ongoing taxes apply after purchase?
The municipal IMU on second homes; a main home is usually exempt. Letting adds income or flat-rate tax. Double-taxation treaties with Germany, Austria, Switzerland and the UK govern the credit.
Do I need my own lawyer?
Not by law. On a straightforward purchase, an agent and the notary are enough. On gifts in the chain of title, pre-emption rights, listed status or developer purchases, a specialist lawyer usually pays for himself.
What is the difference between caparra confirmatoria and the security deposit?
The security of one to three percent is lodged with the offer and binds only the buyer. The caparra confirmatoria of around ten percent is paid at the preliminary contract and binds both sides: a buyer who withdraws loses it; a seller who withdraws repays it double.
I am an estate agent in Tuscany and accompany buyers from the German-speaking and international market from the first conversation to the notarial deed. The legal and technical review I coordinate with independent lawyers and surveyors on the ground. Request buyer support · Current properties · About Andrej Avi
As of July 2026. Not tax or legal advice.
