Buy a property in Italy: how long does it take?

You have collected the introductory information (where to invest, what are the prices in that area, how much it costs to buy a house in Italy, etc…), but now it is appropriate to know how much time passes from the time you have found the right house and when you will take possession of it. 

The answer is: 

 “…it depends!”  

There are some factors that determine the length of time it takes to become a property owner in Italy.  

Some depend on you, the buyer.  

Others depend on your counterpart, which is the owner of the house you like and want to buy.  

When we receive a purchase request from a potential new buyer, we ask precise questions that we need to know his financial situation, and to estimate the time needed to complete the purchase.  

In general, it is advisable to carry out an accurate financial analysis to know exactly what budget can be employed for the purchase.  

With the exception of people who do not intend to apply for a mortgage in a bank, for they have cash at their disposal, it is useful to go to your bank to ask if it is able to finance the operation in Italy.  

My experience leads me to say that it is not easy to obtain a mortgage from a bank to finance a purchase abroad.  

It is perhaps easier to get it directly here in Italy, because the Italian bank will have the opportunity to register a mortgage as a guarantee, directly on the property that is located within the Italian borders.  

It will be easier for the Italian bank that granted you the loan to “attack” your property if you start not to pay the portions of the loan that was granted to you. 

The time for obtaining a mortgage, from when a ‘non-Italian’ buyer starts the practice of applying for a mortgage to when he obtains confirmation of obtaining the financing, can easily reach 2 months.  

In this article I explained in detail the entire procedure for applying for a loan in Italy.

If, on the other hand, you do not need to apply for a mortgage and are already financially ready to purchase, then “How long it takes to purchase a property in Italy” will depend solely on the situation of the property you intend to purchase. 

Buy a property in Italy – The procedure

At this point, 2 are the elements to be verified: 

1 – within how long the owner is willing to provide you with the keys to the property.  

If the owner does not live there permanently, and the place is therefore empty, or lives in another house, then the delivery will be immediate.  

2 – the documents of the property are in full order; 

Below, I will show you 3 possible scenarios that you may be faced with: 

 Scenario 1  

– You’re financially ready – you don’t have to ask for any mortgages; 

– The property is empty, no one lives there, and therefore the seller is willing to hand it over to you immediately; 

– All the papers regarding the property are in order.

In this case, keep in mind that from the time you sign the purchase proposal to the time you sign the final contract with the notary (read this article to find out what happens on the day of the notarial deed), it will take about 2 months. 

This is the maximum time it takes for the notary to carry out all inspections and investigations to prepare the contract. 

Scenario 2 

– You’re financially ready; 

– The property is empty, no one lives there, and therefore the seller is willing to hand it over to you immediately;

– There are problems with the documents of the property and the owner must fix things before making an appointment for the final contract with the notary (here’s what to do before signing anything!) 

In this case, it depends on which documents have to be adjusted.  

When the papers are missing and are to be retrieved from public offices, then the time-frame may be slightly longer.  

I would like to point out that it can often take 1 month to retrieve a document from the municipality. This is Italy  :-) 

If, on the other hand, there are land registry irregularities, in this case, it depends on the specific problem.  

In the best case, it can be a simple cadastral modification, and will just take a few days.  

However, in the worst case, there will be differences between the projects filed in the municipality and the real situation of the house. In this case, the owner will have to appoint an architect / designer to produce  a construction plan to “fix” the errors.  

Keep on mind that there are practices requiring 6 months or more, if it is necessary to gather an opinion also from provincial offices, if the area where the property is located is subject to constraints (Civil Engineering for seismic risk, Superintendence of Fine Arts, Landscape Constraint, etc. ..). 

So: “How long does it take to buy a property in Italy?” 

Let’s summarize: 

1 – If purchasing without mortgage (cash payment), the property is empty, and the documents of the house are in order, it will take 2 months from the date you officially declare that you want to buy; 

2 -If purchasing with a mortgage requested from an Italian bank, the house is empty and the documents of the property are in order , it will take 4 months from the date you officially declare that you want to buy; 

3 – If purchasing without mortgage (cash payment), the property is empty, but the documents of the house are not in order,  depending on the extent of the issue to be solved, it takes up to 6 months; 

In any case, remember that if you have funds in a currency other than Euro, you must arrange the money transfer to Italy. 

For this aspect you can follow different paths I explain in detail in this article.

If you want to know what is the complete process to buy house in Italy, you can get more info here.

Feel free to ask me about anything and subscribe to our YouTube channel to see our video-tips for a safe purchase in Italy!

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