Why you need a lawyer for buying a home or a land in Italy

There are many reasons explaining why hiring a lawyer is important in the process to purchase a home or a land. Even more if you are a foreigner and you are not confident with certain Italian rules, procedures or language.

A lawyer prevents legal issues from occurring.

A lawyer will consider every aspects of the transaction before letting you sign a binding agreement or pay any deposit.

Once all terms and conditions are successfully fulfilled, both parties can be sure that they will not face any legal issues.

Moreover, different areas require particular knowledge of law and an appropriate due diligence. This can be different when you buy a house or when you decide to buy a land. Buying a land, in fact, involves a different due diligence, since you need to check titles, but also a few other aspects, which are totally unknown to a private. We have explained the above in this article, which title is “How to buy a land in Italy”. This article explains, for example, that it does not suffice to buy a building land, but you also need to make sure that you can built on that land as per the zoning, so called “Piano Regolatore”.

Also, if you are a “first home buyer”, and you are entitled to fiscal benefits, you also need to be informed about a few important aspects. Among others: within what term you can move your residency to Italy; what checks the authority will do to make sure you did not make a fake declaration on the final deed of purchase; possible consequences in terms of taxes and benefits, etc. etc.

These and many other aspects require the assistance of an expert.

Is the cost of a lawyer worthy?

Funnily enough, very often happens that a lawyer helps you to save money. Why is this?

You might think that a lawyer will unnecessarily increase your costs, however he or she might help you saving money and time, or might even save you from a bad purchase.

After a home or land inspection, in fact, a real estate lawyer will be able to discover potential serious issues with the home or land you want to purchase (also bureaucratic issues). In this case you and your lawyer can work on the price and negotiate repairs that the seller is required to complete before the property sale can close.

In many occasion we have helped our clients to consistently reduce the purchase price during negotiations. This happens because a lawyer knows all weak and strong points of a sale.

Moreover, the costs associated with legal assistance from an expert real estate lawyer in Italy are very reasonable and depend on the complexity of the matter. Attorney’s fees can be a set price or a rate per hour spent on the matter, depending on the agreement that you reach with your attorney. Please see our F.A.Q to know more!

A lawyer might save you from a bad purchase or a scam!

It is not unusual to receive enquiries from clients who have already paid a deposit after signing a bad deal, and are no longer willing to proceed with that purchase. They will have no possibility to run out from an inconvenient purchase without incurring in any negative consequences, such as penalties.

Especially during Coronavirus pandemic, we have received many queries from clients who have signed a preliminary and binding contract, but who are no longer willing to purchase because their finances hugely changed after this emergency.

A lawyer could not predict such an emergency, but would have surely add a clause in protection to the client in case of impossibility to sign the final deed of sale, so called “supervening impossibility”. Of course, Italian law protects the right of the person who is unable to complete on a purchase or a sale even if there are no specific clauses included in the contract, however it is always better to avoid potential disputes, and draft a clear agreement.

Using the right wording is also essential. For instance, in English we only use the word “deposit”, whilst in Italian we have the so called “acconto” or the “caparra”.

Acconto is part of the price, whilst the Caparra is not, and can be associated to the word “confirmatoria” or “penitenziale”. The wrong use of each term might bring to several risks and consequences. Using the correct words, and understanding their meaning is mandatory, and a lawyer is the most expert professional who can help you understanding the difference, and which term adding in your contract.

If you are unable to come to Italy, your lawyer can sign the final deed on your behalf.

This happens through a Power of Attorney. By granting your Italian lawyer to represent you during a purchase, you will:

1. Save money for a translator (who is mandatory if you do not speak Italian fluently).
2. Have someone you trust and who understands and explain you the entire content of the deed. Also, a lawyer can ask the Notary to amend those clauses that sound ambiguous or that were not agreed with the other party.
3. Save money for your trip to Italy, so that you can decide to come to Italy when the property is already and formally yours.

A lawyer does not act by feelings, but rationally!

Our clients just wish to buy the house of their dreams, and once they fall in love for a property, most of the time they do not want to recognize or face problems hidden behind that purchase. This is because it is human to get enthusiastic. However, this is not the safest way to choose a property. A real estate lawyer is the sole professional able to recognize a good or bad purchase. Not just because of the accurate due diligence that a lawyer is required to do, but also because a real estate lawyer is able to discover hidden issues and ask the vendor to sort them out before selling the property.

If you need a real estate lawyer for buying a house or a land or for any other transaction, feel free to get in touch with Luxury Law. Give us a call at (+39) 327 1260285 if you have any further queries.