Journal
Notes on buying in Tuscany
Candid guidance for international buyers — the process, the costs, the areas, and what nobody tells you until it is too late.
The Advisory Model
How we work, and why it is different.
Do You Need a Buyer's Agent in Italy? The Advisor vs the Agent
How the legal position of the Italian estate agent differs from that of a US buyer’s agent.
Off-Market Estates in Tuscany
What off-market means, how such properties are reached and how the claim can be checked.
Who Is Actually on Your Side When You Buy in Italy?
The roles of the estate agent and the notary, and what depends on whom the buyer engages.
Buying: Process & Protection
What actually happens, and what protects you while it does.
In Whose Name Do You Buy? Spouses, Co-Owners and the Deed in Italy
Sole name, co-owners and spouses: what the Civil Code and the EU rules provide, and what the deed records.
Condominium Assemblies and Extraordinary Works in Italy: What Binds a Buyer
How condominium assemblies decide on works, who pays and what follows for a buyer.
Buying a Farmhouse in Tuscany: 8 Checks Before You Make an Offer
Eight checks before an offer on a Tuscan farmhouse, who normally does them and the questions that follow.
What It Really Costs to Buy a House in Tuscany: A US Buyer's Budget
The categories of cost, the dated Italian figures and a blank budget to fill in.
Can Americans Buy Property in Italy? What Actually Changes for a US Buyer
What changes for a US buyer: reciprocity, tax code, payment and the steps from offer to deed.
Agibilità and the Energy Certificate: What Each Is, and What Happens When One Is Missing
What each document is and what follows when one is missing.
Offer, Preliminary Contract, Deed: Who Is Bound, and When
The legal effect of each of the three documents, and of the deposit.
What the Notaio Checks, and What the Notaio Does Not
Where the line runs between what the notaio checks and what rests with the parties.
Pre-emption Rights: Who May Have the First Right to Buy
The pre-emption rights on agricultural land and cultural property, and those of tenants and co-heirs.
The Cadastre and the Building File: Two Records, Two Purposes
What each record shows, where the two can differ and what the deed says about each.
Buying in Italy as a US Citizen
The Italian and US layers of a purchase by a US citizen, from official sources, and what the article does not cover.
Due Diligence: What Sinks a Purchase
The title and building problems found in registers and deeds, and why the checks come before the offer.
The True Cost of Buying a Home in Tuscany
Each cost of a Tuscan purchase and the rule behind it.
How a Foreigner Buys Property in Italy
The stages of an Italian purchase and where a foreign buyer meets a different rule.
Money, Tax & Residency
What it costs, how it is funded, and what it takes to stay.
Can an American Get a Mortgage in Italy? The Steps and the Rules
The steps and rules of an Italian home loan, and what the official sources do not say about a US borrower.
Does Buying Property in Italy Give You Residency or Citizenship?
What ownership does not change, the stay limits for a non-EU owner and the routes that exist.
Moving to Tuscany from the US: Buying First, Residency Second
Ownership and residency kept apart, with the official sources and questions for an immigration and a tax professional.
Schengen 90/180, EES and ETIAS for Second-Home Owners in Italy
The 90/180 count, the Entry/Exit System and ETIAS for second-home owners.
The Taxes on Buying a Home in Italy, 2026: Line by Line
Tables of the purchase taxes for 2026 by case, with the rule behind each line.
Italy’s Flat Tax for New Residents: What It Means for a Move to Tuscany
How the substitute tax on foreign income works and how it relates to a purchase in Tuscany.
The Elective Residency Visa
What ownership does not grant, and what the elective residence visa is and is not.
Who Inherits the House
Applicable law, reserved shares, choice of law and inheritance tax.
Mortgages for Non-Resident Buyers
Lender policy, the generally applicable 80% limit, documents and the preliminary contract.
The Bank Account and the Source of Funds
The payment rules that apply to every purchase, and the part an Italian bank account plays.
Place & Character
Where to buy, and what each kind of property asks of you.
Buying a Vineyard Estate
What is bought, the pre-emption rights, the planting authorisations and the checks made before an offer.
Buying in a Historic Centre
What the condominium can decide, how heritage rules apply and when the State may buy first.
Where to Buy in Tuscany
Chianti Classico, Val d’Orcia, Maremma and Lucca described from public sources.
Owning, Restoring & Letting
The long life of a house, after the keys.
Owning as a Non-Resident: Filings, IMU and TARI, and Who Sets Them
Who sets IMU, TARI and the filings for an owner living outside Italy, and where each act can be found.
Renovation Deductions in 2026: What Is in Force, Who Can Use Them, and What Is Required
Rates and caps by year, who can use the deduction, which works qualify and what documents are required.
Rural Buildings and Change of Use in Tuscany: What the Regional Law Allows and Requires
The dividing line of 15 April 2007 and the cases in which agricultural use may change.
CILA, SCIA, Permesso di Costruire and the Landscape Authorisation: Which Procedure for Which Works
The procedures of the national building code and the landscape authorisation, with the time limits the texts state.
Letting a Tuscan Property When You Are Not There
What the national and Tuscan rules require of an owner who lets for short periods.
Owning a Tuscan Home from Abroad
The recurring obligations of an owner living abroad, and where the amounts and dates are set.
Renovating a Tuscan Farmhouse
The building titles, landscape and rural rules that apply to renovating a Tuscan farmhouse.