Clear answers for buyers from abroad: what changes when you buy in Italy, and how RealAIstate works. No marketing, no omissions.
Buying in Italy from abroad
Yes. To buy a property in Italy you need an Italian tax code (codice fiscale). You can request it from the Italian Revenue Agency (Agenzia delle Entrate), or from an Italian consulate if you live abroad. Ask for it early: it is needed for the deed of sale.
The deed of sale (rogito) is mandatory by law and is signed before an Italian notary (notaio): a public official who guarantees that the deed is legally valid, not a "notary public" who only certifies signatures. The notary checks the formal regularity of the deed and the mortgage registers; town-planning compliance of the property is not part of that check, so if in doubt ask a surveyor you trust. As a rule the buyer chooses and pays the notary, because the costs of the deed fall on the buyer unless agreed otherwise. RealAIstate has no affiliated notaries: after signing in, the listing page links to the Italian Notariato's official notary finder, already filtered on the municipality.
Yes, the deed is drawn up in Italian. If you don't understand Italian, an interpreter is needed when you sign: your notary will tell you how to arrange it.
Not yet. Listings, documents and the purchase proposal are in Italian, and the proposal you sign is the Italian document: you can read it before sending one. AIgent, our AI assistant, answers your questions in English.
Yes, to make or to accept a purchase proposal. A PEC (posta elettronica certificata) is an Italian certified email address with the legal value of a registered letter: it is how the acceptance of a proposal is formally communicated, so RealAIstate asks both parties for one. You can already add it on your account page.
How it works
Yes. No Italian law requires an agency to buy or sell a home: a transaction between private parties is fully legal. The only professional required by law is the notary, who draws up the deed of sale.
With the Fair Price Score. It compares the asking price with the official OMI values of the Italian Revenue Agency for the area, cadastral category, condition and size, and tells you whether it is within, above or below them, and why. It is computed by code, always with the same formula; the AI only writes the explanation. It is available where OMI data exists, today in Milan, Brescia and Bergamo, even for a home you saw on another portal. Try it free at /en/calcola-fps.
After signing in, you fill it in online from the listing page: amount, conditions and expected date of the deed of sale. The seller receives it in their dashboard and decides whether to accept or reject it. On every listing anyone can see how many purchase proposals are active, meaning received in the last 7 days and not yet answered: never amounts or names.
The deposit (caparra) is paid by the parties directly to the notary chosen by the buyer. RealAIstate never handles the money.
Taxes, the notary and, if you take one, the mortgage costs. The calculator at /en/costi-acquisto estimates the funds needed to reach the deed of sale, free and without signing up.
RealAIstate
No. RealAIstate is a technology platform with the tools to handle the transaction yourself: the Fair Price Score on OMI data, documents on the listing, a direct chat between seller and buyer, the purchase proposal online. What we charge is a fixed fee, set by price bracket, not a percentage of the price.
Launch offer: sign up now and pay no fee on your first property transaction, whether you sell or buy, even if the deed of sale (rogito) is signed after the offer ends. Our model is a fixed fee, set by price bracket, due only if the transaction closes with the deed of sale: never a percentage of the price of the home. The amounts for buyer and seller are on the Prices page.
Still have questions?
Ask AIgent, our AI assistant, or write to us directly.