Buying a house: answers to frequently asked questions for greater clarity

Here is a series of answers to some frequently asked questions for those approaching the purchase of a property for easier understanding.

What is the purchase proposal and what is its function?
The purchase proposal is a unilateral act (i.e. made only by one person) with which a potential buyer communicates to the seller his intention to purchase a property, defining specific conditions. Regulated by articles 1326 and following of the Civil Code, the proposal becomes binding only when the seller accepts it within the validity period established in the proposal itself. A crucial element of the proposal is the possibility of accompanying it with a confirmatory deposit (article 1385 civil code), which strengthens the commitment of the parties and regulates any consequences in the event of non-compliance.

How does the preliminary sales contract work and what are the advantages?
The preliminary contract of sale or compromise is a true bilateral contract, which is governed by article 1351 of the civil code, by which the parties mutually oblige each other to conclude the definitive contract. It includes essential elements such as price, date of the deed and other fundamental conditions and must be drawn up in written form (private deed, authenticated private deed or public deed). The preliminary contract binds both parties with immediate legal effects. Finally, it must be registered within 30 days of signing up.
Registration is a mandatory tax requirement and must be carried out at the Revenue Agency.

What is included in the property regime?
The property regime is the set of rules that regulate the property relations between spouses. Its purpose is to equalize the position of both and safeguard all the rights and duties that marriage entails. Starting from 20 September 1975, Law 19/05/75 n.151 provides that, if the spouses do not express a different will, the property regime based on community of property automatically applies. The community of assets includes all those purchased by the spouses, both together and individually during the marriage. This means that these assets automatically fall within a single estate in which both spouses are 50% owners. Among the assets that fall within the communion between spouses there are: all purchases made by the spouses, both together and separately during the marriage, except personal ones; the fruits of the property of each of the spouses, which have not yet been consumed at the time of the dissolution of the communion; the proceeds of the spouses' separate activity in the event that, upon dissolution of the community, they have not been consumed; the companies managed by both of them established after the marriage.
If these companies belong to one of the spouses before the marriage, the communion concerns exclusively the profits and increases.

What is the declaration (or certificate) of stipulation and what is it for?
The declaration of stipulation is a document drawn up and released by the notary at the end of a notarial deed, such as a real estate sale or a mortgage contract. This certificate is not mandatory by law, but is frequently requested for practical purposes, as it formally certifies that the deed was stipulated on a specific date and between certain subjects. The document includes essential information, such as the data of the parties involved, the subject of the deed and the date of signing. However, it does not have full legal value like an authentic copy of the notarial deed, since it does not contain the registration details in the real estate or tax registers. Its main function is to provide immediate proof of the agreement, while waiting for the bureaucratic procedures necessary for registration to be completed.

What documents are needed to sell a house?
The main documents to approach the sale of a property are the following:
- Energy Performance Certificate (APE), which is valid for a maximum of 10 years and provides information on the energy performance of the property, reporting the energy class of the property;
- deed of provenance of the property, which allows you to map the history of the owners of the property and know the nature of the previous types of ownership (legitimate succession, donation or sale);
- cadastral plan, which allows you to know the internal layout of the house for sale, the plan must clearly match the actual state of the property;
- mortgage certificate of the property, which allows you to know whether or not a specific property is subject to foreclosures, mortgages or injunctions;
- historical cadastral survey, necessary to highlight the history of the various changes of ownership and cadastral changes;
- building permit, which verifies the municipal authorization with approval for the transformation of the territory;
- certificate of habitability, also the prerogative of the municipality of reference which declares compliance with safety and hygiene regulations;
- documents relating to any rental contracts if still in existence at the time of sale.

Deed of purchase of the house: where to recover it if it is lost?
A notarial deed, or also deed, is an official document drawn up by a notary which legally guarantees the truthfulness of the facts and legal acts reported within the deed. If you lose your copy of the deed, you can request a new copy directly from the notary's office or, in cases where this deed is no longer in the possession of the notary who drew it up, do a search in the notarial archives. 
There are three possibilities:
- request and collection of documents at the counter
- request for documents online and send them electronically
- request documents online and send by post or fax.