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Hi, Dawn.  Glad to hear it went so well.  I'm a long way from Florence so can't help with lawyers but wanted to say I hope you start your happy new lives here soon.

I thought it might be helpful just to tell you what happened when we bought our apartment in Orvieto. Having viewed the flat, we returned home (much to the estate agents' disappointment who thought we would make an offer there and then) and about 2 weeks later made our offer which was below the asking price. We were asked to fax this through so that the offer was on paper. It was subsequently accepted by fax. We already had a codice fiscale and bank account, so we just had to make arrangements through the bank for the deposit to be made to confirm the offer. Everything else was done by the estate agent (it is normal in Italy for the agent to act for both parties). We simply turned up at their office three and a half months later with the rest of the purchase price, they took us to the notaio where we met the vendor and the translator and half an hour later the apartment was ours, so in summary the agent you purchase from ought to be able to make all the arrangements you need.

It is not only normal for an estate agent to act for both parties but a legal requirement.  A legally operating and registered estate agent must be independent and work impartially for both parties without ties of dependence, collaberation or representation.  Unfortunately most of the abusivi - illegal agents - do not have this requirement and just want to sell property - the moral being - use a legal estate agent.... :)