Italian property looks astonishingly cheap from abroad, and in much of the country it genuinely is. The mistake is comparing the sticker price with prices at home and stopping there.
What buying actually costs on top of the price
- Notary fees. A notaio is compulsory. Expect roughly 1–2.5% of the price.
- Purchase tax. Around 2% of the cadastral value if it becomes your main residence, 9% if it is a second home — and the second-home rate is what most foreign buyers pay.
- Agency commission. Typically 3% plus VAT, paid by the buyer as well as the seller.
- Surveyor. A geometra to check the property is legally what the paperwork claims. Not optional in practice.
- Translator and interpreter at the deed signing if you do not speak Italian, which is a legal requirement in many cases.
Budget 10–15% above the purchase price in total. On a €150,000 house that is €15,000–22,000 that nobody mentioned.
The ongoing costs
- IMU, the property tax, payable on second homes but generally not on your registered main residence.
- TARI, the waste collection charge.
- Spese condominiali in an apartment building — sometimes substantial, and voted on collectively at meetings held in Italian.
- Maintenance on old buildings, which is the line that ruins budgets. Stone and lime need work, and it is skilled work.
The one-euro house is real. So is the €80,000 renovation obligation that comes attached to it, on a deadline.
The case for renting first
Almost everyone who has done it recommends renting for a year before buying, for reasons that are hard to appreciate in advance:
- You discover what the town is like in February, not August. Many beautiful places largely close.
- You learn where the noise, the traffic and the shade actually are.
- You find out whether you want to be in the historic centre, where parking is impossible and every renovation is heritage-restricted.
- Your Italian improves enough to negotiate the purchase yourself, which is worth real money.
Renting: how it works here
Long-term contracts are usually 4+4 years or the 3+2 agreed-rent formula. Expect two to three months' deposit, and expect landlords to prefer a documented, stable income. Furnished is common. Read the contract for who pays which spese; it is rarely obvious.
Both the lease negotiation and the condominium meeting are conducted in Italian, which is one of the reasons we teach the practical register in lessons for relocation.