Ask the Scout
Short, plain answers to the questions English-speaking buyers ask us about buying a home in Piedmont, moving here and everyday life. Each episode is under a minute, lists its official sources and shows the date we last checked the facts.
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New to buying in Italy? Watch them in this order: buying first, then moving, then daily life.
- Buying a home: Do you have to live in Italy to buy a house?, Who pays the estate agent in Italy?, Why does the floor plan have to match the land registry?
- Moving to Piedmont: Can an American, a Brit or a Canadian buy a house in Italy?, What tax do I pay when I buy a house in Italy?
- Daily life: What does an Italian notary do, and who picks them?
All episodes
Episode 10 · Buying a home
Is the purchase tax on the price I pay?
EP10 · Is the purchase tax on the price I pay? Usually not. When a private person buys a home from a private seller, they can ask the notary, in the deed of purchase, to work out the registration tax on the land registry (cadastral) value instead of the price. In the tax office's own example, that means about 10,000 euros of tax instead of 18,000.
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Episode 9 · Moving to Piedmont
What tax do I pay when I buy a house in Italy?
EP09 · What tax do I pay when I buy a house in Italy? It depends on the seller and on whether the house becomes your main home. Buying from a private seller, a holiday home pays a 9% registration tax plus two fixed taxes of 50 euros each. If it is your main home, the registration tax drops to 2%, at least 1,000 euros, but you need residence in that town or must move there within 18 months.
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Episode 8 · Buying a home
Can I pay for an Italian house in cash?
EP08 · Can I pay for an Italian house in cash? No. In Italy, paying another person in cash is banned from 5,000 euros up, so the price of a house goes through a bank, for example a bank transfer. In the deed of purchase, buyer and seller must also declare exactly how the price was paid, and the notary checks that the payments can be traced.
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Episode 7 · Daily life
What does an Italian notary do, and who picks them?
EP07 · What does an Italian notary do, and who picks them? An Italian notary (notaio) is a public official, neutral between buyer and seller, not someone who works for one side. The buyer usually picks the notary, because the buyer usually pays the notary's fees, unless buyer and seller agree otherwise. Before the deed is signed, the notary checks who the parties are and looks for mortgages or other charges on the property; afterwards the notary registers the deed and pays the taxes to the state.
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Episode 6 · Buying a home
What if I back out after paying the deposit?
EP06 · What if I back out after paying the deposit? In Italy the deposit you pay when you sign the preliminary agreement is usually a confirmatory deposit (caparra confirmatoria). If you back out without a good reason, the seller can keep it; if the seller backs out, you can claim double the deposit back (Civil Code, art. 1385). The signed agreement should say whether a payment is a deposit or part of the price.
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Episode 5 · Buying a home
What is the energy letter (A to G) on an Italian listing?
EP05 · What is the energy letter (A to G) on an Italian listing? It is the energy class from the home's energy certificate, the APE (attestato di prestazione energetica). In Italy the scale runs from A4, the most efficient, down to G, the least efficient, and it shows how much energy the house needs for heating, cooling and hot water. By law, property ads must show the class, and the seller must give you the certificate.
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Episode 4 · Buying a home
Why does the floor plan have to match the land registry?
EP04 · Why does the floor plan have to match the land registry? Because in Italy the sale deed must say that the floor plan filed at the land registry (the catasto) matches the house as it is now. If the deed leaves this out, the sale can be void. The sellers declare it in the deed, or a qualified surveyor certifies it.
Watch and read →Episode 3 · Buying a home
Who pays the estate agent in Italy?
EP03 · Who pays the estate agent in Italy? Not only the seller. Under Italian law the estate agent can charge a commission to both the buyer and the seller, if the deal happens thanks to the agent. The amount and the split between the two sides are agreed, so ask about them before you make an offer.
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Episode 2 · Moving to Piedmont
Can an American, a Brit or a Canadian buy a house in Italy?
EP02 · Can an American, a Brit or a Canadian buy a house in Italy? Yes, it can be done. Buyers from outside the EU (and since 2021 that includes the UK) can buy if their own country lets Italians buy property there: this is called reciprocity. The notary checks it before you sign, and legal residents of Italy skip the check.
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Episode 1 · Buying a home
Do you have to live in Italy to buy a house?
No. You don't need Italian residency to buy a home in Italy, but you do need an Italian tax code, the codice fiscale.
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Send it to us. We may answer it in a future episode, and if you are looking at a house in Piedmont we can go and see it for you before you travel.
General info, not legal or tax advice. Check your own case with a notary or commercialista. Made with AI: the characters are animated and the voices are AI-generated.