Do You Need a Buyer's Agent in Italy? The Advisor vs the Agent

Picture a buyer from the United States at the start of a Tuscan search, asking for a buyer’s agent. The phrase is familiar, and the answer it receives depends on Italian law. What follows sets out the difference from the texts read on 30 September 2026,^[2] the questions worth asking any professional, and the cases in which a buyer may not need one.

Why does “buyer’s agent” mean something different in Italy?

A US buyer who asks for a buyer’s agent has in mind a person who owes the buyer a duty of representation. The Italian Civil Code has no such category for the estate agent. It describes the mediator as a person who puts two or more parties in relation for the conclusion of a deal, without being tied to any of them by a relationship of collaboration, dependence or representation.^[1] Whoever a buyer meets first on an Italian property search is therefore likely to be a mediator (mediatore, in practice the estate agent), and the mediator is not the buyer’s representative.

The notary does not fill the gap. The notaio is a public official who acts for neither party and is impartial by law.^[3] The notary’s role is described in “How a Foreigner Buys Property in Italy”.

Whose side is the estate agent on, and who pays?

The agent is neutral, and the commission can be owed by both sides. The law gives the mediator a commission from each of the parties if the deal is concluded through the mediator’s intervention.^[4] How much it is, and how it is shared, is settled by agreement, by professional tariffs or by local usage; failing all three, a court decides what is fair.^[5] No fixed legal percentage exists.

The law also requires the mediator to tell the parties what the mediator knows: the circumstances that relate to the evaluation and the safety of the deal and that may influence its conclusion.^[6] Italy’s Court of Cassation has held that the duty extends to circumstances the mediator should have known with the diligence of the profession, such as co-ownership, pre-emption rights, administrative authorisations, mortgages and entries in the registers, and the seller’s title.^[7] A mediator who does not report planning irregularities known to him or her may be liable in damages and may lose the commission.^[8]

The duty has an edge. The mediator is not generally required, without a specific commitment, to carry out technical-legal investigations, and must not give information that has not been checked.

There is a variant. Italian law also recognises mediation on the instruction of one party only, often called atypical mediation, and the Court of Cassation treats such a mediator as bound by the same duties of good faith and information.^[9] An instruction from one party therefore does not by itself change the mediator’s duties to the other. Italian law and case law on mediation change over time, and the position in any one transaction depends on the contracts signed.

What does “zero commission for the buyer” tell you?

The phrase answers a question about who pays the agent. It does not answer a question about whom the agent acts for. The commission can be owed by both parties, and arrangements differ from one transaction to another. Who has instructed, and is paid by, whom is set out in the agreements themselves.

What does a buyer-side advisor do instead?

A buyer’s advisor is engaged and paid by the buyer; the term is not defined in the Civil Code. The engagement, not the title, decides what the advisor does, and the Civil Code does not list tasks. A buyer can ask for the scope in writing: what the advisor will do, what the advisor will not do, and who pays for what.

Three points follow. The first is that the fee is a separate cost. It is agreed with the buyer under the general rules on professional services, and for regulated professions the professional must give a written estimate of the fee when the engagement is given.^[10] Whether that applies to a given advisor depends on the advisor’s status. The fee is additional to any commission the buyer owes to an agent.

The second is that the legal classification depends on what is done. Whether a particular activity falls within the rules on mediation depends on what the advisor actually does, and is a question for a lawyer. This article does not answer it for any advisor.

The third is that an advisor does not replace the others: not the agent, where a property is marketed through one; not the notary; not the lawyer and the technician who check title and building.

How do the two differ on price, access and conflicts of interest?

Start with who is on whose side. The parties pay the estate agent, and the commission can be owed by each.^[4] The agent is not tied to the buyer by representation, and owes the parties duties of good faith and information.^[1][6] The advisor is engaged and paid by the buyer and acts on the buyer’s instruction, and the legal classification depends on the activity.

Price and access come next. The price reflects the property and the agreement of the parties. The route to a property decides which properties a buyer is shown: for the agent, it depends on the properties the agent has been asked to sell; for the advisor, on the advisor’s contacts (see “Off-Market Estates in Tuscany”).

Then the conflicts of interest, and the cost. With an agent, the conflict to check is that the commission can be owed by both parties, and the extra cost to the buyer is the commission, if owed. With an advisor, the conflict to check is any interest in, or payment connected with, the property or the seller, and the extra cost is the advisor’s fee, in addition.

The comparison states no advantage for either. A buyer’s advisor reduces one kind of conflict: the professional is paid by the buyer. That does not remove the need to ask the questions below.

What should you ask any professional before signing anything?

Whoever is engaged, these are the questions to put, before anything is signed:

– What is your role in this deal, in writing?

– Who has engaged you, and who pays you?

– Do you have any interest in the property, or receive payment from anyone else in connection with it?

– What does your written estimate of the fee cover, and what is outside it?

– When does your fee fall due: on signing the engagement, on the preliminary contract, or at the deed?

– Which checks will you carry out yourself, and which are for the notary, a lawyer or a technician?

– What will you not do?

– How can the engagement be ended, and what is owed if it is?

When might you not need one?

The notary takes part in every purchase, and checks of title, charges, cadastre and planning follow the steps described in “Due Diligence: What Sinks a Purchase”. Some buyers will decide that the notary, a lawyer and a technician engaged for specific tasks are enough. Others will want one person to keep the purchase in order and to be answerable to the buyer alone.

That is a decision for the buyer, and nothing in this article recommends one course. A buyer who is comfortable in Italian, knows the area and has a technician and a lawyer in place has less need of a coordinator than a buyer who has none of these.

About the service described in this article

The Tuscan is a private property office in Tuscany that acts for buyers. It holds no inventory and accepts no commission from sellers.

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