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5 Bedroom Property with Pool and Sea View
€700,000
$763,000
€
$
Castellina Marittima, Tuscany
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2
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Ref #: V5236TS-X
Niccone Valley, UmbriaRef #: V5236TS-X
This stone house in the Niccone Valley in Umbria, very close to the Tuscan border was built in 1869 and was originally home to farmers. Animals were kept in the basement and family life was focussed around the grand fireplace. It later became the schoolhouse for the hamlet – indeed, one of the neighbours studied there. When agriculture was more labour intensive, a shop in the basement sold locally-produced tobacco and other everyday essentials to residents. Nails upon which hams were hung can still be seen in the rafters.
It is owned by an English family who bought the property in 2014, and who since buying it have restored it completely to a high standard, maintaining many great original and traditional features.
The house lies in a small village nestling in birch forests at 400m above sea level, with sweeping views of the valley, a tributary of the Tiber. The stream forms the border between Umbria and Tuscany’s Perugia and Arezzo provinces, respectively. The peaks of Monte Ginezzo and Monte Castiglione separate the valley from the Val di Chiana and Lake Trasimeno at its western end. To the east stand Monte Acuto, with its 360 degree summit panorama above the town of Umbertide, and the mountains of the Le Marche Apennines. A little further down the Tiber Valley, on its slow, sinuous journey to Rome and the Tyrrenian Sea, lays Perugia, an Estruscan fortress city served by direct flights to London, Brussels, Catania, Malta and Tirana. The airport lies in the valley bottom, mid-way between Perugia and Assisi, and is a 45-minute drive from the house. The villages of Lisciano Niccone (Umbria) and Mercatale (Tuscany) are just a few kilometres away, offering a choice of eateries, coffee hang-outs, gelato stops, take-away pizza and shops that cater for most household needs.
A large garden slopes gently downward toward the Niccone Valley and has mature fruit and olive trees. A terrace runs along the front of the house, with breathtaking elevated valley, mountain, castle and forest views – a favourite spot for morning coffee and sundowners.
Kitchen and dining room
Still the focal point of the house, the kitchen and dining area was custom-built by local craftsmen. The shelving unit and storage areas were constructed with timber reclaimed from restoration projects in other old houses in Umbria and Tuscany. The stone worktop and sink were sourced from masons in the medieval walled town of Città di Castello in the Upper Tiber Valley. Iron pot and curtain rails were also hand-made to order.
The Smeg gas range cooker helps foodies to do justice to the fantastic local ingredients, with ample storage in the full-sized A++-rated fridge-freezer.
Living room
The living room is linked to the kitchen and dining area to form a large, open plan area. Hand-made ironwork can hold a dividing curtain for greater flexibility. French doors open onto the terrace, overlooking the garden and Tuscan hills beyond. There is a woodburner.
Basement apartment
Like the upstairs kitchen, the apartment’s cooking area was custom-made to reflect local traditions, incorporating ancient reclaimed timber, hand-made ironwork and a beautiful original built-in cupboard that was relocated during the restructuring process. Set into the hand-made wooden worktop is an induction hob, with Smeg refrigerator below.
The modern bathroom is finished in custom-made reclaimed stonework and exquisite Apennine stone tiling from quarries around Assisi. Two sets of French doors provide views of the garden. The large bedroom area was remodelled from the old animal stalls and still features the original 19th century date inscription.
Upstairs bedrooms
2 double bedrooms with shared high-specification Juliet bathroom. Reinforced floors are finished with antique cotto tiles. The wooden furniture echoes treated original roof beams. A large main bedroom enjoys stunning views across the valley, with plumbing in place for a luxury bathtub — what a way to enjoy the panorama across forests and mountains to Pierle castle!
The second bedroom has beautiful partially-exposed stonework and a walk-in shelved cupboard, with an elegant sliding door to the bathroom.
Bathroom
The bathroom is finished to the highest specification with Italian artisan sanitaryware, rain shower head and Assisi stone tiling. A beautiful sink sits atop a wine barrel that was handed down with the house and is part of its history, now modified with capacious internal storage.
Garden and utility room
The lean-to annex housing the utility area has been completely rebuilt. It houses a laundry room style sink unit, A+++-rated 8kg capacity washing machine, modern gas boiler and the pressurised hot and cold water system.
Distances:
Lisciano Niccone: 4.5km
Mercatale: 4.5km
Cortona: 20km
Lake Trasimeno: 20km
View all our properties on our website casatuscany.com
Address: Niccone Valley, Umbria
Location type: Rural
Condition: Restored
Bedrooms: 3
Bathrooms: 2
Property size: 150 sqm
Land size: 1000 sqm
A notary is a qualified lawyer who is employed by the Italian government. When you are buying Italian property, it is a notary who conducts the legal transfer of a property from vendor to buyer, and prepares the deed of sale, checks there are no charges on the property, title issues and with the assistance of a technician such as a geometra or architect, checks the property conforms to all planning issues.
It is always the buyer and not the vendor who pays the purchase taxes due and who pays the notary fees also. This means that it is up to the buyer which notary is used. In practice it is usually one of the local notaries and we can recommend which one to use and which one is cheapest, as notary prices do vary.
We provide a detailed list of all fees and taxes (including the notary’s quote) before you sign any contracts.
Translator – if you do not speak fluent, enough to understand detailed legal contracts, you will need to have a translator at the notary deed. Your agent or the notary will usually arrange this so you don’t need to worry about it. The cost varies but is often 200-300 euros. This can sometimes be shared with the vendor if they are also non fluent in Italian.
This depends firstly on two things.
A. Are you buying as a resident or a non resident?
B. Are you buying from private individuals or from a company?
If you are buying from private individuals, then the taxes you pay are based on the cadastral value – a nominal value which each property has and which depends on its size, location, standard etc – nothing to do with the market value.
Example 1:
House price agreed €100,000.
Property belongs to private sellers.
Cadastral value of the property €32,000.
Let’s say you intend buying the house as a non resident (.ie. you do not intend moving to Italy permanently and applying for residency).
Taxes payable are 9% on cadastral value €32,000 so €2,880 plus a few smaller fixed taxes.
Or, if you intend moving to live in the house permanently, applying for Italian residency, then as long as you don’t already own another property in Italy;
Taxes payable are 2% on cadastral value €32,000 so €640 plus a few smaller fixed taxes. A minimum figure may be payable.
Please note, you could buy the house as a resident and pay the lower rate of tax if you intend moving there and obtaining residency within the next 18 months. Don’t be tempted to do this unless you are definitely sure you will become a resident. If you then do not, you need to pay the difference in taxes plus a penalty of around 30%.
If there is substantial land (not just a garden) with the property, then 15% is payable on the value attributed to the land, which can be quite low, eg a value of €15,000 could be attributed to the land so 15% of 15,000 = €2,250 would be the tax on the land.
Example 2:
House price €100,000
Property is being sold by a company
Cadastral value of the property is €32,000
Let’s say you intend buying the house as a non resident (i.e. you do not intend moving to Italy permanently and applying for residency).
Taxes payable are 10% VAT on full market price €100,000 so €10,000 plus a few smaller fixed taxes.
Or, if you intend moving to live in the house permanently, applying for Italian residency, then as long as you don’t already own another property in Italy,
Taxes payable are 4% VAT on €100,000 so €4,000 plus a few smaller fixed taxes.
Once we know
– which house you want to buy, its cadastral value and who owns it (company/individual)
– whether you intend to buy as a resident/non resident and if it’s your first property in Italy
only then can we ask the notary to provide a quote for the precise taxes payable.
Other circumstances
Then of course there are other scenarios.
If the value of the property you want to buy is very low (eg €50,000) then purchase costs are likely to be a higher percentage as there are set minimums to pay for all fees and taxes. So on a €50,000 house, you are likely to pay 12-15% instead of 10% (non resident).
You might want to buy a property (being sold by private individuals) with your company. Taxes are considerably higher in this case, as they would be 9% on the sale price (not on the cadastral value). So it’s cheaper to buy a privately owned property as a private individual, not as a company.
But, in the case of a country property which is a farm/winery/agriturismo, these are often owned by a farming company (azienda agricola) , which has considerable tax advantages as you can buy the farm and pay just 0-1% (depending on the circumstances) on the purchase price in tax.
Taxes would be different for a commercial purchase, eg if your company is buying an Italian company (ie a farm or other company). Buying the shares of a company usually meets zero taxes, just a few fixed fees, and notary and accountancy fees.
The above is a guide, and once you have found a property you are interested in buying, we can obtain a notary quote for you, with a full breakdown of the taxes and fees due.
Notary fees – approx 1-2%, more for a lower priced property due to some fixed taxes.
Agency fees – in Italy both buyer and seller pay the agent. These are payable to the Italian agent (one of our partners) you view the house with at compromesso (preliminary contract) stage and for each party are usually 3% plus VAT. VAT is 22% in Italy. Minimums apply. Nothing is payable to Casa Tuscany so you will not pay double the fees, you will just have double the assistance!
Compromesso registration fees – approx €380 plus a part payment of taxes which is deducted from the total taxes due at completion.
Translator for the deed signing at the notary’s office. Required if you do not speak Italian well enough to understand legal deeds. Approx cost €250 – €350 depending on the notary.
Technical report for the notary. Checks all the planning issues of the property, making sure it matches the official plans, no works have been carried out without permission, gathers all previous permits, checks the house is sellable and not illegal in any way. Carried out by a geometra, architect or engineer and costs vary considerably, a minimum of €761 including VAT/ Please note this report is NOT a structural survey, that is an optional additional report you may wish to instruct.
Local council tax – IMU (formerly ICI) – payable only by non residents. This needs to be paid twice a year at the post office – no bill is sent. Most people use a local accountant or property manager to calculate it.
Refuse tax (TARI)
In some areas, mountain community tax.
If you buy a property which is part of a condominium, e.g. with shared pool and grounds, lighting etc, then there will be annual condominium fees to pay which usually range from about €200 to €1000/year unless it is a particularly luxurious property with many amenities in which case costs could be higher.
Utilities
You don’t really need an Italian bank account for buying a property in Italy any more as money is usually sent by bank transfer, although some notaries insist the funds are sent from an Italian account set up by you.
You could of course open an account to handle bills but bear in mind that some utilities companies refuse to arrange direct debits for non resident accounts, and some bills cannot be paid by direct debit.
You could always pay your bills online or if you have a property manager then send them the funds for settling all the bills.
If you do intend opening an Italian bank account, bear in mind that Italian bank charges are high . Usually there is a monthly fee to pay, plus charges for receiving money, paying bills, sending statements, etc etc.
