How to buy a land in Italy

If you have decided to buy land,

you need to be aware that this is not going to be a fast project that you can finalize within a short-term.

You will need to understand what is your budget. This includes the cost of the land itself, but also all fees and permit costs in case you wish to build your house.

• Cost of land;

• Connections with running water, natural gas, electricity (It can be expensive to bring electricity, telephone, or cable service to the property if they are not already established nearby.);

• Lawyers for due diligence and legal advice;

• Geometra/Architect for surveys and request for permits, etc.;

• Notary costs;

• Possible real estate agency fees;

• Cost of building your house or prefabricated home.

The above is just a generic list of what your costs might include, however your budget depends on the reason why you want to purchase a land.

Perhaps you see land as a better investment than a house or other assets. Perhaps you want a site to build your own home, or perhaps you want to build a prefabricated house on your land. You surely need to have a clear mind of your future plan as this will determine what kind of land to buy and costs involved.

Buy land to build a house on

It is not enough to find a land in a nice area where you wish to build your home. You need to do a few researches to ensure the land will allow you to build what you dream in a cost-effective manner.

Before you build a home, you need to check if water and sewer connections are available. Alternatively, make sure that there are no restrictions in the area where you wish to buy your land, and that it is allowed to install a septic tank, or that you can dig a well. Also check cable service.

If you wish to purchase a land to build a house on, your first concern should be chacking the zoning. Each municipality, in fact, is divided into zones. Some zones can be used as agricultural areas, some other as industrial, residential or commercial areas.

If you purchase a building land it is not always guaranteed that you can actually build, or that you can build the house you want. You (your lawyer or a professional you trust) need to make an accurate due diligence on several documents which you can require at the Municipality where you have planned to build your house.

The planning office of the Comune will give you some guidelines on building requirements, special site conditions, distances to be complied with, and many other information on how a particular piece of land can be used. Through your/your professional due diligence you can also calculate how many square meters of land you need in a certain area per cubic meters of house you want to build.

A Geometra will be able to calculate what is the property size you are allowed to build by taking into consideration the size plot and the restrictions of that particular area.

Buy land to build a prefab home

As we wrote in this article, for building a prefab house you need a building permit.

This involves the same rules as if you had to build a traditional construction.

Once you obtain all permits, these types of homes can be built in less time than traditional construction methods, which is one of the reasons why people choose this option.

Before buying a land where to build a prefab home, checking zoning is extremely important.

Also, more than even you need to make sure that water and electrical hookup, an operational sewage or septic system, and all other connections are fine.

Common mistakes when buying a land to build on

There are some common mistakes people make when buying a land in Italy where they wish to build the home of their dreams.

• The most frequent mistake is buying a small land which is classified as “building land” and not checking the requirements of the entire lot.

Zoning rules set restrictions concerning, for example, the size of buildings. If you buy a land but you have not enough land to build the size required by the zoning rules, you might have spent money unnecessarily.

The possibility to build on a particular land is determined on the basis of the entire urbanistic reference lot and not on the basis of the land which you have purchased.

The consequence is that, in terms of making sure that you can build in a certain area, it does not suffice to buy a “building land”, but you need to analize many other aspects.

• One more common mistake when purchasing a land to build on is signing a binding contract before making an accurate due diligence.

It is not rare that the entusiasm brings you to make this very common mistake. In a way it is fair to follow a dream, but, on the other hands, you need not to turn it into a nightmare.

Having good professionals on your side is a must.

• Also, a common mistake people make is to start negotiations before having a clear idea of the house they wish to build and budget they are planning to spend in total. All these checks and plans need to be done before negotiating a price for buying a land, and, obviously, before making a binding offer.

Here are the professionals you should have on board:

An attorney who checks titles and makes an offer on your behalf. Your attorney will tell you when is the right moment to make a formal and binding offer.

A geometra and/or architect for the building permit applications and related plan.

A notary before whom you will sign the final deed of purchase once you are ready to register the land under your name and pay the agreed price.

A builder and a general contract. They can be two different professionals or just one and the same. You need these professionals if you wish to build a house, but also if you want to build a prefab house on your land.

Luxury Law provides you with a close-knit team of professionals, so that you do not need to hire several professionals who give you different and conflitting feedbacks.

Our dedicated team of highly skilled experts will assist you in each phase of your land purchase.

Contact us!