House deposits

Last activity 17 March 2023 by Modicasa

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Guest9826Guest12 March 2023 12:18:12

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Hello! We're UK citizens and beginning the process to buy a house in the Chianti. Our real estate agent whom we trust impicitly and known for the past 18 months has worked hard for us. The deposit has to be paid tomorrow (13th March) and we're being asked to pay the deposit into the seller's personal account and NOT the notary! We have signed an irrovocable proposal to buy, in English and Italian, that has been signed by both of us and by the seller. I'm assured by the agent that is is a common practice in Italian property buying and that if the seller renegned on the deal they would have to reimburse us double the deposit. At the end of May we are being asked to pay another substantial amount, about 20% of the sale price directly to the Notary's account and the remainder to the notary on completion. My question is, is it common practice to pay the seller directly for this deposit.? Any advice would be grately appreciated!

MGouldMember12 March 2023 13:03:01

Hi. We bought our house from the UK two years ago, and paid the seller the 10% deposit directly through a private sale. We then paid the remainder through our notaio. It all went very smoothly. We received confirmation of receipt of the deposit from the seller straight away. If your notaio is happy with the process and you trust him, I don’t think there is any risk. We did not get asked to pay anything else until the final payment when we completed.

ModicasaContributor17 March 2023 05:13:52

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Yes, it is very common to pay the seller directly for the caparra - its a non-returnable deposit. You would only pay the notary if you were having the compromesso transcribed - as the preliminary of sale is a private contract and nothing to do with a notary. Obviously there's a tiny risk - if the sale doesnt go through because of the seller you will have to go to court (possibly) to get your money back - but it is one of the few things that the Italian court system does efficiently.

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