Property Search and Pre-Purchase Surveys in Sicily
We help Italian and foreign buyers choose the right property to renovate in Sicily and check structure, systems and paperwork before they buy, then design and build the works.
About This Service
Terra Nostra Costruzioni helps Italian and international buyers find the right property to renovate in Sicily and check it thoroughly before they commit. Based in Palermo and working across the whole island, we assess the structure, damp, roof and systems, verify urban planning and cadastral conformity, and tell you plainly what the house can become and what the works involve. Once you own it, the same team designs and builds the renovation.
We are a construction company, not an estate agency, and we do not sell property. We work for you as the buyer, and we bring to your side what most buyers lack: a builder's eye on the house before the price is agreed. Agents show properties and the notaio checks title; neither is there to tell you whether a roof needs rebuilding, whether a veranda was ever authorised, or whether the layout you have in mind is allowed.
The service starts from a brief: the area, the type of house, what you want to do with it and the overall budget for purchase and works. We can review listings you have found, view properties with you or on your behalf and send video and notes, and narrow a long list down to the houses worth a proper technical survey. If you have already found the house, we start directly from the survey. For each serious candidate we carry out the pre-purchase survey and the planning checks, and estimate the works, so you can weigh the asking price against the real cost of the finished home.
Sicily rewards careful buyers. Stone houses, town houses in historic centres, farmhouses in the countryside and flats in old palazzi each come with their own risks, from rising damp and tired roofs to rooms added without permits. Finding these issues before the preliminary contract is far easier than discovering them after the deposit is paid. We work alongside your notaio, your lawyer and the agents involved, so each of them has the technical information they need. For a flat in a palazzo, we also read the recent condominium assembly minutes, because work on the façade, the roof or other common parts needs the assembly's approval.
With more than 200 projects completed, from apartments to villas and listed buildings, our feasibility advice comes from what we actually build. When you decide to buy, the survey becomes the starting point for design, permits and works, with nothing lost between one adviser and the next.
Finding the right house to renovate: brief, shortlist and viewings
A good purchase starts with a clear brief, so we begin by understanding what you are looking for and why. Is this a permanent home, a holiday house or a long-term project? Do you want a town house within walking distance of shops and cafés, a villa near the sea, or land and outbuildings in the countryside? We also ask how you plan to split the budget between purchase and works, because a cheap house that needs everything can end up costing more than a sound one bought at a higher price.
With the brief agreed, we look at the properties you have found and at what local agents have on the market. We view the most promising ones with you, or on your behalf if you are abroad, and send video, photos and a short written note on each: condition, orientation, access for building work, neighbours and anything that needs a closer look. This early filter saves wasted trips and lets you spend your time on the two or three houses that deserve a full technical survey.
Technical survey before purchase: structure, damp, roof and systems
Our pre-purchase survey looks at the house the way a builder will have to deal with it. We inspect load-bearing walls, floors, vaults and stairs for cracks, movement and past alterations, and check timber beams for rot and insect damage. On the roof we look at the covering, the structure underneath and the rainwater drainage, since water coming through a neglected roof is a frequent cause of decay in old Sicilian houses. Where something cannot be judged by eye, we say so clearly and recommend the right test before you sign anything.
Damp gets particular attention. Old stone houses often suffer from rising damp, while homes near the sea face humidity and salt air that attack plaster, metal and window frames. We also check the electrical, plumbing, drainage and heating systems, which in older properties often need replacing entirely, and whether the house relies on a water storage tank. The survey ends with a clear written report and an estimate of the works, so you know what the house will really cost before you agree a price.
Planning and cadastral checks: conformity, sanatoria risks and constraints
A house can be structurally sound and still be a poor purchase if its paperwork does not match reality. Through a formal access to records (accesso agli atti) at the Comune, we obtain the building titles and compare them with the cadastral plan held by the Agenzia delle Entrate and with the property as it stands today. In Sicily we often find balconies closed in as verandas, rooms added on roof terraces, internal walls moved without any filing and old farm buildings still recorded only in the land register.
Some of these differences can be regularised through a sanatoria, others cannot and must be removed, and condono applications made years ago may still be open. We explain which case applies and what it means for cost and for your plans, not least because the deed requires the cadastral plan to match the property. We also check heritage, landscape and coastal constraints: Sicilian law bars new building within 150 metres of the shoreline, and within the 300 metre coastal strip changes to the outside of a house normally need an autorizzazione paesaggistica. In listed buildings and historic centres, the Soprintendenza has a say in every decision.
What the house can become: feasibility, the notaio and the works
Before you buy, we show you what the property can realistically become. That means testing your ideas against the building and the rules: whether a wall can be opened, whether a roof terrace can take a kitchen, whether an extension or a pool is allowed, and which filing each change would need, from CILA and SCIA to Permesso di Costruire. Where an idea depends on structural work, it needs an engineer's design to the NTC 2018 rules, filed with the provincial Ufficio del Genio Civile, and we factor that in from the start.
Throughout the purchase we coordinate with the agents, your lawyer and the notaio, providing the technical information they need and making sure points such as conformity and the APE energy certificate, which the seller must provide, are settled before the deed. We recommend having the proposta d'acquisto and the compromesso read by your own lawyer, since from that point the deposit is usually at stake. Once the deed is signed, the same team takes the project into design, permits and construction, so the survey becomes the foundation of the works rather than a report left in a drawer.
What's Included
Why Choose Terra Nostra
Our Process
A clear, structured approach ensures your project runs smoothly from start to finish.
Brief
We agree the area, the type of property, your plans for the house and the budget for purchase and works.
Shortlist and viewings
We review listings and view properties with you or for you, sending video and notes.
Technical survey
Structure, damp, roof and systems are inspected on the houses that deserve it.
Planning checks
Building titles, cadastral records and constraints are compared with the house as it stands.
Feasibility and estimate
A written report sets out what the house can become, the permits it needs and the estimated works.
Purchase and works
We support you up to the deed, then design, permits and construction follow with the same team.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about our property search and pre-purchase surveys in sicily services
Are you an estate agency?
No. Terra Nostra Costruzioni is a construction company and does not sell property. We help buyers choose the right house, check it technically and legally before purchase, and then design and build the renovation.
What does a pre-purchase survey check?
We inspect the structure, roof, damp and the electrical, plumbing, drainage and heating systems, and compare the building titles and cadastral plan with the house as it stands. You receive a written report and an estimate of the works.
When should the survey be done?
Before any offer becomes binding, ideally before you sign the proposta d'acquisto or the compromesso. After that point, walking away normally means losing the deposit.
Can you view properties if I am not in Sicily?
Yes. We can view houses on your behalf and send video, photos and written notes, so you only travel to see the properties that are worth a serious look.
What happens if the house has unauthorised alterations?
Some differences can be regularised through a sanatoria, others must be removed. Before you buy, we tell you which case applies and what it means for cost and plans, because the deed requires the cadastral plan to match the property.
Do you work with the notaio and the estate agent?
Yes. We coordinate with the agents, your lawyer and the notaio and provide the technical information they need. The notaio checks title and registers the sale; our role covers the condition and conformity of the building.
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