Which documents you need to sell a home in South Tyrol

Start with the land register extract

The land register extract says three things on one page: what the property is (sheet A), who owns it and in what shares (sheet B), and what encumbers it — mortgages, usufruct, easements, rights of residence, restrictions (sheet C). It is the first document to ask for because everything else depends on what it says.

It is issued by the Province's Land Register and Cadastre Division; many municipalities and district communities issue it to the owner free of charge. Getting it before marketing rather than after accepting an offer is the difference between solving a problem calmly and discovering it at the notary's.

The title deed

This explains how the property became yours: the purchase deed, a gift, or — where it came from an estate — the succession declaration together with the land registry decree that recorded the transfer. With inherited property it is common for the succession to have been declared to the tax authority but never completed in the land register: until it is, nothing can be sold.

Cadastre and floor plan: conformity

You need the cadastral record and the deposited floor plan. The plan has to match the property as it stands: a wall moved, a veranda enclosed, a bathroom made where the drawing shows a store cupboard — these are discrepancies a surveyor must correct before the deed.

This is not a formality: in the deed the seller declares that the cadastral data and the plan match the actual state of the property, and an untrue declaration can void the deed. It is also the check the buyer's bank almost always makes.

Planning compliance

You need the building permissions — licence or concession, building permit, any later notifications and regularisations — and the habitability certificate. They are held by the municipality's technical office, which keeps the building file. On historic buildings, common in this province, that file can be patchy: one more reason to start early.

Energy certificate, condominium, mortgage

In the province of Bolzano the energy certificate must be attached to the contract: without it the contract can be declared void and penalties apply. If the property is in a condominium you also need the regulations, the thousandths table and a statement from the administrator on charges paid and works approved.

If a mortgage is still running, it is registered on sheet C and has to be cancelled: repaying the loan does not cancel it by itself. Cancellation in the land register takes its own time and belongs in the completion timetable.

The people's documents

Identity document and tax code for every seller, and the marital property regime where they are married: under community of property the other spouse's consent is required, and that has to be known before signing a preliminary contract, not after. Where a company or a minor is selling, or a legal guardian is involved, authorisations are needed and the timetable stretches.