Advice please regarding Notary & Agency fees

Hi Tony and welcome to the forum. 10% buying costs seem to be about right if you are planning to become resident. As I understand it this should cover all fees including the estate agent, notary, purchase taxes etc.  If you are not planning on taking up residency I think the figure is about 18% Agency fees appear to be usually 3% of the property cost plus the VAT (IVA) of 20% but I think the fees may be open to discussion (am sure I will be corrected on the above if this is not the case – some very knowledgeable folk posting on this forum). I am not sure how notary and solicitor fees are calculated, think of a figure and double it? I am looking to buy a property of a similar value and have been quoted notary cost of EU 6500 and solicitor’s cost EU 6500, both excluding the IVA. These appear ridiculously high to me. Good luck with your purchase!

We were told before purchase that all fees, tax, registrations etc would come in at circa 12% of the purchase price, turned out to be spot on but we did also pay for our own solicitor over and above the notary. If i can remeber correctly our notary fees amounted to about 5% and solicitors fees about 2.5%. on 200k a 10k notary fee seems about right. Correct me if im wrong but dosnt a big chunk of the notary fee go toward paying the iva?

It all depends what you are buying. Notary fees are set by law and the notaio should tell you how much his fee will be (about) before you sign.  The taxes and imposte are based on the rateable value of the property which could be very low if you are buying a shack to restore, or much higher if its a new build.  If its a new build you will pay IVA (VAT) instead of the stamp duty.   If its going to be your prima casa the taxes are 3% + 2% + 1%, if its a second home its 7% +2+1 - all calculated on the rateable value.  Its fair to budget at about 10% for a first house.  TThe agency should charge no more than 3% plus VAT - regione campania will have a 'guideline' for agency fees.  If they try and add on a percent because they get you your codice fiscale  its rubbish and you should go to a different agency. On top of all that you will have to pay for registration of the act, visure ipotecarie etc, and if you decide to use a solicitor all their fees.  If its a straightforward sale there is really little need for a solicitor.   If you are getting a mortgage you will also have to pay 1% of the purchase price as tax on the mortgage plus a heftier sum to the notaio as he has to do two acts of purchase instead of one.  Until you know which property you want to buy, its virtually impossible to work out the fees and charges, but as a rule of thumb if you have a budget of 200.000 you should spend 170K on the house and keep abck 30 for the purchase costs.  If someone tells you that underdeclaring the sale price will save you money, its a lie.  It is not only illegal and carries a fine of 10,000 euros, it will save you nothing.  You must also declare the agent in the act of sale on pain of it being null and void. 

Agency fees should be around 3% plus vat - as already stated above, however there are MANY who charge (both parties remember) 10% plus vat and some won't budge / negotiate, others, particularly during this downturn are more flexible, but less than 3% is highly unlikely.  What you can do is negotiate on the total price by saying eg 3% including VAT...which at least saves you a little!

As always, Ram gives good advice. The standard estate agency fee is 3%. (Buyer pays 3%, seller pays 3%). Notary fees as Ram says depend on a number of factors: whether you are taking out a mortgage, how good your understanding of Italian is (translator required), value of property etc. As a really rough guide, people I know recently paid a notary fee of around €10,000 on a €680,000 purchase with mortgage and language translation. On top of that, you have to pay the various impositions referred to by Ram.