Who should you contact to buy a house in Italy?

If you are looking to buy a house in Italy (unless you want to buy a new property directly from the construction builder), you may come across two types of professionals: a typical real estate agent or a consultant.

Before you start sifting through ads and visiting properties, you should know how to distinguish them and understand how they work.

On the surface, they may seem like the same thing. But in reality, turning to one rather than the other could generate very different results, and you should make your choice from the get-go.

Let’s see why.

Traditional Italian real estate agents

In Italy, in the common imagination, the one who “sells houses” or from whom “houses are bought” is the real estate agent.

In technical terms, a real estate agent is a “Business agent in property mediation.”

Quoting Article 1754 of the Italian Civil Code (a collection of norms regulating private law in Italy), “A mediator is someone who brings together two or more parties for the conclusion of a deal, without being bound to any of them by relationships of collaboration, dependence or representation.”

What does that actually mean?

I wanted to quote the definition used by the law because it contains a little word that is almost never used but expresses the true essence of the profession of a real estate agent in Italy.

The word in question is “mediator.”

The job of a real estate agent is, in fact, to mediate, meaning to bring together two or more parties.

The real estate agent works for both opposing parties during the transaction. Namely the seller (the person selling the property) and the buyer (the person buying the property).

The agent’s role, by definition, should be impartial, but in reality, that is not always the case.

Due to the ruthless competition in the collection of sales assignments, Italian real estate agents tend to pay more attention to the homeowners because they are the people with whom they interacted first and to whom they have made certain promises. The sellers are kind of like their employers. Therefore, they are their priority.

As it goes for any business, in order to sell something, it needs to have something to sell, of course.

The same applies to Italian real estate agencies that require sales assignments to sell houses, meaning they must convince homeowners to entrust their property to their agency rather than to their competitors.

Their focus, therefore, is on acquiring properties to sell rather than on selling real estate (possibly with a contract that makes the assignment exclusive to them and makes them the only agency with the right to sell that property).

If you know anything about the industry, you already know. Here in Italy, the difficult part of the job of the real estate agent is not finding buyers for the properties they manage but acquiring sales assignments.

For this reason, the situation is slightly more favorable for the seller, without which agencies would have nothing to sell. On the other hand, once they get the mandate to sell a property, they will find a buyer sooner or later.

That does not necessarily mean that the relationship is completely unbalanced. The buyer still has an important role, even if it is less crucial than the seller.

Continuing our examination, we must then dispel another myth.

Contrary to popular belief, traditional Italian real estate agents are NOT construction experts and do not have any construction skills (with rare exceptions).

Wait, are you telling me that real estate agents are not experts in real estate?

No, that’s not what I said. In Italy, a good real estate agent knows EVERYTHING there is to know about the regulatory and commercial aspects of a real estate sale, but they do not have the technical know-how when it comes to construction.

That means that if the property you intend to buy needs renovation or has “pathologies” to solve, you can not count on the opinion of the mediator unless he proves to have experience in this regard and is ready in some way to take responsibility for what he says.

Real estate consultants

Let’s now move on to real estate consultants.

In Italy, it is common to come across professionals who call themselves real estate consultants rather than agents.

Most of the time, they are real estate agents (so with the same pros and cons I already mentioned) who specialize in more specific areas. Some brokers specialize in the commercial sector, others in the luxury real estate market, investments, short-term rentals, and so on.

Usually, they are professionals who chose to remove themselves from the mass market (the one populated by traditional real estate agents) to focus on a specific market.

If you are dealing with a consultant, you need to pay attention to one thing in particular. Is the person you are dealing with your consultant or the other party’s?

The Treccani encyclopedia defines a consultant as the “professional one goes to for advice or clarification on a matter inherent to their profession.”

Therefore, a real estate consultant who defines himself as such should not deal with mediation (that is, bringing together two or more parties to make a deal) but should work in the exclusive interest of only one of the parties involved.

Otherwise, it would be like turning to a lawyer who also defends the other party. Clearly, that would not make any sense. How could they work in your best interest without going against the interest of others?

So, if you are the buyer, you should find a consultant who works exclusively for you and has no ties to the seller.

That is the difference. Consultants are (should be) biased, while mediators (agents) work for both parties (and therefore are paid by both parties).

Almost all consultants you will come across aim at working with people who are selling a property. It is more difficult to find a consultant who is dedicated to helping the buyer.

Watch out  for the property finder

Amongst the latter, so-called property finders (or house hunters) are becoming more popular, especially in large cities, with their slogan: “We’ll find the perfect home for you.”

This specialized profession originated in the United States and is now heading our way. I consider it a good thing.

Specializing in finding the ideal home for your customer is a much-needed service in Italy.

Of course, the consultant in question needs to have the necessary skills to really know how to advise the customer.

Considering that in Italy, the background of most real estate operators does not include any insights on construction but only on the bureaucratic and commercial aspects of a sale, it is still unknown whether they could really help you find your ideal home (especially if the property needs some work). Maybe they have chosen to specialize in this sector for mere marketing or popularity reasons.

So, how can a professional who knows practically nothing about construction or renovation find you your ideal home, considering that they will never be able to tell you (accurately) how much you will spend and what the final result will look like?

A customer who buys a property has the right to know not only the usual information like the number of rooms, the value of the house, and what is the procedure to transfer the ownership but also (most importantly) what they are buying and how much the interventions they intend to do will cost them before buying.

Even more so if the client decides to hire a personal consultant such as a property finder.

Quick recap

Now that you understand the difference between a traditional Italian real estate agent and a real estate consultant, it will be easier for you to make a decision.

To recap, you may come across

-A traditional real estate agent to whom the counterparty has entrusted the task of selling their property. We previously said that in this case, the professional works for both parties and should have an impartial role. They have the right to demand commission from both parties, although it is common for them to give up remuneration from the seller in order to secure the sales assignment;

-A real estate consultant hired by the counterparty, who should work in the seller’s best interest, although they might still demand compensation from you. That is because, most of the time, real estate consultants are simply real estate agents (mediators) who decided to target a different market;

-Your personal real estate consultant to whom you will entrust a real estate search assignment. This person will work only for you and will be paid only by you;

Regardless of your choice on the type of approach you want to follow, at this point, you need to find a trusted person who understands construction and renovation so that they can visit the properties with you and provide you with their expert opinion (maybe even writing down a quote) about the necessary work.

For my part, I’m here to meet the needs of those like you who are foreign citizens and are looking for a house to renovate or customize in Italy. I developed my Integrated Real Estate and Building Advisory service that will guide you exclusively every step of the way, from identifying the perfect property amongst the thousands on the market to estimating the work, assisting you during the purchase and renovation phase, all the way up to the day the house is ready for people to move in.

All this while always working in your exclusive best interests (we are not linked in any way to the seller of the property).

If you want to know more, click here to see how we work, or contact us if you have any questions. I will be happy to reply to you personally.

Let’s do it!

Alessio Piccinato

[Technical Manager and Founder of Result – Integrated Real Estate & Renovation Advisory]

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