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| Best Practices: Property |
La Dolce Villa
Bryant Urstadt
12/01/2004
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Seasoned agents
can also help us navigate the labyrinthine Italian real estate laws. Buying in
Italy can be just a bit complicated, suggests Benedetta Vigano, an agent in
Milan, with some understatement. Italy is often caricatured as a nation of
crazed bureaucrats; doubters need only try to leave a grocery store without
getting a receipt for a soda (it is actually illegal). As for real estate
transactions, there are not two, but three legal and binding stages of the
purchase. The first is the offer, which includes a nonrefundable deposit; the
amount is negotiated between the buyer and the seller, but normally ranges from
2 to 3 percent of the total asking price. Inspections, title searches and lien
checks are done before this stage, unlike in the United States. Careful
preparation before this point is the best way to avoid
disappointment.
 |  | | BEFORE AND after photographs of the Il Granaio kitchen and dining room
restoration. Materials original to the structure were used when possible,
including 230-year-old terra-cotta floor tiles. |
Happily, however, if the seller backs out at this time, he is
generally required to return the deposit, with a 100 percent penalty. This
affects the negotiation of the deposit amount. A seller hoping to land a better
offer from another buyer will request a smaller deposit; a very committed buyer
will try to run it as high as possible to prevent the seller from walking away.
Approximately one month after the offer, the parties move to the second
stage, called il compromesso, or the full preliminary contract. At this point,
the buyer hands over 20 to 30 percent of the sales price, minus the deposit, and
the agent’s commission is paid. Two to three months later, the buyer and seller
sign the final transfer deed, or rogito, and a bank check changes hands.
In
addition to an agent, a buyer will also rely on the services of an Italian
notary, or notaio. Our agent will probably recommend one who will handle the
official records and check for title discrepancies, liens or other outstanding
claims. A good agent will have access to reputable people, and a licensed local
agent will carry insurance against some mishaps, such as title squabbles. A
buyer will also require a local geometra, or surveyor, who will inspect the land
and ensure that it matches its registered description. The geometra prepares a
report describing the boundaries of the property and its overall condition.
Gray Areas
Taxes and fees can add up quite quickly. These include a stamp
duty that ranges from 3 to 7 percent; the notaio’s fee, which can run more than
$5,000 on a $2.5 million property; the geometra’s fee, which may be $1,000 to
$2,000; a real estate tax of 3 percent, if you are buying from an individual;
and local taxes, generally 0.4 to 0.8 percent of the assessed value. Italy is
also notorious for “adjustments” made between the actual and the declared value
of a home; buyers are generally expected to make a cash payment to cover the
difference. Although sellers do not demand these adjustments with quite as much
swagger as in the past, it pays to be aware of this cultural anachronism. “It’s
sort of legal and sort of not—and sort of standard,” says Barbara Schaefer, a
broker with New York-based Eychner Associates. Today, we can pay for the
adjustments with a bank check, rather than a pile of cash in a briefcase. Italy
also charges nonresidents a premium on many services. This can be as much as 50
percent more on expenses such as property taxes and water, electricity and phone
bills. These charges vary from region to region, and from town to town.
Whether we emerge unscathed from these negotiations depends greatly on the
expertise of our local legal team. Buyers at the higher end of the market do
enjoy some advantage here, as reputable well-established agents with strong
networks of trustworthy people will be easier to find. But Italy’s mania for
such idiosyncrasies as the infamous rubber stamps are part of the country’s
charms and are to be embraced if we hope for a relatively angst-free
transaction. “Once people get here, they want to stay,” says Schaefer, who lived
in Italy for 12 years. “With all of its difficulties and contradictions, it’s
still a warm and wonderful place. You take it to heart.”
With millions of
readers raptly following every slap of the trowel in Frances Mayes’ Under the
Tuscan Sun, it almost seems like a buyer is missing out if he is not getting
frustrated with the “colorful” workers who restore—or neglect to restore—a
recently purchased villa. In reality, Zecca remembers the shock he felt when the
master mason showed up. “He basically had a bucket and two hammers. Three years
later, though, our home was perfect.” But it was three years of careful
oversight, with the Zeccas living just down the road all the while, visiting the
house constantly. Zecca does not believe he could have done it any other way.
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