At Mitos, clients rarely call us the day they find the house. They call a week later, when the agent has sent over a purchase offer to sign and they are unsure what it commits them to. Italy’s system is in some ways more protective than the ones they know at home: every sale passes through a notary, who is a public official, and purchase taxes follow clear rules. What surprises buyers from the UK and the US is the order of things, because in Italy you are often legally committed before most of the checks are done. Here is the checklist we walk clients through, built around the questions they actually ask.
Can I buy at all?
For British and American buyers the answer is almost always yes. Italy applies a reciprocity principle, under which a non-EU citizen can buy property if an Italian could buy in their country. UK and US nationals generally meet it, and the notary confirms the position before the deed. Two practical steps come first. You need an Italian tax code, the codice fiscale, which an Italian consulate abroad or any Agenzia delle Entrate office can issue. You also need a payment route that leaves a trail: the deed records exactly how the price was paid, cash is currently banned from €5,000 upwards, and the notary runs anti-money-laundering checks, so keep documents on the source of funds ready.
Should we buy first, or rent?
This is the question I discuss most with clients retiring to Italy, because the purchase is tied to three other decisions.
- The visa. Owning a home gives no right to live in Italy, and there is no property-based golden visa. Non-EU retirees usually apply for the elective residence visa, for which consulates want proof of accommodation, typically a registered lease or a deed, alongside proof of passive income and health insurance. Requirements vary by consulate.
- The 7% regime. The 7% substitute tax on foreign income is open to people receiving a foreign pension who have not been Italian tax resident in the previous five years and who move to a comune of up to 30,000 inhabitants (20,000 until April 2026) in eight southern regions, or to listed earthquake-hit towns in central Italy. A house just over a municipal boundary can cost you the regime, so check eligibility before the viewing.
- Prima casa relief. The reduced purchase-tax rates apply only if you move your registered residence to that comune within 18 months of the deed. Otherwise the tax office recovers the difference with interest and a 30% penalty.
This is why we often suggest renting for six to twelve months, using the lease for the visa application, and buying once you know the town.
When am I actually committed?
Earlier than most British and American buyers expect, because a purchase usually runs in three steps and the first two can already bind you.
- The offer (proposta d’acquisto), usually on the agent’s form. Once the seller accepts it, it can bind both sides and may even count as a preliminary contract, so have it reviewed before you sign. There is no “subject to contract” stage.
- The preliminary contract (compromesso), which fixes price, conditions and completion date and comes with a deposit. If the deposit is a caparra confirmatoria, a buyer who walks away loses it and a seller who walks away repays double.
- The deed (rogito), signed before the notary, when the balance is paid and ownership passes.
So every condition you care about, such as a survey, planning compliance, a mortgage or the sale of your current home, has to be written into the offer or the preliminary contract. The agency commission, often 2-3% from each of buyer and seller plus VAT, though it varies by region and agency, can fall due once the deal is legally concluded rather than at completion. Agree it in writing before you sign, and check that the agent is listed in the Chamber of Commerce business register (REA).
Isn’t the notary checking everything?
The notaio is a public official, impartial between the parties, who checks identity, title, mortgages and liens, drafts the deed and collects the taxes. By custom the buyer chooses and pays the notary. The deed can be bilingual or read through a sworn interpreter, and you can sign through a power of attorney from abroad. What the notary does not do is survey the building. Whether it matches its planning permissions is a question for a surveyor (geometra), and in the rural farmhouses and trulli many of our clients fall for, undeclared extensions are common. Three more checks belong on every list:
- Condominium arrears. The buyer is jointly liable for unpaid charges of the current and previous condominium financial year, so ask the building administrator for a written statement.
- Pre-emption rights. Tenants or neighbouring farmers can have first refusal on agricultural land, and for a property declared of cultural interest the State has 60 days from notification of the sale to buy it at the agreed price.
- Gifted property. Since a 2025 reform, the donor’s heirs can generally no longer reclaim a gifted home from a later buyer. This now applies even where the donor died before the reform; the exception is an heir who notified and registered a claim against the property by 18 June 2026, which the notary’s searches should reveal.
Because the notary is neutral by design, many foreign buyers also appoint their own lawyer. On a significant purchase, we consider that money well spent.
What will it really cost?
Purchase taxes depend on who sells and whether you qualify for prima casa relief, not on your nationality.
| Buying from | With prima casa relief | Without |
| A private individual | Registration tax 2% (minimum €1,000), plus €50 each in mortgage and cadastral tax | Registration tax 9% (minimum €1,000), plus €50 each in mortgage and cadastral tax |
| A developer charging VAT | VAT 4%, plus €200 each in registration, mortgage and cadastral tax | VAT 10% (22% for luxury categories A/1, A/8, A/9), plus €200 each in registration, mortgage and cadastral tax |
What surprises clients is the tax base. An individual buying a home from a private seller can ask, in the deed, for registration tax to be charged on the cadastral value rather than the price, under the prezzo-valore rule. That value is the official rendita multiplied by 1.05 and by 120 (110 with prima casa relief), and it is usually far below market value, though the real price must still be declared. A €600,000 house with a rendita of €1,500 has a cadastral value of €189,000, so tax at 9% is €17,010 rather than €54,000. These are clearly complicated matters, and it is paramount that foreign buyers are followed carefully by a local advisor.
Add the notary, the surveyor and any lawyer. On a second home the agency commission is often the largest single cost: 3% plus VAT on that house is €21,960, more than the tax.
What happens once we own it?
- IMU, the municipal property tax, is not due on your principal residence unless it is in some specific luxury categories. A second home pays it every year at a rate set by the comune, usually between the 0.86% base rate and 1.06%, on the rendita multiplied by 1.05 and by 160: about €2,170 to €2,670 a year with the €1,500 rendita above.
- Your home back home falls under IVIE, Italy’s 1.06% annual tax on property abroad, once you become Italian tax resident. The 7% regime removes IVIE only on property in the countries covered by your election, not in any country you exclude from it. That can decide whether to keep or sell before you move.
- Succession. Italian property is within the scope of Italian inheritance tax even if you never become resident, so settle how the deed records ownership, and your will, before signing.
The checklist
Before you make an offer
- Codice fiscale obtained and an Italian bank account opened
- The town checked for the 7% regime, healthcare and transport
- Visa and residence timing mapped, including the 18-month prima casa deadline
- Source-of-funds documents ready
Before you sign anything
- Offer reviewed by your own lawyer and the agency commission agreed in writing
- Conditions written in: survey, planning, mortgage, sale of your current home
- Surveyor’s report and condominium statement in hand
- Pre-emption, listed status and any gift in the seller’s title checked
Before and after the deed
- Notary chosen, with an interpreter or power of attorney if needed
- Ownership structure settled with succession in mind
- Prezzo-valore requested and payment made by traceable transfer
- Residence registered, IMU set up and your home-country property reviewed for IVIE
Italy’s process is slower than most of our clients are used to, but buyers who prepare for it rarely meet surprises at the notary’s table. Read this list before the viewing, not after.
