Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Home Buying: An Insider's Guide
B
ecause our home was purchased under special circumstances—lots of publicity at the fest-
ival, multiple units being sold, etc.—the whole procedure was done above board without the
usual finagling that accompanies such operations in Italy. We paid sales tax on the actual
purchase price of the house, and our home loan was for that same amount minus the deposit.
The typical Italian home purchase, however, is not so straightforward. A marvelous system
has been worked out through the centuries to minimize the amount that gets paid to the gov-
ernment while yet reassuring all the interested parties that the terms of the unofficial, under-
the-table agreement will be respected.
In a nutshell, there are two contracts: the real one and the official one. The real agreement
states the actual financial terms of the deal; everyone signs it and takes a copy home. Then,
in the official contract, the stated sale price of the home might be 50% less than the actual
sale price. Sales taxes payable to the government are based on this second document so the
savings are substantial. Also, the annual property taxes are based on the declared value of
the house as stated in the second document, so the savings continue through the years.
What is remarkable about this to a foreigner is that the scheme involves everyone including
the bankers, real estate agents, notaries, and geometers—and nobody blinks. It's standard
operating procedure and it seems to work. As Bob Dylan once expressed it, “To live outside
the law you've got to be honest.”
Before our meeting at the bank, I was given a copy of the purchase agreement that we would
be signing when we met. My reading ability in Italian at that time was somewhere around an
intermediate level. I had made my way from Pinocchio, to Pippi Longstockings (in Italian!),
through lots of Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck comics, then on to various Italian comic
book action heroes like Zagor, Dago, Diabolik and Captain Mark, to finally arrive at news-
paper articles and art history monographs. But reading legalese in Italian was a new experi-
ence for me.
“The party of the first part hereby relinquishes all aforementioned and a priori impertinences
including but not limited to the exonerated and excoriated skyhooks referred to in Section
V.1.2.a…”. etc.
I understood just enough of what I was reading to realize that the contract had been written
by someone who essentially represented the seller, that I was taking what was being offered
as is, and that I was agreeing to waive any and all rights to complain about it to anyone after-
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