The notarial deed of sale of a property is a very important stage when buying or selling a property in Italy. But what exactly does it consist of? What must it contain and what costs does it entail? To obtain the necessary clarifications, idealista/news questioned Giulio Biino, national councillor of the Notaries in Italy. This is everything you need to know about a notarial deed of sale in Italy, known in Italian as "rogito notarile".
Notarial deed of sale Italy: what is it?
What is the notarial deed of sale of a property?
'"Rogito" is synonymous with deed, in this case we are talking about the notarial deed of sale of a property. It is the document that formalises the transfer of ownership of the property. It should be emphasised that, in fact, a notarial deed would not be necessary to transfer ownership of a property. A simple private deed would suffice. But the notarised private deed or the notarial deed are required because they represent the only transcribable title to which publicity can be given in the Land Registers and which can therefore be made enforceable against third parties. And this is a point to pay attention to.
Ownership of real estate cannot pass with a handshake, but a simple writing between the parties may suffice. In this case, however, if after selling the real estate to the purchasing party by a simple writing, the selling party makes another writing of purchase and sale with a third party, the first is not enforceable.
The notarised private deed or public deed serves precisely to be transcribed in the real estate registers and thus be made enforceable against third parties. Therefore, if one party sells to another with a notarised deed - or a notarised private deed - that is duly transcribed and resells the same property to a third party, the transcription of the previous deed results, which makes the first deed enforceable against the possible new future buyer'.
Notarial deed of sale of real estate: how it works
How does the notarial deed of sale and purchase work?
'The notarial deed of sale involves the intervention of the two parties - the seller and the buyer - before a notary. The notary may either merely notarise the signatures or execute a public deed. From the point of view of transcriptibility, and thus enforceability against third parties, the effectiveness is identical. The difference between one document and the other relates to the evidentiary aspect. In the sense that the notarised private contract simply proves the identity of the parties and the certainty of their signature, whereas the public deed also proves not the truthfulness of the declarations, but their authenticity'.
What must the notarial deed document contain?
'It must contain the ascertainment of the personal identity of the parties, the indication of the property being bought and sold with the boundaries and cadastral data, and a series of other indications, some of which are provided for under penalty of nullity of the deed. For example, it is necessary to indicate what the town planning measures are, as required by law. Thus, if the property predates 1967, it is necessary to indicate that it predates 1967; if it predates 1967, it is necessary to cite in the deed the building permit and any intervening variants, as well as whether any building amnesties have taken place.
It is then necessary to indicate in the deed whether it was concluded with the intervention of a mediator and, if there was a mediator, it is necessary to indicate his details and the manner in which he was paid. It is necessary to indicate the manner in which the price was paid, i.e. cheques and/or bank transfers, with all the details. As well of this, the Energy Performance Certificate (Ape) must be attached.
There are also other precautions: for example, ensure that the seller has complied with the payment of all past condominium expenses. Obviously it is indicated whether there are any prejudicial inscriptions or transcriptions on the property. For example, it is necessary to indicate whether there are any mortgages and, if there are, it is necessary to indicate whether the debts are discharged and therefore it is only necessary to cancel the mortgage or whether the debt relating to that mortgage is discharged together with the payment of the price, so as to release it at the time of the sale'.
How does the moment of signing the deed take place?
'You could say that the moment of the deed is a solemn moment. The parties intervene before the notary, who reads the deed in the presence of the parties, who then sign it in the presence of the notary'.
Notarial deed of sale Italy: the cost
What are the fees for the notarial deed and how much do they amount to?
"As far as costs are concerned, notary fees today are very varied. This is because there is no longer a standardised tariff in force. The notary fee is related to the purchase price, but then there are other variables related to the complexity of the deed, the type of research involved.
What, in percentage terms, has more weight is the taxes that have to be paid. In this regard, if the deed is between private individuals, in the case of the purchase of a main residence the taxation is 2% on the cadastral value of the property, in the case of the purchase of a second home the taxation is 9% always on the cadastral value of the property.
If the seller is a business, i.e. a company, and consequently the deed is subject to VAT instead of registration tax, the rates are slightly different: VAT for a main residence is 4% and for the second home it is 10%.
But there is another difference to consider: when the sale takes place between private individuals, the taxable base is calculated on the cadastral value of the property; when the sale is subject to VAT, or - although subject to registration tax - the buyer is not a natural person, the taxable base is the price and not the cadastral value. It must be said that the cadastral value is often cheaper. This is because even today, in spite of a shrinking market and thus a substantial reduction in prices, cadastral values continue to be - sometimes significantly - lower than the agreed prices. Therefore, having the cadastral value as a taxable base is normally cheaper'.
How long does it take to prepare the deed?
'Assuming that the buyer does so without a mortgage, from the moment the notary is instructed, if there are no particularities, in a week or ten days one can arrive at the stipulation. Let us say that a deadline of fifteen days is perfectly reasonable.
If the buyer takes out a mortgage, the preliminary steps with the bank must be taken into account, i.e. the resolution of the lending institution, and the preparation of the preliminary notary's report certifying the free or unfree status of the property. Consequently, when a mortgage is also envisaged and preliminary steps are therefore necessary, a period of time ranging from twenty days to a month must be considered in order to arrive at the stipulation'.