OUR SERVICES - BUYING A PROPERTY

THINKING OF BUYING A PROPERTY? If you are thinking of buying a property we can help you in the following ways: THE PURCHASE PROCESS As a very approximate guide, you should budget around 9 to 10% of the purchase price as the total fees for buying a property in Italy. When buying a property from us we assist you at every step of the way through to the signing of the final deed in front of the Notary. Our fees for this are 3% (plus Italian VAT at 22%) of the purchase price of the property and are due at the Preliminary Agreement stage. During your viewings we will provide detailed information to help you decide on a property. Due to volume, detailed floorplans are only usually available at this stage. Formal offers are handled by our local Italian estate agents, for example L’Intelvese Sas in Como, who prepare the documentation following Italian law on your behalf. Once your offer is accepted you should be prepared to put down a small binding deposit. The next stage is the exchange of contracts or the Preliminary Agreement, at this point you normally pay around 30% of the total price. Finally the “rogito” or completion in front of a Notary where you pay the balance of the purchase price, notary fees and applicable taxes, and get the keys to your new property! Taxes can differ significantly if you are buying a re-sale property or a new-build, and whether the property will be your primary residence or a second home. For a resale property, a Registry Tax is payable on the ‘cadastral’ value – the municipal ‘rateable’ value, which is usually significantly less than the actual purchase price. Currently for a primary principal residence, the Registry Tax will be 2% of your cadastral value, whilst for a second home 9%. There is no Registry Tax when buying new-build properties, but Italian VAT is charged at 4% of the purchase price for a primary residence, and at 10% for a second home. Other costs are Notary fees which vary depending on the purchase, but probably around 0.5 to 1% of the purchase price. If you require a mortgage there normally will be additional fees from your lender and from the Notary as the mortgage itself is a separate legal deed. Please note - This is a simplified version of the process, we recommend that you take legal advice as necessary. Other services when buying a property We can also assist with: VALUATIONS: we offer a prompt service tailored to your requirements for mortgage, bank, legal, insurance or inheritance purposes. Valuations start from as little as €350 plus VAT. STRUCTURAL SURVEYS AND DUE DILIGENCE: we can advise on local qualified surveyors who can undertake surveys and offer written reports in English on the existing condition of properties. Cost of the surveys depends on the property PROPERTY SEARCH: should you not be able to find the perfect property on Lake Como, we are willing to perform a search on your behalf. This involves clearly defining your requirements and approaching possible vendors often of properties not on the market to find your dream property. The total cost for this service is 3% as with the property purchase but with an initial upfront fee of €1,000 which is deducted from the final cost. write to LCC : info@lakecomoconcepts.com