When owners decide to sell, they generally think straight away about the price, the photos and the listing.
The documentation comes later.
Very often, in fact, it is only dealt with when the first buyer arrives and asks to make an offer.
And that is exactly where the problems begin.
The right question is not just “What documents are needed for the deed of sale?”, but “What documents do I need to check before putting my home on the market?”.
Because finding a buyer and only then discovering that a document is missing, that the floor plan does not match, that a building application has not been finalised or that the provenance needs to be reconstructed means facing the problem at the worst possible moment: when you have already made a commitment and time starts working against you.
I have seen sales held up for months over documents that could have been obtained beforehand. I have seen owners accept an offer and only later discover that what appeared to be perfectly in order was not at all.
That is why I start from a very simple concept:
a home is not ready to be sold just because you have decided to sell it. It is ready when you know exactly what you are transferring and have the documents needed to prove it.
The original article correctly identified the energy performance certificate (APE), planning documentation and the status of the systems as key points. Today, however, the checks need to be extended to the provenance, the land registry situation, the condominium, any mortgages and all the specific features of each individual transaction.
THE OWNER’S PERSONAL DOCUMENTS
Let’s start with the apparently simplest part.
The seller must provide a valid identity document, their tax code and information about their marital status.
Depending on the situation, you may need an extract of the marriage certificate, a certificate of single status or of civil union, any marriage agreements, cohabitation agreements or a power of attorney if someone is to attend the signing on the owner’s behalf.
This is not a minor formality.
The matrimonial property regime, the presence of several registered owners, a usufruct, a separation, community of property or an incorrectly drafted power of attorney can all affect who needs to take part in the sale.
Indeed, the Italian National Council of Notaries includes among the documents normally required from the seller both identity documents and those relating to marital status and any property agreements.
THE DEED OF PROVENANCE: HOW DID YOU BECOME THE OWNER?
One of the first documents to obtain is the deed through which you acquired the property.
It could be a deed of sale, a gift, a division, a transfer order, a court ruling or an acquisition through inheritance.
This document is commonly called the title or deed of provenance and is used to reconstruct how, when and on what terms the property became part of your assets.
If the home was purchased, you need to obtain the complete notarial deed.
If it comes from an inheritance, you may need the inheritance tax return, the will, the publication of the will, the land registry transfer and the documents relating to acceptance of the inheritance.
If it comes from a gift, the deed will need to be examined and the situation in the Property Registers checked.
The Council of Notaries expressly lists, among the seller’s documentation, the deed of purchase and, in the case of inherited property, the inheritance tax return and the other documents relating to the acquisition upon death.
So it is not enough to say:
“This house has been mine for thirty years.”
You must be able to prove by what title it is yours and whether there are other parties who need to be involved or rights that could affect the sale.
LAND REGISTRY SEARCH AND FLOOR PLAN
The land registry search (visura catastale) shows the property’s identification details, category, cadastral income, cadastral floor area and registered owners.
The land registry floor plan, on the other hand, is a graphic representation of the home’s internal layout.
Both must be obtained and compared with the actual situation.
Before the deed of sale, the seller must declare that the land registry data and the filed floor plan match the actual state of the property, or this conformity may be established by a technical certification meeting the required criteria. The land registry floor plan is therefore one of the documents normally required in a sale.
But be careful, because this is where one of the most common misunderstandings arises.
The fact that the land registry floor plan matches the home does not automatically prove that the property complies with planning regulations.
The Land Registry mainly serves a tax purpose. A change may have been updated in the land registry without having been properly authorised from a building-regulations point of view.
The opposite can also happen: a properly authorised alteration may not have been subsequently updated in the Land Registry.
That is why land registry and planning checks are related, but they are not the same thing.
PLANNING AND BUILDING DOCUMENTS
This is often the most delicate part.
The lawful status of the property must be reconstructed through the building permits filed with the Municipality.
Depending on the age and history of the home, you may need the original building licence, the building concession, the building permit and all subsequent applications submitted over the years, such as CILA, SCIA, variations, amnesties, retrospective regularisations, authorisations or notices of completion of works.
If walls have been moved, new bathrooms added, verandas enclosed, balconies altered, rooms merged or spaces converted, you need to check whether these works were authorised and correctly represented.
And this is exactly where I often hear this phrase:
“But that’s how the house was when I bought it.”
I understand. But, unfortunately, this phrase does not solve the problem.
The fact that you did not personally make the change does not automatically mean that it is compliant. And the fact that the previous deed was signed does not, on its own, guarantee that every planning aspect was checked and resolved.
If the applications are missing or it is unclear what the last authorised state is, it may be necessary to appoint a technical expert and request access to the records at the Municipality.
Timescales depend on the local authority, the age of the building and the quality of the archives: in some cases it takes a few weeks, in others several months.
Waiting until you have found a buyer to request access to the records means handing control of the timing over to bureaucracy when you already have a contractual deadline to meet.
The growing use of preliminary technical reports stems precisely from the need to check, before the sale, land registry conformity, the history of building permits, habitability and any applicable tolerances.
THE ENERGY PERFORMANCE CERTIFICATE
The APE, or Energy Performance Certificate, describes the energy characteristics of the property and assigns it a class ranging from the most to the least efficient.
It is not a document to be requested when the notary sets the date for the deed.
As a rule, it must already be available at the advertising stage, because listings must show the energy indicators required by law. In a sale, the buyer must also receive the energy information and documentation and, except in the cases provided for, the APE must be attached to the contract.
The certificate must be drawn up by a qualified technician and must be valid.
If the home has undergone work that has changed its energy performance, it may need to be updated.
The APE should also not be confused with the certification of the systems: they are different documents and serve different purposes.
HABITABILITY: DON’T WAIT FOR THE BUYER TO ASK FOR IT
Habitability (agibilità) concerns the conditions of safety, hygiene, healthiness, energy saving and compliance of the systems, assessed according to the rules applicable to the property.
Today, for new procedures, the certificate has been replaced by the certified habitability notice (segnalazione certificata di agibilità), but for older buildings the previous documentation may exist, or it may be necessary to reconstruct the situation.
The physical absence of the document does not automatically mean that every sale is impossible, but it is an important circumstance that must be investigated and properly disclosed.
The time to check habitability is not after you have promised that “everything is in order”. It is before you start the sale.
DECLARATIONS RELATING TO THE SYSTEMS
When it comes to the compliance of systems, I have heard it all.
Some claim that without certifications a home can never be sold, while others, on the contrary, believe there is no need to disclose anything.
The reality is more nuanced.
For systems installed or modified in accordance with the applicable regulations, the installation company must issue a declaration of conformity. Under certain conditions, and for older systems, a declaration of correspondence may be prepared by a qualified professional.
The absence of these declarations does not automatically make every sale impossible, but the status of the systems must be known and clearly set out.
The problem is not just whether or not you have a piece of paper.
The problem arises when the seller states in general terms that “the systems are up to standard” without having sufficient documents or evidence to back it up.
A sentence written lightly in the offer or the preliminary contract can later turn into a contractual guarantee and a source of disputes.
CONDOMINIUM DOCUMENTS
When selling a flat in a condominium, it is not enough to check what is inside the home.
You also need to know the situation of the building.
It is advisable to obtain the condominium regulations, the ownership share tables, the latest meeting minutes, the final accounts, the budget and information on any extraordinary works already approved or under discussion.
You will also need a statement from the building manager confirming that condominium fees have been paid and whether there are any arrears.
The Council of Notaries includes among the documents normally required from the seller the condominium regulations and the building manager’s statement certifying payment of fees; it also recommends checking any resolutions and extraordinary expenses at the preliminary stage.
This step is essential because a major extraordinary expense can affect the negotiation.
Discovering after the offer that the condominium has already approved the renovation of the façade or the roof is not a minor detail.
It is information the buyer should have known before deciding how much to offer.
Transparency does not lower the value of the home. It prevents the price from being called into question when the negotiation is already at an advanced stage.
MORTGAGES, LOANS AND OTHER ENCUMBRANCES
If there is still a mortgage on the property, you need to obtain the contract, find out the outstanding debt and coordinate with the bank to establish how it will be paid off at completion and how the mortgage charge will be cancelled.
Having an outstanding mortgage does not normally prevent the sale, but the transaction must be organised in good time.
The notary will carry out their own searches in the Property Registers to identify mortgages, attachments, pending legal claims or other encumbrances.
This does not mean, however, that the owner should wait for the buyer’s notary to find out about their own situation.
If you already know about a mortgage, a legal procedure, an old encumbrance or a debt to be paid off, you must disclose it and prepare the solution before accepting an offer.
The notary’s job is to verify the transaction, not to discover at the last minute a problem the seller already knew about.
IF THE HOME IS LET OR OCCUPIED
If the property is rented out, you need to obtain the lease agreement, its registration, any extensions, the receipts and the documentation relating to the security deposit.
The expiry date of the contract, the amount of rent, the tenant’s position and any pre-emption rights provided for by law or by the contract must be clarified.
If, on the other hand, the home is occupied by a family member, a former spouse or another person, you need to understand on what basis it is being used and when it will actually be vacated.
Simply writing “vacant on completion” in the listing is not enough if you have not already checked that whoever lives in the home is actually willing and obliged to leave it by that date.
BUILDING BONUSES AND TAX DEDUCTIONS STILL IN PROGRESS
If tax-incentivised work has been carried out on the property, it is useful to obtain the applications, invoices, bank transfers and documentation relating to the deductions.
In the event of a sale, the remaining instalments of deductions for building renovation work are normally transferred to the buyer, unless otherwise agreed in the deed.
Seller and buyer must therefore clearly establish who will continue to benefit from the instalments not yet used.
This too is something to be dealt with before the deed of sale, not while the parties are already sitting in front of the notary.
THERE IS NO ONE-SIZE-FITS-ALL LIST FOR EVERY HOME
The documents required change according to the history of the property.
A home bought in the normal way, an inherited home, a property received as a gift, a flat with a mortgage, a rented property and a villa built in the 1960s do not require the same checks.
You might also need a power of attorney, a court order, a planning agreement, documents relating to a building lease right, a certificate of planning use, landscape authorisations, state property concessions or documentation relating to wells, septic tanks and appurtenances.
That is why a simple checklist downloaded from the internet can help you gather the basic documents, but it cannot replace an analysis of each individual situation.
It is not just about having lots of documents. What matters is checking that they all tell the same story.
The deed, the Land Registry, the planning permits, the actual state of the home and the Property Registers must all be consistent with one another.
WHEN SHOULD YOU START GATHERING THE DOCUMENTS?
The answer is simple:
before publishing the listing and, above all, before accepting an offer.
Not all documents need to be physically attached to the listing, but before presenting the home to buyers you should at least know:
- what the provenance is;
- whether the floor plan matches;
- what the planning status is;
- whether there are any critical issues or encumbrances;
- what the situation is regarding habitability and the systems;
- whether there are condominium fees or extraordinary works;
- who needs to sign;
This makes it possible to prepare a purchase offer consistent with the actual situation, without promising what you are not yet sure you can deliver.
OUR WORKING METHOD
When we are entrusted with a home, we don’t just start with the photos and the advertising.
We start with the documents.
Through the Check-Up Immobiliare Avanzato™ (Advanced Property Check-Up) we reconstruct the provenance, gather the available documentation and identify the aspects that need further investigation, involving the technical expert, the notary, the building manager or other relevant professionals as the situation requires.
The aim is not to replace these professionals.
It is to coordinate the work and bring any critical issues to light while we still have time to resolve them, not when there is already a buyer waiting to sign.
Because the day you receive a good offer should be a positive moment.
Not the day you start wondering whether you really have all the necessary documents.
IN CONCLUSION
To sell a home you will certainly need the deed of provenance, the land registry documents, the APE, the planning documentation and, depending on the situation, documentation relating to habitability, systems, condominium, mortgages, leases, inheritances or gifts.
But gathering a folder full of papers is not enough.
The most important part is checking that those documents are up to date, consistent with one another and match the home you are actually selling.
Because finding the buyer is not always the hardest part.
The most delicate part is being truly ready to transfer to them what you have put on sale, within the timeframe and on the terms promised.