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Luxury Restored Farm with 98 Hectares near Volterra

€3,500,000 $3,815,000
$
Location Volterra, Tuscany

Ref #: V5517M-X

ITALY, TUSCANY, PISA, VOLTERRA

Luxury Restored Farm with 98 Hectares near Volterra

DRONE:

Just 20 minutes from the beautiful Etruscan hilltop town of Volterra and 1 hour from the coast, this prestigious property is surrounded by unspoiled countryside, in a hillside position with a dominant view, in a place where time seems to have stopped.

The farm is accessed via a 5km unpaved road in perfect condition. The closest restaurant is 6km by car, in a little ancient hilltop village.

The current owner bought the property in 2013 when it was a ruin and has restored it to an extremely high standard, mixing the old style of the authentic farmhouse with modern interior design and technology.

The farm comprises 98 hectares of land, which is mostly arable land and pasture with 600 olive trees, some fruit trees and ponds for irrigation.

The house is in the middle of the land, in a dominant position and accessible via an automatic gate.

It is a 730 sqm building (net floor area) on two storeys, a real gem, and consists of:

An amazing central hallway, an impressive living room with wooden panelled walls, giving a charming and warm atmosphere to the room, like an old medieval castle, a huge open plan kitchen-dining-room and pantry, industrial design and a fully equipped kitchen and wood burning oven, laundry and boiler room.

On the other side of the hallway is a large sitting-area/cinema room, characterised by amazing cross-vaulted ceilings, (this room was originally the old stable of the property), a bathroom, elevator leading to the first floor, 2 enormous bedrooms with en-suite bathrooms,  and a large workshop/studio with bathroom.

All rooms have large French doors facing the garden around the villa, which provide lots of light to the rooms and feeling of continuity between the outdoor and indoor space.

The first floor is accessible via both an external and internal staircase, as well as with the lift for disabled people. The first floor has been partially renovated and it comprises 3 huge bedrooms with en-suite bathrooms, whilst 180 sqm have been left unfinished – 6 large rooms which can be renovated as additional bedrooms with en-suite bathrooms, or it would be even possible to create a second apartment.

The villa has been properly insulated, the outside walls are 1 metre thick and the heating system is underfloor with heat pumps, and is controlled by home automation technology.

The owners have installed a 19.5 kw photovoltaic system on the roof of the nearby storage building.

All windows are double glazed and with safety glass, the floors are in resin or with very large tiles and the vaulted ceilings boast amazing old terracotta tiles.

The lawn is perfectly irrigated and there are several well-tended fruit trees.

The house has private water springs and therefore is not connected to the water mains. It is self-efficient, sustainable.

The property is completed by a 270 sqm storage building for agricultural equipment, tractors and garden tools.

There is a beautiful infinity, salt and heated water swimming pool which allows swimming also during the winter. The sundeck is in travertine stone and the automatic cover allows the pool to be used all year round.

This is a real jewel, a fantastic place far from the noise and the chaotic life of the city, immersed in the gentle rolling hills of Tuscany, where every day you can admire different scenery and colours.

View all our properties on our website casatuscany.com

Address: Volterra, Tuscany

Location type: Rural

Condition: Restored

Bedrooms: 5

Bathrooms: 7

Property size: approx 1,000 sqm

Land size: 98 hectares

With a pool
Within 1 hour of an airport
Garage
Olives
Has annex/es
With 50 to 100 hectares of land
Has lift / elevator
Features
98 hectares
Character property
cinema room
Elevator
Garden
gated
infinity pool
irrigation
large annex
lift
Modern technology
Olives
original features
pannelling
Parking
photovoltaic power
restored
spring
swimming pool
vaults
Views
workshop/studio

Similar Properties

FAQs

What is a notary?

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.

What taxes are payable for a property purchase in Italy?

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.

If you buy directly an existing farm (ie a farming company with no other assets within the company), you just pay the fees for buying the shares in a company – ie an accountant, a notary and some small fixed taxes.
If you set up a farming company (the property must have all the requisites to be a farm) with a board of directors and an IAP (professional farmer) to buy the property and land you pay 1% on the sale price.
In both cases above, you are buying as a company so being a resident or non resident doesn’t come into it, you are not buying as a physical person.
So buying an existing farm, or setting one up, has tax advantages, compared to buying a property, especially as a non resident. However there are of course costs involved in running the company, so it’s best to seek the advice of an Italian accountant.

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.

What other purchase costs are there?

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.

What annual costs are there? How should I pay them?

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

Do I need an Italian bank account?

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.

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