Binding Purchase Offer vs. Preliminary Contract (Compromesso) in Italy: Protecting Your Deposit with Conditions Precedent and Notary Escrow (Law 124/2017)
A foreign buyer finds an attractive rustic villa in Tuscany or an apartment in Rome. The real estate agent hands over a pre-printed form titled Proposta Irrevocabile di Acquisto (Irrevocable Purchase Offer) and asks for a signature alongside a check for ten or twenty-five thousand euros. The buyer is assured that this is merely a…