Buying in Italy using Sterling? My

05/16/2014 - 09:09

Buying in Italy using Sterling? My friends (UK citizens and residents) are selling their house in Italy to �� people who have a UK bank account with enough money in it to buy the house. The buyers have said they would like to pay in sterling in order to avoid currency transfer and bank fees. The estate agent who has never come across this before has asked the notaio in Italy who has said that he sees no problem with the payment for the house being made in sterling. My understanding is that the sale would have to be done with a banker's draft - a physical piece of paper - and that this would need to be carried back to (and forth from?) the UK. The deed of sale 'act' would be done in Italy with the �� notaio. I would be interested to know the pros and cons of this.

Topic

Selling

Comment

Update! The notaio has said that a UK bank transfer would be ok - no need for the physical piece of paper. The amount (in euros) and mode of payment will be written into the deed of sale.

There is theoretically no problem with paying for a property in sterling, as long as the notaio stipulates the act in Italy adn everything is written clearly in the atto. The problem comes as the money should be in the sellers' bank account at the moment of the signing, so either you need a very reliable bank manager who will do an instant transfer or you have to trust your sellers. Alternatively the notaio can write into the atto that it takes effect only when the money has been receievd by the seller and within a certain amount of time. Only then can the notaio transcribe the atto.

Yes there are escrow accounts in the UK to ensure the money is available for immediate transfer - a very convenient system. As it is the buyers who have requested the payment in sterling in this case the current idea is that their payment will be made first, verified as having been received into my friends' account and only then will the transfer of title be done at the notaio's. In other words the buyers are driving the sterling purchase process and so they can bear the (small) risk. Thanks for your idea about the notaio including a clause that stipulates it is only after the money is verified as having been received that the atto takes effect.