How to buy a home in Italy, step by step

The general rule is in art. 16 of the provisions on the law in general: a foreigner is admitted to civil rights «on condition of reciprocity», save for special laws⁵. In practice, according to the specialist sources we have read, EU citizens are treated as Italians and are not subject to the check; for those from outside the EU, with no treaty and no residence permit, the notary checks reciprocity against the tables of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs⁶.

Switzerland, the United Kingdom, the United States. On 6 October 2026 the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' official page on reciprocity answered us with an anti-bot check, which we did not bypass: we have not read it. A secondary source links Switzerland to the 1999 bilateral agreement on the free movement of persons⁷, but we have not confirmed it. Ask the notary to check your nationality against the updated tables before the offer, not at the deed.

You do not need residence to buy. None of the sources we examined requires it. It matters only for first-home relief (below).

The tax code (codice fiscale) is the first document you will be asked for: for the offer, for the bank account, for the notary. If you do not live in Italy, you can apply to the Italian consular office responsible for your place of residence, or delegate someone to submit the application at an office of the Agenzia delle Entrate in Italy⁴.

Consular timescales and forms vary: we saw the Ministry's page only in summary, so check your consulate's website.

You usually start with a written offer (proposta d'acquisto): the buyer offers a price, sets out the conditions (a mortgage to be obtained, a technical survey, the date of the deed) and makes it irrevocable for a period. If the seller accepts it in writing and the acceptance reaches the buyer, the contract is concluded on the written terms: so read it as carefully as the preliminary contract.

Before signing, ask for the documents of the house: cadastral record and floor plan, title deed, planning status, energy performance certificate. In the deed the seller declares that the cadastral data and floor plans match the actual state of the property¹: if they do not, it is better to find out before the deposit.

This section describes current practice in Italy; we cite no article of law because the offer has no rules of its own separate from the general rules on contracts, which we do not summarise here.

The preliminary contract (compromesso, or contratto preliminare) binds the parties to sign the deed on the agreed terms. The buyer usually pays a confirmatory deposit (caparra confirmatoria), which the seller keeps if the buyer does not complete, and which must be returned twice over if the seller pulls out.

Custom in the province of Novara. The provincial collection of customs of the Novara Chamber of Commerce provides, unless agreed otherwise, for a deposit of no less than 10% of the price at the preliminary contract³. It is a custom, not a law, and the collection dates from 2005: you can agree otherwise, and you must put it in writing.

For Omegna, Nonio, Quarna Sopra and Madonna del Sasso, which are in the province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola, we have not read the VCO collection of customs.

Pay by bank transfer or cheque, never in cash: the deed also states how payment was made.

In Italy ownership passes with a public deed before a notary, the rogito. The notary verifies the identity of the parties, checks the property registers, reads the deed aloud, collects the taxes and pays them to the State, then registers the deed.

Who chooses the notary. Under the customs of the province of Novara the costs of the contract are borne by the buyer, who chooses the notary³.

What it costs. Notary tariffs were abolished by art. 9 of Decree-Law 1/2012: the fee is agreed and you are entitled to a quote⁸. We do not publish a «typical» percentage because we have no official source that gives one.

If you do not speak Italian. The deed is in Italian; if one party does not know the language, an interpreter is needed and, usually, a facing-page translation. Ask the notary when you ask for the quote.

The taxes depend on who is selling¹:

• From a private seller (VAT-exempt sale): registration tax (imposta di registro) 9%, or 2% for a first home (excluding categories A/1, A/8, A/9), with a minimum of €1,000; mortgage and cadastral taxes €50 + €50¹².
• From a VAT-registered company: VAT 4% for a first home, 10% for other homes, 22% for A/1, A/8, A/9; registration, mortgage and cadastral taxes fixed at €200 each¹.

The price-value rule (prezzo-valore). Between private individuals, for homes and their appurtenances, the buyer can ask the notary to calculate the taxes on the cadastral value instead of the price: cadastral income (rendita catastale) × 1.05 × 120, or × 110 for a first home. The real price must still be written in the deed; if it is concealed, the penalty ranges from 50 to 100% of the difference¹.

The bill item by item, with an example and the comparison with Switzerland, Germany and Austria, is in the guide Purchase costs compared.

First-home relief (registration tax at 2% instead of 9%, or VAT at 4% instead of 10%) does not require residence at the time of purchase, but if you are not already resident in the municipality you must move your residence there within 18 months, declaring this in the deed, or lose the relief¹.

If you buy a holiday home and remain resident abroad, then, the rate is 9% (or VAT at 10%). If you really plan to move to the lake, weigh it up with an accountant (commercialista) before the deed: the choice must be made in the deed.

Every year you pay IMU (municipal property tax) to the municipality. In Orta San Giulio, for 2026, the rate on «other buildings», that is second homes, is 0.96%; for a main residence in categories A/1, A/8 and A/9 it is 0.55% (resolution of 23 December 2025)⁹. The other lake municipalities have their own resolutions, which we have not read here.

TARI (the waste charge) is a municipal tariff: for Orta we have not checked it.

If you plan to let the house when you are not using it, the rules are in the guide Renting out your lake home.

In Italy TriesteVillas srl is a registered estate agency and on Lake Orta it can already act as an intermediary. Today, however, the lake's Private Collection has 0 houses: none of these pages is a listing, and we will not show you houses we do not have.

What we do not do in any case: legal or tax advice. For that you need a notary, an accountant or a lawyer of your own choosing.