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Abruzzo Cherry-Picked; the Holiday & Lifestyle Guide to Italy's Rocky Heart 
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Top 10 Tips for Buying a House in Abruzzo
Are you in the process of talking to Abruzzo estate agents about buying a property in Abruzzo, Italy’s favourite green and pleasant land? Don’t be led up the garden path just because you are in bella Abruzzo – apply the same logic to buying a house in Abruzzo that you would do back at home.
If the estate agent you are dealing with is Italian do make sure they themselves individually are qualified & licensed and not just operating under the company licence.
Estate agents in Italy hold the 10% you will have to put down as a holding deposit on the house – and for that reason you want them to have the required indemnity insurance required by the State to safely hold this in their account.
There are some horror stories out there and the disingenuous reputation of ex-pat ‘Agents/Consultants’. If the person you are dealing with is a Brit, ensure they’re members of FOPDAC – (Federation of Overseas Property Developers and Consultants). Do remember it may be beautiful but it can always wait an extra day – never sign anything that hasn’t been translated by an independent translator whose daytime job is… translating! The worse thing that can happen is to fall foul at the final hurdle because of sloppy or biased translation.
Top Tips!:
- So that you don’t waste your time on pipe dream, always enquire about the ‘key in hand’ price NOT the advertised price!
- Expect to pay an additional 15% minimum extra on top of the price that you have offered and which has been accepted by the buyer. A breakdown of this is:- 3- 6% commission (provvigione) to the estate agency of the total asking price. In Italy both the seller and buyer pay commission. If you are a non-resident you will then need to pay tax of 11% of the declared value, if you gain residency this goes down to 4%. If you are buying land in Abruzzo the tax is 18%. If the house in Abruzzo you are buying is new you will alternatively pay IVA (Value Added Tax) – 9% for non-luxury property and 19% for luxury property. On top of this is Bolli (Stamp Duty) which is set at 1% for both registered & unregistered and new and old alike.
- Your translator’s fees will come in at around 350 euros for the Compresso & Rogito stages.
- Your fees to the Public Notary’s (Public Solicitor) will be anything between 2-5% of the declared price.
- Remember! Make sure that your agent is individually registered with their local Chamber of Commerce, “Ruolo degli Agenti di Affari in Mediazione” who have issued them an Agent ID - if they don’t have this they are a pirate & selling illegally, so don’t touch them with a barge pole!
- Preferably liaise with Abruzzo estate agents that are registered with both the FiAiP (Federation of Professional Estate Agents) & C.C.I.A.A.(Italian Association of Estate Agents), although of course there are always some companies who buy memberships to convey a certain respectability that their business is lacking.
- Never pay an agent to be shown around houses. You wouldn’t pay at home so why pay to see houses in Abruzzo.
- Remember to go with your gut instinct with regards to trust. Estate agents in Italy hold the deposits for both buyers and seller to ensure that the seller literally doesn’t disappear with your money – make sure your estate agent is registered you don’t want to find they are the ones that have disappeared with your monies.
- Ask for contact details for previous customers for testimonials. The most important thing you can ask is what ‘after support’ they have given their customers.
About the Author
Sammy Dunham is a web marketing consultant, designing websites & writing copy to optimise web presence for her clients at webSEOlive. Past lives saw her studying in Firenze after which she taught History of Art & English and lived in Barcelona & The Bahamas. Keen on travel & photography, food & wine, co-editing Life in Abruzzo is her perfect job.Posted in: Buying a House in Abruzzo
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Very useful information, has anyone had dealings with the agent Immobiliare Caserio based in Vasto Marina, and were they favourable?
What a good idea! We’ll try and put something together
We wish we had read your advice before we bought. Nevertheless having done the deed we would really appreciate your advice on dealing with builders. Like many others from England, Scotland, Canada and elsewhere we have bought property in a medieval village just below San Stefano. What is your advice on getting a proper assessment done on property than needs restoring, either through wear and tear over hundreds of years or earthquake damage. Are there professional bodies we can approach, etc. A whole series of “Technical Tips” would I am sure be appreciated. Many thanks.
Allright, I see your point, but I still disagree on the message you are sending out, which is wrong.
My point is that an agent can satisfy all the points you have highlighted without being part of FIAIP.
Also, being part of any organization (undersigning its code of conduct) does not mean that agents will gain the status of sanctity forever. There are so many many doctors or priests who break their oath and do wrong things to people, but they still continue their work.
Finally, if an estate agent does not respect the FIAIP rules, is kicked out from the club but can carry on working; but if an agent breaks the rules as defined by the Chamber of Commerce and the Estate Agents Professional Body (Ruolo degli Agenti di Affari in Mediazione), he loses the licence! This alone makes all the difference!
My advice to foreigners buying in Italy is to find an estate agent in Italy who speaks english or other foreign languages required, as the only way to protect themselves from any unpleasant surprises is to understand what the agent is doing.
Good communication with a licenced agent is the best way to do safe business abroad, not looking at a FIAIP membership card!
Gianpiero De Filippo
HouseAbruzzo Estate Agency
Spoltore
Pescara
Italy
Hi Gianpiero
Thanks for the lovely compliment on our page. We have not said that it is a legal requirement but that in affect it is the best solution. The reasons for this come straight off the FIAIP website which is in English too – http://www.fiaip.it.
“Agents
that operate in full autonomy, stimulating mutual exchange between colleagues, in the total respect of the ethical code.
Real estate
advisers who operate in a continuous dynamic and modern market in constant growth that keep themselves up-to-date in order to give the customer the best of the services.
Professional
In image, communication and behaviour.”
Foreigners who are buying a house in Italy should have estate agents that are all of those things in order to protect their naivety of a system that is more often than not so very different to what they are used to.
Very useful page, nice tips, all correctly put, except that being a member of FIAIP is NOT an obligatory feature an agent must have, as FIAIP is not a legal requirement nor a professional add-on for an estate agent in Italy.
Gianpiero De Filippo
HouseAbruzzo Estate Agency
Spoltore
Pescara
Italy