Sicily Property Buying Fees Explained

Fact

When a property sale is conducted in Italy / Sicily, the real estate agent collects fees from both the vendor and the buyer that is typically 3-5% + VAT from each party.

What happens if I use The Dolce Vita instead of going straight to an agent?

Our service will remove the onerous task of you having to maintain a relationship with multiple foreign real estate agents. Essentially, a buyer will have to pay buyer’s fees on the transaction regardless.

You have 2 simple choices when purchasing in Sicily:

Go straight to the agent, pay around 4% + VAT and you will not receive a service for your fees

Engage ‘The Dolce Vita’ and receive a valuable service for your obligatory property buying costs.

‘The Dolce Vita’ collaborates with local government estate agents and our remuneration* is settled according to our contract with them.

Don’t just take it from us, look at what past clients have said: client testimonials

* 4% (no VAT) of the agreed sale price (minimum EUR €4,000) is collected from the Buyer. No other agent buying fees will apply.

Why would Local Agents be willing to lose out on their Buyer’s commission?
We advertise our Agent’s properties to the international market on a number of global portals (A Place In The Sun, Gate-away, Idealista and The Overseas Guide Company) at no cost to the agent, providing them far reaching international coverage and saving them advertising costs.

We are there to safeguard you on your foreign property buying journey and will liaise with the Agent directly. The local Agents rely on our ability to provide translation and an appreciation of the foreign buyer’s expectations, to help broker the sale. The whole process ensures you get your desired property in Sicily and the Agent successfully completes the sale, with the Agent still taking their main commission from the Vendor.

Additional Buying Costs
Aside from the obvious costs of the purchase price and associated financing and mortgage terms, the additional costs involved in purchasing a property in Italy will vary, depending on whether you are buying a re-sale property or a new-build and whether the property will be your primary residence or a holiday home.

For a resale property, you will need to pay Registry Tax on the ‘Cadastral’ value – the municipal ‘rateable’ value, which is typically significantly less than the actual purchase price, but can only be determined once the correct documentation is supplied by the Agent or Vendor.

If you are buying your home in Italy as your primary residence, your Registry Tax will be 2% of your cadastral value. If your property will be a holiday home, you will pay 9% of the cadastral value as Registry Tax. The registry value will always be a minimum of €1,000.

Notary fees must always be paid and will be around €2,000- €4,000, depending on the property price. An independent lawyer will generally charge 1% of the selling price of the property for their services, typically a minimum of €2,000 + VAT (22%).

The effects of currency exchange rates on the cost of your property and ongoing payments are also a serious consideration that will affect your purchase and ongoing maintenance fees.

There is no Registry Tax on the purchase of new-build properties, but VAT must be paid instead; this is levied at 4% of the purchase price for a primary residence and 10% for a holiday home.

You will also need to think about surveyor/architect (known as a ‘Geometro’ or ‘Architetto’) fees and utilities suppliers – especially if you are buying a country property without water or anything else connected.

There is also the annual Municipal Tax (IUC) to be taken into account. This consists of three separate taxes:

1. IMU: this tax is paid on the possession of real estate assets. Owners are exempt from paying this on their ‘primary residence’, unless the property has been classified as luxury.
2. TASI: this is similar to Council Tax in the UK, and finances the services provided by local administration. All property owners or long term tenants will have to pay this tax. Reductions may be available, depending on circumstance – for example, if the property is a holiday home.
3. TARI: this tax is to fund waste management and must be paid by the person living in a property. Reductions may be available, depending on circumstances.

Please get in touch to let us run through and explain the associated costs of buying and maintaining your dream property in Sicily, at every step of the way.