Viewing houses in Italy

The truth behind so called “Property finder” businesses.

Who are they ?

They have many disguises and names which seam to be getting longer, but the most common ones are;

Property Finders

Property sales and consultancy service

Property Search & Buying Advisory Company

Property consultancy service

Property searchers

Complete buying service

Property Sales

Property services

Specialist company dealing with selling and buying

To be sure of the real unregulated businesses you will find something like the above in the google search and NO mention anywhere of them either being ESTATE AGENTS or AGENZIA IMMOBILIARE on their websites or descriptions. Sometimes you may find that they declare they work with REGISTERED ESTATE AGENTS and often you will find they use mobile numbers rather than landlines although some do have landlines. Remember mobile numbers start with a 3 and landlines like in the uk start with a 0 you do not drop the 0 even if you are calling from the UK.

Does it really matter if they are not registered estate agents ?

The short answer to this is simple, YES. Here in Italy to become an estate agency takes a lot of studying, time and requires a difficult exam to be passed, this is why the un registered ones are not registered. In Italy there are 2 ways to buy a house, the first is direct with the owner in front of a Public Notary with no assistance at all from a mediator (someone appointed to represent one party or both to agree prices and terms) and the second is through a registered Estate agent/Mediator. No matter what they (the un registered ones) tell you, this is how it is and if you deal with un registered companies your property purchase could be at risk along with fines for all parties involved.

So how come nobody is stopping them ?

The financial police or Guardia di Finanze are aware of the growing problem and investigations are on going to stop this illegal activity and protect you the buyer and the seller. HOWEVER like many things there are grey areas that can and are exploited by the UN-REGISTERED ONES but there is no getting away from the bottom line facts(below) which ultimately means you are at risk and in many cases ONLY YOU as just like the hole they crawled out of they disappear underground if there is a sniff of trouble in the air leaving you to sort out everything.

So why can’t they do this job and how does it affect me ?

The law here is quite simple, the un-registered ones usually hide behind the wings of others (which hopefully will soon stop) to make what they are doing almost legal, for instance a person (in most case’s not Italian) will decide to sell houses in the area they have a property as they think it will be easy to sell to Brits and others because of the fantastic area, the fact they can speak the language of most buyers will mean that you will flock to them instead of others (this in part is true, I too was attracted to a company because they had an English person working there and our company has me who is English but the difference is we are legal and we have the correct legal documents to trade), they happily go to many agents in the area to ask if they can advertise their properties (without a mandate) and in return they will get interested people to buy, up to now all is almost OK, the registered agent is happy if he/she thinks they may sell a house and the UN REGISTERED one is also happy because they now look like real agents and have a working website and potential money coming in. The UN REGISTERED ones then design the website telling you things along the lines of “don’t worry through all the confusion of the Italian system there is a light shining bright that will take you through it all, bypassing stress and troubles and ultimately becoming your saviour in this land of corruption”.Now here is where it gets a bit tricky for them.

First ask yourself this, when you buy a house in the UK you go to an estate agent, why would we then decide to buy in a foreign country using all our savings without an agent or proper protection ?

This is the clever disguise of the UN REGISTERED ones who make you believe they are an agent and just incase, they have the back up one if you start to ask questions. So what I hear you ask, if they have a back up then we are covered aren't we ? Yes, if you buy with the registered agent but what about the saviour the UN REGISTERED one who has guided you through the darkness, they too want money, so now you are faced with paying 2 people for one job, don’t let them fool you by saying don’t worry we commission share it won’t cost you more, IT ALWAYS costs you more, nobody loves olive trees enough to work and not get paid.

So lets say you are happy to pay and they have assured you it will cost no more, how do you pay ? Cheque, Bankers draft ??????? Oh no usually cash for everything, WHY??? Because the UN REGISTERED ones are living up to their name. To have a business here like in the UK you need to register as self employed, here most business have to charge IVA which is like VAT so therefore we are all given IVA numbers which must appear on websites and invoices, part of registering also involves telling the Camera di Commercio what you are going to be doing and this is where it gets harder for them. You cannot register as an Estate agent or mediator unless you have passed the exam so what shall I register as ????????????

NOTHING is usually the answer or they will use another persons IVA number and call their services something else. LET US MAKE IT CLEAR, the UN REGISTERED one can take you around to view properties with no problem at all (although this would have to be free because most are not registered even as self employed) but the moment he or she talks money with you or the owner, or attempts to help you with the purchase THEY ARE BREAKING THE LAW unless they have the qualifications and legal registered company to do so, as soon as they talk about offers or the potential of buying a house they are mediating and they cannot do it without a licence. However they do anyway because they sometimes have a cover but if the cover is blown it will mean that you have to explain to Mr Guardia Di Finanza as he stands there with his hand gun after following you on the viewing trip, “sorry officer this person is only a friend and helping me look around we have not talked business honest”, hopefully they will walk away and so will you but be aware paying illegal agents or illegal anything here means you will be fined as well a them.

WHY GIVE YOURSELF THE HASSLE, Abruzzo is beautiful, the houses are stunning, protect you, your money and your future life here by using the right people from the start, if you have fallen in love with a property on their website, ask any agent to help you because they the UN REGISTERED ones cannot, they have no right to advertise estate agency services and have no contracts in place because they are forbidden to do them, so find the local estate agents and let them help you, if they don’t speak English get an interpreter, there are many around, if you need help search for property in Abruzzo on GOOGLE and make sure the site shows registration details and mentions AGENZIA IMMOBILIARE or ESTATE AGENTS on their site and call them, they will help, we all want to stamp out this illegal trade so call us, let us protect your purchase and do the job right.

To recap what should I look for to help me recognise these people ?

No mention of been a registered estate agent or Agenzia Immobiliare.

They mention they work with people that are, (so who are they and what are they registered as)

People who advertise only mobile numbers (start with a 3) and have no registered office or registration numbers.

Agents based in England but help you over in Italy, this is OK if they pass you onto a registered agent here, there are many UK sites that advertise properties for sale in Abruzzo, this is normal, it is only when they arrive in Italy they are not qualified to offer this type of service, even if they are estate agents in the UK, this means nothing here in Italy. Remember it is business transactions here on Italian soil when you need the correct documents and registrations. We advertise with Rightmove, this is fine they do not trade here and they only advertise other businesses.

When you book your property tour ask simple questions

1. Please can I have your IVA and registered business name as it is not on your site, if the business name is different question it and ask to deal direct with the registered business as you do not need 2 people to do the same job, if they don’t speak English then call us or another who does, we will help you even if you want to deal with another agent who cant speak your language, you don’t need the UN REGISTERED ones.

2. Please can I have your R.E.A number which is the number allocated by the Cammera di Commercio for us registered estate agents.

3. ARE YOU A REGISTERED ESTATE AGENT OR AGENZIA IMMOBILIARE or AGENZIA MEDIAZIONE.

If the answer is no to any of the above then please think again before you go, don’t let them say it is fine, IT REALLY IS NOT. If you love a property on their site contact us or another agent in the area and speak to us about it.

Abruzzo is an amazing place and people buy houses here everyday with no problem, do not be concerned about buying here just please make sure you use the right people, it is so very simple and something to look forward to if you do and a real nightmare if you don’t, GOOD LUCK !

“Buying a house in Italy is no more difficult than in the UK, I have been both directly and in directly involved in property sales in Italy for 5 years and find the system far more open than ours and very simple to understand BUT ONLY if you use the right people. They the UN-REGISTERED ones would like you to think and advertise it as been a minefield of problems and Italian bureaucracy just to lure you to their service which they are not even legally qualified to offer, DO NOT BE FOOLED.

“I tried to buy a house using what I thought was an estate agent, it was only when they did not give me any invoice, or only UK invoices for everything but estate agency services that I thought there was a problem, I now know every business like this needs an IVA number and without this they cannot trade, they cannot hide under a UK business name and unless they can provide registration details they certainly cannot offer estate agency services. I pulled out in time thankfully.”

Proud to be associated with

Geometra Di Simone

Abruzzo Property | Investment Property For Sale in Abruzzo Italy

We are looking into the legalities of naming the businesses in question so watch this space.

BEWARE

Unregistered
Estate agents

The truth behind so called “Property finder” businesses.

We had to consider well before deciding to write this article as we did not want a very serious matter to be possibly overshadowed by coming across as a bitter estate agency business who do not want competition. This is far from the truth.

We decided to write this because of the many people who come to us day after day looking for their dream holiday home in Abruzzo only to find that some are scarred with bad experiences and in some cases financially worse off because of dealing with the wrong people. Read more