Selling a home in Milan

The documents, one by one

Buyers ask for the papers before they make an offer, and a deed of sale stops when a document is missing or does not match the flat. Gather them before you publish the listing.

• Deed of provenance. The deed by which you acquired the flat, or the inheritance or gift that transferred it to you. It says who you had it from and on what terms, and it lets the notary check that no mortgages or open burdens remain.
• Cadastral search and cadastral floor plan. The search says in whose name the property is registered. The floor plan must match the real state of the flat: if you have moved a partition wall or closed a balcony, the plan must be updated before the sale, because the difference often emerges at the deed itself.
• EPC, energy performance certificate. It gives the energy class of the property. It must be handed to the buyer, and the class must be stated in the listing.
• Compliance of the systems. The declarations of conformity for the electrical, water, gas and heating systems, with the project if the system was redone. If they are missing, the buyer asks for them to be obtained before the deed, or for their cost to be deducted from the price.
• Condominium rules and charges. The rules say what you may do in the flat and in the common parts. From the administrator you need the certificate of unpaid condominium charges, the accounts for the last year and the works approved but still to be paid. These are the papers requested at the last minute, and the ones most likely to stop the deed.
• Habitability certificate. The document that declares the property fit to be lived in. If it is missing, check whether it can be obtained and at what cost before you put the home on the market.
• Building permits. Permits to build, SCIA and CILA notices, and the permits for work carried out in the home. Work done without a permit, or with a permit that does not match the state of the property, must be regularised first: the notary checks it, and the buyer insists on it.

The notary checks cadastral and planning compliance before signing. Even with the papers in order, it is worth having the seller read them first: an anomaly found before the deed can be fixed, while one found on the day itself can move the date.

What determines the price in Milan

The first factor is the zone. The Revenue Agency divides Milan into OMI zones and publishes for each one a range of values per square metre, by type and by condition. Within the same zone the range is wide; between different zones it changes a great deal.

The second is the condition. In the first half of 2026, in the 40 zones that have both figures (out of 42 Milan zones with ordinary homes), a home in excellent condition has a higher minimum than one in normal condition: in all 40. The inspection then looks at what the range does not show:

• the floor and whether there is a lift;
• the outlook: street, courtyard, greenery, light;
• the actual floor area and layout of the rooms, not the declared one;
• the energy class on the EPC;
• the condition of the building, of the common parts and of the heating system.

The starting price begins from the zone value and is corrected by what is seen in the flat, not the other way round.

How much it varies between neighbourhoods

Milan has 81 neighbourhoods (NIL) with published price quotes. In the first half of 2026 the two ends of our weighted average, for homes in normal condition, with the OMI range of each, are these:

Roserio and Stephenson have the same range and the same value as Quarto Oggiaro, because they fall in the same OMI zone (E8). Brera is covered by three OMI zones (B12, B15 and B18): its range runs from the lowest minimum to the highest maximum of the three.

The weighted average is our own calculation: the midpoint of each zone's range, weighted by the share of the neighbourhood that the zone covers. It is not an OMI price quote and it is not the price of a home: for a specific home you need a valuation. Among the 81 neighbourhoods the median weighted average is 3,644 € per m², and Brera is worth almost four times Quarto Oggiaro.

From valuation to deed of sale: who does what

1. Valuation. The estate agency visits the home and compares it with the OMI zone and with the listings in the area. The result is a range with its reasons, not a single number. The agency explains the method; the owner decides the price.
2. Sales mandate. The mandate with the agency is signed in writing: what the agency does, with what starting price, and for what period.
3. Documents. The owner gathers the papers in the list above. The agency checks that they are complete and asks the administrator for the condominium figures.
4. Listing and viewings. The agency prepares photos, the description sheet and the EPC, publishes the listing and arranges the viewings, with the owner present when the owner chooses.
5. Offer. The buyer presents the offer with price and conditions. The owner accepts it, makes a counter-offer or rejects it.
6. Preliminary contract. The preliminary contract is drawn up, with price, deed date and deposit if one is agreed. This is when everything is fixed, and it is worth reading it with the notary before signing.
7. Mortgage, if the buyer asks for one. The bank carries out its own appraisal of the home. The value it recognises may differ from the agreed one, and that has to be allowed for from the preliminary contract.
8. Deed of sale. The notary checks the documents, the mortgages and the cadastral and planning compliance, receives the payment, cancels the seller's mortgages and signs the deed. The keys usually pass with the deed.

Why the wrong starting price costs time

Buyers looking for a home in Milan filter by price bracket. A price above the zone value takes the listing out of the filters of those searching that bracket: the home is seen less, and when the price is lowered, the interested buyers have already seen other homes and formed a different idea. A price below the zone value sells quickly, but hands part of the value of the home to the buyer. Either way, time or money is lost before you even speak to the notary. The valuation is there to find the price that holds up at the first viewing.

The next step

To find out what your home is worth, start with a valuation: we need the address, the floor area, the floor and the condition. We reply with the zone, the OMI range and the method we used.

Ask for a valuation

For a question before you decide, write to us using the form on the home page. Our office is at Corso Buenos Aires 92, 20124 Milano; the people who sign the valuations are on the team page.

Sources

• OMI price quotes by zone, residential homes in normal and excellent condition, first half of 2026: Italian Revenue Agency – OMI, CC BY 4.0, agenziaentrate.gov.it.
• Neighbourhood boundaries (NIL): Comune di Milano – Unità SIT e Sviluppo del Gemello Digitale Urbano, CC BY 4.0, comune.milano.it.
• Weighted average, range by neighbourhood, median and comparison between excellent and normal condition: KW Properties' own calculation on the OMI price quotes above, with the midpoint of each zone weighted by its share of the neighbourhood.

The Agency warns that its price quotes cannot replace a precise appraisal, because they give indications of value in broad terms (agenziaentrate.gov.it, read on 26 October 2026).