Good question Adriatica!
There are a number of different aspects to an estate agent's work; marketing, accompanying people on visits, the para-legal work (preparing contracts, checking Land Registry data) and negotiation beyween vendor and buyer.
Bearing in mind the high estate agency fees demanded of buyers in Italy, they are entitled to insist that the qualified agent is personally involved in every step and doesn't delegate tasks to unqualified members of their staff. Of course, some things, such as accompanying customers on viewings, may be safely handled by staff. The problems arise, as we've seen in the current hot topic elsewhere in the Forum, when unqualified staff associated with an agency start to make false or uninformed representations about properties, in the absence of the qualified member. As I see it, it's a bit like having your teeth cleaned by a dental nurse; its fine if its done with the dentist close at hand to supervise, but were a dentist to set up a network of outposts staffed by unsupervised dental nurses, the whole situation would change drastically.
One of the problems with the structure of the estate agency business in Italy is that the moment a client views a house with an agent, they are effectively engaging that agent as their legal advisor. My advice would be for buyers to interview the agency about their business structure, experience and fees before they agree to visit any houses. There's no point in finding the perfect house, if the agent doesn't have the wherewithal to help you buy it securely, unless the price is so good that you can afford to pay the agent and get independent legal and technical advice too.
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