This is a follow up to the buying insight “Getting Realtors to Respond” which can be found in these groups:

Vivere Italia Home Buyers or Cool Italian Homes <€75k

There could be several reasons realtors aren’t responding but making sure you’re not doing any of these things will reduce the chances of them ignoring you. Please read “Getting Realtors to Respond” FIRST.

1 – You’re too vague. Your initial email says something like “I’m very interested. Can you please send me more information?” Many realtors assume their listings already have all the information buyers need so you need to be specific.

2 – You’re too demanding. This is an actual request I got on Facebook about a home I shared – and I’m not even the realtor: “Video walkthrough including all areas and coordinates please.” Huge red flag that this person is going to be a headache to work with.

3 – You’re not familiar with the Italian buying process and ask the realtor things like, “I like this property. What do I do next?” or “How can I buy this house?” There is a TON of information on the internet about how to buy a house in Italy, including this video guide. Many realtors don’t have time to explain this to every potential buyer who inquires. Not having done your research in advance is a huge red flag to the realtor that you’re probably not serious and/or only in the early stages of starting to look.

4 – You haven’t read the listing thoroughly. Asking questions about the property that are clearly in the listing is fair grounds for realtors not to reply.

5 – You’re not familiar with the local area. One question realtors frequently ask from the start is “have you been to this area?” Buying sight unseen or in an unfamiliar area is very foreign to Italians.

6 – You expect things to move too quickly. Asking for a showing on short notice (less than 48 hours) is just not how Italian realtors work. They may want a bit of time to qualify you as a serious buyer, they may not live in the local area, they may be out of the office for a few days. Whatever the reason, the sense of urgency just isn’t the same as in many other countries.

7 – You ask the realtor to show you all the properties for sale in a certain area. This is kind of a grey area. Many brokerages don’t do “MLS” or split commission sales with other agencies so it’s standard practice to contact each listing realtor for each showing. Having designated ‘buyer’s realtors’ is quite new in Italy. This is becoming more popular but the concept of a realtor taking you under their wing and showing you every property in a certain area with the assumption that they’ll automatically be a part of the sale and earn their commission is simply not yet done. With some firms, it’s possible to sign some sort of exclusivity agreement that they’ll represent you (they’ll then work out with the other listing brokers how their commission is split, who does what, etc.) but this is rather new and something you’ll need to inquire about.

8 – You don’t yet have your codice fiscale. This is really step one for serious buyers and if you don’t yet have this, realtors might not take you seriously and might not even respond.

… much more useful info like this in this guide, which if you’re serious about buying in Italy might be one of the best €15 you ever spend!  Please click on the photo below to check it out.