I have been told that companies calling themselves Property Intermediaries have to be licenced by the local Chamber of Commerce. Does anyone have any details on either the role of the Intermediary or the terms of the licence
Category
Property Sales/Rental Advice
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sat, 02/25/2006 - 03:43
Unlike in the UK, where estate agents work mainly as salesmen and are employed by the vendor for that purpose, in Italy they are (theoretically) impartial intermediaries between buyer and seller and collect commission from both. They also do a certain amount of para-legal work, checking title to the property and drawing up the preliminary contract. For this reason, there is a requirement for agents to be trained and licensed by the regional Chamber of Commerce.
Of course, people are adept at evading rules and taxes here, so its not unusual to find one qualified agent at the centre of a network of subsidiaries and collaborators who are acting under the umbrella of his (or her) licence. There's nothing wrong with that per-se, as long as they are all drawing on the experience of the qualified agent. Things begin to get fuzzy when the link is tenuous.
There's been a lot written about this on the Property/Sales section of this Forum. The general advice seems to be to ask your agent whether their business is 'Inscritto su ruolo' and who the qualified member of their practice is and not to pay commission to unqualified street-corner property pundits. As a foreigner, you may depend on the agent for a lot more than the purchase of your property. A good agent will give you support in obtaining residency and bank accounts, help you find reliable local builders and tradesmen and support you beyond the sale, so choose your agent carefully.
There's a good explanation of Italian estate agency practices [url=http://www.worldproperties.com/CountryBusPractice.aspx?countryID=12&BusinessPracticeID=-1]here >[/url]
Unlike in the UK, where estate agents work mainly as salesmen and are employed by the vendor for that purpose, in Italy they are (theoretically) impartial intermediaries between buyer and seller and collect commission from both. They also do a certain amount of para-legal work, checking title to the property and drawing up the preliminary contract. For this reason, there is a requirement for agents to be trained and licensed by the regional Chamber of Commerce.
Of course, people are adept at evading rules and taxes here, so its not unusual to find one qualified agent at the centre of a network of subsidiaries and collaborators who are acting under the umbrella of his (or her) licence. There's nothing wrong with that per-se, as long as they are all drawing on the experience of the qualified agent. Things begin to get fuzzy when the link is tenuous.
There's been a lot written about this on the Property/Sales section of this Forum. The general advice seems to be to ask your agent whether their business is 'Inscritto su ruolo' and who the qualified member of their practice is and not to pay commission to unqualified street-corner property pundits. As a foreigner, you may depend on the agent for a lot more than the purchase of your property. A good agent will give you support in obtaining residency and bank accounts, help you find reliable local builders and tradesmen and support you beyond the sale, so choose your agent carefully.
There's a good explanation of Italian estate agency practices [url=http://www.worldproperties.com/CountryBusPractice.aspx?countryID=12&BusinessPracticeID=-1]here >[/url]