2921 Who can sell a house in italy

Good question! As we understand it all Italian estate agents have to take an exam and be registered/qualified. So as you say does that mean that every person in any one office is qualified? Wonder how many of us who have purchased here actually any saw any professional qualifications from their estate agents!?

no, not everyone working in the agency has to be qualified and iscritto - last time I checked, for the company (a societa' di capitali, there are different rules for different types of company) to be iscritto (the entire company), only the rappresentante legale has to be iscritto as an individual. I am talking about companies registered in Italy of course.

I think you'd find it extremely difficult to find a single estate agency in Italy where every employee is iscritto individually.

Charles has already answered this question actually: see here
[url]http://www.italymag.co.uk/forums/showpost.php?p=15936&postcount=30[/url]

Good question Adriatica!

There are a number of different aspects to an estate agent's work; marketing, accompanying people on visits, the para-legal work (preparing contracts, checking Land Registry data) and negotiation beyween vendor and buyer.

Bearing in mind the high estate agency fees demanded of buyers in Italy, they are entitled to insist that the qualified agent is personally involved in every step and doesn't delegate tasks to unqualified members of their staff. Of course, some things, such as accompanying customers on viewings, may be safely handled by staff. The problems arise, as we've seen in the current hot topic elsewhere in the Forum, when unqualified staff associated with an agency start to make false or uninformed representations about properties, in the absence of the qualified member. As I see it, it's a bit like having your teeth cleaned by a dental nurse; its fine if its done with the dentist close at hand to supervise, but were a dentist to set up a network of outposts staffed by unsupervised dental nurses, the whole situation would change drastically.

One of the problems with the structure of the estate agency business in Italy is that the moment a client views a house with an agent, they are effectively engaging that agent as their legal advisor. My advice would be for buyers to interview the agency about their business structure, experience and fees [b]before[/b] they agree to visit any houses. There's no point in finding the perfect house, if the agent doesn't have the wherewithal to help you buy it securely, unless the price is so good that you can afford to pay the agent [b]and[/b] get independent legal and technical advice too.

as far as i understand the law 39/89 the role of the mediator constitutes an activity which is reserved and non delegable...

obviously an estate agency can and does have secretaries and house scouts even clients scouts... eg marketting has to be allowed ... but the actual person that shows a client a house if i am reading the law correctly has to be a person legally qualified and enrolled as a mediator, if that person is doing it as a profession and requiring a fee for the sale/purchase of the house... from the client...

otherwise what you find is and this is why i believe so many people are running into house purchase problems ... you are visiting a house or houses with someone ...

... who is working on a very small percentage of the estate agents fee...generally less than half a per cent... so they are desperate to get you back to the office and get the sale.... not for the just for the half per cent... that is incidental... but they will have made arrangements with the owner of the house they sell you.. privately...

the estate agent will get his 3 per cent from the seller and the buyer

... but the house scout person will have this private arrangement with the seller for a fixed fee ... but only some of these houses will have this extra hidden bit....

why because they will be ones where the owner knows they will be hard to sell... so he is willing to give a scout quite a big chunk to get rid of it... hence the reason you dont get shown houses that are easy... they could even sell these to italians... you get shown the houses that the scout will get the biggest chunk out of.... and are persuaded to choose it...

apart from often these are properties with the most problems ... they will have taken you around other properties first at worse conditions and they will tell you the prices ... .. generally very high made up prices for that day only... so that when you arrive at the one they want you to buy it will almost seem like a bargain...

that way the next day when they go back and tell the owners of the other houses that their house didnt sell but that another one did they can then tell the owner look give us an extra few thousand and it will be your house that sells next...

now if an estate agent does this sort of work he is liable and punishable under law and you as a buyer have a protection as does the seller ... but no one controls the proffesional desperate to earn house scout... so you have to remember when buying from an agency operating in this way ... to be doubly careful...

so it seems to me the definitive answer is to say when you want to go around houses that at least one of the people accompanying you has to be registered and qualified to show houses for gain... this person then is legally responaible and punishable if he tells you direct lies or even withholds anything he knows of the property..... good or bad ...

now if you deal with a reputable agency that last part is very important..

because most reputable and honest agents will before they sign a contract to sell the house make the seller provide all the legal documentation on the house... who owns it,how many, what building is legal , what part isnt, certificates ... they will then visit the house and check the house against the documentation and at that stage they will agree to sell it or not ... which is why here in italy there is a perception that people dont like using estate agents to sell their houses much... its the ones that dont like too much checking that tell this story... because in reallity which registered agent that can earn a few hundred thousand euro a year is going to ruin it all over a house sale involving a few thousand.. in truth most registered agents if the seller tries to hide something from them will not even take on the sale of the house... it is not worth the penalties involved if something does go wrong...

SO THE DEFINITIVE ANSWER IS ...

make sure the person showing you a house is the registered agent that before he even gets on the road to show you the house he is carrying the full file of the house with him with all its legal details... a reputable agent will already have quite a thick file of papers on a house from the seller

and that you carry a voice activated recorder to all discussions regarding the house in full view of the agent...

these two little things will be the surest way of starting off on the right foot at least ... and anyone that cannot provide someone registered to show you the house should be avoided ... dont forget its your money and they should be following your little whims and your rules if they want to take it from you...

marc... we think alike i think... yours is a lot more concise... i was trying to explain the perils... the conclusion pretty well the same... a very good post

At the risk of this turning into a mutual back-patting-fest, I agree with you John, that an agent should be able to show a client documents about a house, right from square one.

[FONT="Book Antiqua"][SIZE="3"]John

If only you could position yourself at Pescara Airport and intercept all the newbie prospective buyers you would be saving a lot of heartache and expense! However I think that you may find yourself in a sticky situation too??

Can I just please ask anyone on this forum to pay [B]VERY[/B] close attention to this thread if you want to buy a house in Abruzzo and elsewhere?

If you think it's all complete tosh then by all means disregard it We did ! But to be fair we didnt even know about this forum when we viewed and made an offer.

Yes ask to see paperwork for the house [B]WHEN YOU VIEW[/B] but this is Italy so if you just ask on the day you will be very lucky to see it..give the agents warning that you will want to see the paperwork for every house the agent's Scout shows you.Look at the plans and see if everything in front of you is actually on the plan!!It isn't always!

Do not get carried away by seemingly low prices! easy to say but as John states it happens.We were lucky to be shown a couple of places owned by a local up for sale and he was asking 25,000 for a nice old stone house in the hills above Pescara.We figured that around that price for a 2 bed restoration job was ok,with a garden and less work..30-50,000.If you can see a couple of places for sale locally try .Often you see a for sale sign posted on the door and a phone number..phone and ask the price!

I don't know really what the answer is for these agents who are [I]possibly [/I]skirting the law as it seems to exist? Perhaps writing and asking for clarification?The problem is that if most of the buyers are happy with their house then they are not going to do anything and new people will not be aware.

I'd like to be able to add some of this as a 'reflection' on my web site perhaps with a link for a site where the legal side is explained.As I said before I am unqualified to give legal advice but an opinion of these practices would I am sure be of interest.[/SIZE][/FONT]

[quote=adriatica]as far as i understand the law 39/89 the role of the mediator constitutes an activity which is reserved and non delegable...

but the actual person that shows a client a house if i am reading the law correctly has to be a person legally qualified and enrolled as a mediator, if that person is doing it as a profession and requiring a fee for the sale/purchase of the house... from the client...
[/quote]

Brill post Adriatica,
[COLOR=black]just to clarify, is it possible then, that if anyone other than the agent were to show the property that any contract signed with the agent could be classified as invalid? Guess it would be difficult to prove unless of course you had followed your tip two. I'm talking about retrospectively in this case obviously.[/COLOR]
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[QUOTE]
SO THE DEFINITIVE ANSWER IS ...

make sure the person showing you a house is the registered agent that before he even gets on the road to show you the house he is carrying the full file of the house with him with all its legal details... a reputable agent will already have quite a thick file of papers on a house from the seller

and that you carry a voice activated recorder to all discussions regarding the house in full view of the agent...

these two little things will be the surest way of starting off on the right foot at least ... and anyone that cannot provide someone registered to show you the house should be avoided ... dont forget its your money and they should be following your little whims and your rules if they want to take it from you.
[/QUOTE]
This is the best bit of advice, everyone turn into moles and take your spy kit with you, we'll flush out the b******s!
Well, assuming we can get this message out to all prospective buyers!

trulli that is the difficulty ... if you have the go between acting between the client and agent but you pay the agent not the go between the agent can then say the go between was supposed to have advised of all relevant details and it is then there fault ... that way you then have to sue this go between ...who not being covered by the strict legislation pertaining to legal mediators is i would think much more difficult....
thats an opinion ...

the metholody to avoid this sort of problem in the first place which might help people in the future is to follow what i have said... and thats virtually fact

manopello i think you have missed my point a bit... the normal estate agent here will market the property at the correct price...that is also a function under law of the legal mediator ... valuing the property correctly.. a normal estate agent will also if you request to see a house from a site show you it... and also a selection of other houses in or around the same type... some with more or less work ... but each house you see the agent should have a file already available to check details for you .. so no you will not be lucky to see it ... and i explained the normal estate agent will not even list a property he has any doubts over and would never list a property without checking the relevant details from the paperwork... you seem to have a very strange idea from your experiences about how estate agency...or the mediating system works ... and basically never let a scout show you around anything.. if the company/agent wants to sell a property get them up off their backsides and make the responsable person show you it... if they say there are just too many clients and property for one person to show... tell them it would then be advisable for them to invest in the education of some of the people working for them to attempt the exam... pass and register ..and then be able to work for a more reasonable wage and a better percentual of the deal..... and take your bussiness elsewhere ...because if the mediator tells a lie to you or misleads you i can then answer trullis question ... the contract is not legal and the mediator is sueable... and the mediator cannot justify something wrong ...with the statement the seller lied or i didnt know... because the mediator which is maybe why they charge what they do is legally responsable for checking that the seller hasnt lied and he/she has not missed something.....

at the best this system works very well at the worst its a nightmare... at the best i agree with the notary on here... you wouldnt even need a lawyer ... at the worst you will just end up needing a heap of them....

it depends on profesional integrity and pride... there are a lot that offer that... to make sure follow the buyers rules and dont let the agents tell you what to do... the client is in charge... if they dont accept that walk away

[FONT="Book Antiqua"][SIZE="3"]I thought I got what you were saying! But its too late for me as we already have bought!but I am now assuming that our contract is invalid ?Actually the agent was with us on our first visit to see the house so it could be said that she did show it to us?

I understand about the walking away part but being realistic John if a person sees their 'dream house' at what they think is an unbelievable price they will [B]not [/B]walk away which is where the trouble starts.

I think it was Jackie C who mentioned a couple who couldn't even rember the name of the place they'd bought in. I have met a couple who went on a viewing tour saw one house then shot back to Pescara to put down their 1,000 euro deposit!!!On the same day.when you are dealing with this situation occuring over and over again you have to try to understand what is going on in the minds of these people.

Don't forget that everyone is not as level headed as you and some people get carried away!

You were right to remind me that of course a good agent will have all the paperwork with them ...my comments were aimed at the person who has booked a veiwing time,got their flights booked,hired their car,taken time off work and they get to their first house and hey no paper work!Do you think they are just going to turn round and go home? [B]NO[/B] because they've got the idea of searching for this dream and practicalites will be pushed to the side.

Before anyone gets on to me....I totally disagree with this practice and swear that I will never again use an agent who uses it.OK?I just try to speak about situations as I see them ,no more.[/SIZE][/FONT]

I come across loadsa folk who are desperate to buy a house in Italy, but don't find one through "an agent". So - you want a house, you can't find one - is this question of "who can sell one" relevant?
Please do not bring your anglo saxon assumptions of "guarantee culture" into Italy.
If you find a house you like, go and ask the estate agent with the biggest office in the area to "find out if it is for sale". No "agent" has sole rights here in Italy (which is part of the reason they charge "vast sums"). Or ask in the bar. If you discover the owner, if he is willing to sell, then get some solid advice - approach a local geometra (one with a big office): approach a local notaio, enquire at the Comune offices. Most Italians do one-to-one transactions (asking advice when they need it). Italian property exchanges are based on this assumption, (though they are trying quite hard to drag it all into the 20th century).
Yes, your Italian has to be pretty damned good to follow this path, but do you want to live in a country where "they" speak a foreign language of which you have no clue? If you are not willing to study the language hard enough to manage to buy a house you are not going to be able to take part in the society into which you are "buying".
Why not stay solidly protected by the raft of boring consumer protection which you currently enjoy in your English speaking culture?
If you are averse to adding a little risk to your life why not stick to dodgy hedge funds, and avoid any foreign property market!!

[QUOTE=Relaxed]I come across loadsa folk who are desperate to buy a house in Italy, but don't find one through "an agent". So - you want a house, you can't find one - is this question of "who can sell one" relevant?
Please do not bring your anglo saxon assumptions of "guarantee culture" into Italy.
If you find a house you like, go and ask the estate agent with the biggest office in the area to "find out if it is for sale". No "agent" has sole rights here in Italy (which is part of the reason they charge "vast sums"). Or ask in the bar. If you discover the owner, if he is willing to sell, then get some solid advice - approach a local geometra (one with a big office): approach a local notaio, enquire at the Comune offices. Most Italians do one-to-one transactions (asking advice when they need it). Italian property exchanges are based on this assumption, (though they are trying quite hard to drag it all into the 20th century).
Yes, your Italian has to be pretty damned good to follow this path, but do you want to live in a country where "they" speak a foreign language of which you have no clue? If you are not willing to study the language hard enough to manage to buy a house you are not going to be able to take part in the society into which you are "buying".
Why not stay solidly protected by the raft of boring consumer protection which you currently enjoy in your English speaking culture?
If you are averse to adding a little risk to your life why not stick to dodgy hedge funds, and avoid any foreign property market!![/QUOTE]

Relaxed,

Quite sure there will be a few people out to lynch you for your post here. Your views express a rather extreme view and it is at the other end of the spectrum to those most normally expressed here.

Whilst there are some who will want full protection in any purchase they make of this size, there are many who will simply want to understand those risks. By understanding the risk you are taking you can either accept it, look at how to mitigate that risk or withdraw from the purchase. The point continuously made is that people are not told what the risks are.

It is irrelevant whether people understand the language. In many cases, people are in the process of learning. Language is learnt largely from using it and not from a text book. Therefore only someone who is very intollerant and unrealistic would take the viewpoint you do. In addition, the comments regarding "Please do not bring your anglo saxon..........." and "........which you currently enjoy in your English speaking culture?" would seem to indicate that you are a person who has little to offer society except for contempt. Whilst I am sure the underlying text has some merit, the manner in which it is presented is in my opinion, designed to cause offence within this forum.

By the way, I like your attitude towards risk. As a reward, you have been selected from the thousands of people on this forum to recieve a prize. This is either five million euro's, a new ferrari or a packet of bubble gum. All you need to do to claim your prize is send me an administration fee of £10,000. PM me and i will give you the address to send it to.

Regards

Andy

PS: By the way, my hedge funds are doing very nicely as part of a diverse portfolio which is constructed to reduce the risk of total loss and maximise profits. That my friend is the point. There is an acceptable level of risk. When you don't know what risk you are taking, you cannot understand it or decide if it is acceptable.

[CENTER][CENTER][COLOR=black][FONT=Verdana]Relaxed, And you think it is possible to learn the langauge well enough in a matter of months. Many of us don't even know we want to buy a property in [/FONT][/COLOR][COLOR=black][FONT=Verdana]Italy[/FONT][/COLOR][COLOR=black][FONT=Verdana] until later in life. If we spent the time required to be able to communicate effectively, let alone have adequate understanding of the spoken and unspoken laws of property purchase to pick up if something wasn't right, we would be dead! [/FONT][/COLOR]
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[COLOR=black][FONT=Verdana]Sensible plan if I knew all this about 5yrs ago but even then not fool proof! [/FONT][/COLOR][/CENTER][/CENTER]
[/FONT][/COLOR][CENTER][CENTER][COLOR=black][FONT=Verdana][/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT=Verdana] You clearly have no understanding yourself, some of us want to learn the language and enjoy our little piece of [/FONT][/COLOR][COLOR=black][FONT=Verdana]Italy[/FONT][/COLOR][COLOR=black][FONT=Verdana] at the same time before we're to old to enjoy it! :mad: [/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT=Verdana][/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT=Verdana]There's always one clever clogs that thinks the have all the answers.
Good post Andy, too angry to put mine so well. ;) [/FONT][/COLOR][/CENTER][/CENTER]
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Managgia Andy!

Aliena wants the Bubble Gum! I will place you on my hit list along with the Relaxed Rissole if you send it to anyone else!

D'ya reckon Relaxed Rissole is an eye diddly eye tie or a yukka tree plant? :D

:) :)

Probably a yukka tree plant, not such a furba mole today, clearly lost my specs. Twas good to let off some steam though! :D

manopello, you are right, the "dream" does do some stupid things to normald, sensible people, like us. :) ;)

[QUOTE=Aliena]Managgia Andy!

Aliena wants the Bubble Gum! I will place you on my hit list along with the Relaxed Rissole if you send it to anyone else!

D'ya reckon Relaxed Rissole is an eye diddly eye tie or a yukka tree plant? :D

:) :)[/QUOTE]

I will PM you the address to send your administration fee to.

Andy

Andy.. caro amico mio.

I have checked with the Post Office and they say it will be absolutely impossible to deliver the administration fee as "Ick Ead" is not your address..

They seem to think that address could possibly belong to a Relaxed Rissole.. but they also seem to think "Ick Ed" is the shortened version of the address.. and may be missing letters such as a "D" and "H"..

Can anyone verify? :D

:) :)

Well, I had rather hoped to get lynched!

Not intolerant - not a Yucca plant either - just practised in keeping a straight face when hearing whingeing Pom stories, and hoping to point out that the "rules" (if there are any) and more important the attitudes, customs, assumptions etc etc when buying a house in Italy are quite different from those in the UK.

I don't in any way condone misleading statements from estate agents or sellers - and if the buyer does not speak the language very well then please use one of the very good, expensive, agents thoroughly versed in selling to foreign buyers. But even then, there simply ain't no guarantee, and you had better believe it!

Excellent thread. Thanks all for the very useful postings! :)

Moi - have all the answers? I think not!! Sorry to have got up your nose, hope you are enjoying your Italian property (and hoping you are learning the language). Martina Franca is a pretty place - good choice.
Just very fed up with whingeing ex-pats who bleat about not being able to buy cheddar cheese or Rockwool insulation, being "deceived" by "rip-off" merchants - who are simply speaking a different "language" - (by which I don't just mean linguistically) and everything falls foul on misunderstandings rather than foul play: but the whingers never want this explained to them - they simply want to whinge.

[QUOTE=Relaxed]Well, I had rather hoped to get lynched!

Not intolerant - not a Yucca plant either - just practised in keeping a straight face when hearing whingeing Pom stories, and hoping to point out that the "rules" (if there are any) and more important the attitudes, customs, assumptions etc etc when buying a house in Italy are quite different from those in the UK.

I don't in any way condone misleading statements from estate agents or sellers - and if the buyer does not speak the language very well then please use one of the very good, expensive, agents thoroughly versed in selling to foreign buyers. But even then, there simply ain't no guarantee, and you had better believe it![/QUOTE]

Relaxed's English uses too many parochial phrases to be written by an Italian ("I don't in any way condone", "very well then", "and you had better believe it").
But seems too critical to be English (your anglosaxon assumptions..., whingeing Pom...)
maybe an Aussue but spelling too good ... uses the word "moi" and spits out the phrase "English speaking culture" so maybe French-Canadian - pour chance Francois (aka FRANK)?

Relaxed, I have a problem with the following sentence;

[QUOTE=Relaxed]
If you find a house you like, go and ask the estate agent with the biggest office in the area to "find out if it is for sale". No "agent" has sole rights here in Italy [/QUOTE]

If what you're saying is that one good way to go about finding a house is to go and live in a community for several weeks or months while you research houses that may be for sale privately, then that's fine by me. On the other hand - and I'm reading hidden meaning into your cryptic use of apostrophes here - you seem to be implying that its OK to go behind the back of an agent who has diligently advertised a house and walk round the corner to the agent 'with the biggest office'. Why? Are you claustrophobic or is there another reason? Presumably you wrapped the phrase 'find out if it is for sale' in apostrophies, because you already know that it [b]is[/b] for sale. Are you implying that Big Office Agency will offer you a better deal because they have incurred no costs and no effort in promoting the house?

It is also wrong to state that 'no "agent" has sole rights here in Italy'. Leaving aside the unaccountable use of apostrophies again, an agent may indeed have sole rights, if the vendor has chosen to charge only one agency with the task of selling the house. Sensible vendors, and the majority of commercial developers, often realise that it is best to place the sale of property with one good agent (or at least, one good agent at a time) because an agent with sole agency is much better motivated to advertise the house.

Dear Marc - you are quite misunderstanding me, and my use of quotation marks. Enclosing the word "agent" I just want to imply I am using shorthand for any kind of mediator, and using them for "find out if it is for sale"" equally is shorthand for asking the "agent" to investigate the ownership and/or potential buyability. Clearly if the building of interest is sporting an estate agent's sign you would head straight to that agent!
So - having explained my no furbo credentials, and on the assumption that some delicious, unadvertised and apparently unloved ruin has caught my eye, I stand by my assertion that the assumption of "no sole rights" is valid.
I know it is becoming more common for agents to ask vendors for sole rights, and I also agree that they will probably make a greater effort to sell a property if they do have sole rights - equally I know that to satisfy the vendor they have to find a purchaser, and will cut anyone who brings such a prize to their door into the deal on some basis or other. Nothing wrong with that, at all.
The spirit of co-operation between agents in Italy is far greater than in the UK - I think you will agree.

Thanks for handling my attack with such equanimity Relaxed and sorry for having jumped to the worst conclusion about your motives.

[quote=Relaxed]The spirit of co-operation between agents in Italy is far greater than in the UK - I think you will agree.[/quote]

Yeah, all dodgy together! ;)

Hint of valid points but not practical without Adriatica's tips.

Anyway, Mole has her specs on now and can see the great interconnectedness of "whingeing Pom" and "Relaxed".

Tis good to debate how wrong you are though!
You have even said as much yourself!

[QUOTE]if the buyer does not speak the language very well then please use one of the very good, expensive, agents thoroughly versed in selling to foreign buyers. But even then, there simply ain't no guarantee, and you had better believe it![/QUOTE]
Sorry matey but I've been caught out, didn't have the means to spend months tracking down properties or becoming fluent in cryptic "agent" speak either.
You haven't convinced me of a thing yet!
Back to you. ;)

My mission in life is not to convince you of anything. I just wished to point out that fartarsing on about whether any particular agent has got the right letters after his name is a): no guarantee (don't I just lurve that word, always in the negative!), and b): however qualified he is, if he doesn't have the property you want to buy, he isn't useful to you.
End of story!! No hidden agenda.

Well really. Good fun though, love a dust up about agents, it's my speciality subject in master mind. ;)

hi has any one out there got any positive views on buying a house in italy i mean this is italy not a out post of the british empire try and enjoy the diferent life style and culture and compleat disorder life somtimes thows at you our do you want fish and chips and perfect english estate agent ha ha .the italians dont do buying and selling houses as we do in england to us its way of making mony thugh moving up the ladder .here when granny dies the house goes on the market cracks and all not like the british coverig up the cracks wiht pollyfiler and paint and puting on a pot of coffee ect .yes point uout the pitfalls but cant we have some sunshine and positive thoughs on thi forum all the negitive vibes are geting me down this is italy try and enjoy it

Lino..

Go to read a thread in Circolo called.. "On a lighter note" I hope it makes you smile. :D

:) :)

[quote=oil di lino]hi has any one out there got any positive views on buying a house in italy i mean this is italy not a out post of the british empire try and enjoy the diferent life style and culture and compleat disorder life somtimes thows at you our do you want fish and chips and perfect english estate agent ha ha .the italians dont do buying and selling houses as we do in england to us its way of making mony thugh moving up the ladder .here when granny dies the house goes on the market cracks and all not like the british coverig up the cracks wiht pollyfiler and paint and puting on a pot of coffee ect .yes point uout the pitfalls but cant we have some sunshine and positive thoughs on thi forum all the negitive vibes are geting me down this is italy try and enjoy it[/quote]

I would have been enjoying Italy 9 months ago if........oh whats the point, you carry on with your rose tinted specs. And I hate bl***y fish and chips!

Aliena, good link and made me smile too but not enough. :D

[QUOTE=Relaxed]Yeah - love Italy, all positive - if you found the shift key or any sort of punctuation mark you might get a reply from other enthusiasts.[/QUOTE]

Totally Worthless And Trivial response!!!

[QUOTE=Relaxed]Yeah - love Italy, all positive - if you found the shift key or any sort of punctuation mark you might get a reply from other enthusiasts.[/QUOTE]
how rude can you get i am not posting to get points on my puntuations our spacings i as for shift key i found this remark verry ofensive if you want perfect gramer iam sorry i cant provide it i will do my best to put over my point i foundyourv reply verry negetivvo

[quote=Relaxed]My mission in life is not to convince you of anything. I just wished to point out that fartarsing on about whether any particular agent has got the right letters after his name is a): no guarantee (don't I just lurve that word, always in the negative!), and b): however qualified he is, if he doesn't have the property you want to buy, he isn't useful to you.
End of story!! No hidden agenda.[/quote]

Duh, we know that.

Ariatica

Your advice is logical, but not all correct. The sale of my property was a split between an agent & the company calling themselves mediators, who in fact, proved not to be. I got caught with illegal additions, despite an agent being involved, because the vendors made a false declaration about the age of the property & in my contract the individual parts were actually specified.
[B]
A very important reason to use a registered Estate Agent & I can't say this too strongly, is because they have to have indemnity insurance, [/B]which of course means; that you are more likely to receive damages if anything goes wrong.

Just as in England, anyone who carries out a task, for which they are paid, has a duty of care & are therefore liable under the law, to pay compensation as a result of damage or negligence. It just makes it a bit more difficult. In my case, the vendor, agent, architect who carried out the survey & the company which actually sold me the property, are all joined in the one action.

Hope this is useful

Karen
Vecchia Casa

[QUOTE=sdoj]Relaxed's English uses too many parochial phrases to be written by an Italian ("I don't in any way condone", "very well then", "and you had better believe it").
But seems too critical to be English (your anglosaxon assumptions..., whingeing Pom...)
maybe an Aussue but spelling too good ... uses the word "moi" and spits out the phrase "English speaking culture" so maybe French-Canadian - pour chance Francois (aka FRANK)?[/QUOTE]

Not me!!

I've been on spring break. Just getting back up to speed in regards to the forum.

Frank

Where does that leave the official role of Intermediary. My understanding is that they are licenced (inscritto) to sell property in the same way that estate agents are. What I would like to know is; how they achieve that role, meaning do they have to be trained etc? In other words, who can become an Intermediary? Do they have to have indemnity insurance as agencies do?

Once the above is clearly set out, then we can establish how to determine which Intermediaries are licenced in their role & which ones are misleading the public.

Also ask to see their insurance (indemnity) policy. In England companies by law have to display the Health & Safety Regs & the renewal of their insurance policy, but not sure if it's an indemnity policy, think it must be.

Soon, those in Italy selling property [B]aren't [/B]going to be rubbing their hands together when they see the British coming. They are going to have to pull it all out: contracts, docs, qualifications, plans, indemnity insurance, certificates.......

Look out, look out the British are coming!!!!

Lavender Field

There is no role of 'Intermediary' in the property business in Italy other than the officially recognised role of Estate Agent. Some companies operating in Italy get round this by operating under the 'umbrella' of an official estate agent but doing most of the footwork for them in terms of finding buyers and explaining the in-and-outs of buying, while leaving the Italian agent to cope with the paperwork and negotiations. Sometimes this works ot the benefit of all concerned.

Where the confusion arises is that the role of 'intermediary' that you mention is intended to mean someone who helps a [b]buyer[/b] and [b]seller[/b] reach an amicable agreement, not, by any means, someone who helps a [b]buyer[/b] and an [b]estate agency[/b] reach an amicable agreement!

As has been said before, people should never pay anyone but a registered estate agent for any kind of intermediation service, and if they're paying a registered agent, they have a right to deal directly with the agent and benefit from their training and experience, even if they found the house through a 'middleman'.

Marc

Who is inscritto to be an Intermediary & what does that mean. The Chamber of Commerce made me believe a person with that title can sell property.

Help, your reply is a bit confusing.

Thanks

Lavender Field

maybe you are getting confused..the term is mediator... the intermediary is not a mediator...

is this the solution to your question

Can someone translate this please:

Non risulta inscritta nel Ruola degli Agenti di Affari in Mediazione tenuto da questa Camera.

Thanks

Lavender Field

Translation:

[i]Not shown as a member in the records of Mediating Agents held by this Chamber (of Commerce)[/i]

Mark

That's very kind & helpful

Thanks

Lavender Field