Hi. I am planning on buying a property in Italy. Can you explain the different between a legal advisor and a notario? How was the legal advisor able to negotiate the price for you with the vendor (seller) and the lowering of the agents fee? Isnt it the agent's job to negotiate with the price? Thanks.
I can only speak from personal experience, and can't guarantee the accuracy of what follows, but there are plenty of online guides to buying like this one:
Buying & Selling Property in Italy - Dr.Claudio Del Giudice.
Anyway, the basic difference is that the avvocato is working for you only. Ours spoke perfect English, negotiated the price with the vendor on our behalf through the agent (who is paid equally by vendor and purchaser), arranged for the survey, got things translated, recommended a notaio and even completed for us without us being present through power of attorney. Not cheap, but very useful. The notaio is independent and legally required in order to draft and witness the signing of the atto di vendita (deed of sale). The avvocato is not required, not sure whether locals bother much, you can do it yourself, but unless your Italian is pretty good and you are are there on the ground I'd heartily recommend you find one to steer you through the process. The survey is not required but again, we found it invaluable.
Hope this helps. Let me know how things work out.