First thing you need to know is that most apartments in Italy are rented by rental agencies.
Just talking directly to a home owner is not a common thing.
You can find apartments on websites such as casa.it, subito.it, affitto.it and dozens more.
Rental agencies charge a hefty commission around 1.5 or 2 months of rent.
In addition to that, most home owners require a deposit of 3-4 month of rent in case of damages. This is something they expect to get in cash / bank transfer before signing the rental contract.
And some of the rental agencies will ask you to pay 1 month’s of rent in advance before signing a contract to show ‘seriousness’.
So basically to get into an apartment you need to have an amount of around 6-7 months of rent just to set foot in an apartment.
Rental agencies will also ask you to prove how you intend to pay your rent.
You will need to show either a bank account statement with a lot of money, or a work contract, or if you’re self-employed, your tax form from last year or at least a permanent contract with a client with the hourly amount and total hours per month.
If you can’t provide one of these, your chances of getting an apartment are not good. Especially in the major cities.
If you are a non-EU citizen, you will also need to show your permesso di soggiorno, or at least the receipt from the post office with the appointment. Without it they will not rent you an apartment (I believe it’s a law).
Most rental agencies work until noon. Once you’ve found online an apartment that you are interested in, you need to contact the agency. They rarely answer in mail, at least not within 24 hours. And by that time, the apartment will most likely be gone if it’s any good. So you need to call them on the phone or go there. And no, they will probably not speak any English.
Once you’ve contacted the rental agency, if the ad is still relevant, they will schedule an appointment for you. They may be a queue, and if someone that has an appointment before you says he wants it, they will cancel yours. even an hour before your appointment time. So be ready for that. It’s basically a race. Especially in big cities.
Once you’ve seen the apartment, if you’re interested, tell the agency immediately that you’re interested. Otherwise it may be gone once the person after you comes to see it.
In the end, you and the home owner will probably have a meeting at the rental agency to sign the contract. A contract is important since the home owner / agency will register it at the tax agency. And they you can use that contract to get your residency (residenza) at the comune.
Most contracts are 4+4, meaning 4 years with a possible extension for another 4 years. There should be a clause allowing you to leave with a few months notice though.
Once you get the keys to the apartment, take pictures of everything. the floor, the walls, check the appliances. So when you leave, if the home owner says you damaged something and it was already like that, you’ll have a way to prove it. Even make a video that the home owner is also on it when he comes with you for the first time. He might ask you to sign a document stating that everything is in good condition.
Rent is payed monthly by a bank transfer. With most banks, you can automate a bank transfer using their website or app.
I wouldn’t pay anything in cash, not even the deposit in order to make sure there is a digital money trail in case of problems.
The rental agency / home owner will also need to transfer all the bills to your name.
You pay your electricity bill or gas bill usually online on the service provider’s website once you get the envelope in the mail or you can see the invoices directly online. You will need an Italian credit card to do that.
Other wise you can also use an option called CBILL provided by Italian banks website’s.
You can also pay those bills in a tabaccheria with an international credit card.
If you fail to pay your electric company for more than a few months, they will limit the amount of kw/h you can use. So lights and computer will still work, but boiler, washing machine, blow drier etc will cause the electricity to shut down in the house and you’ll need to turn it on manually at the main circuit breaker.
You will also need to pay ‘Garbage tax’ (called Tari).
You usually pay it in 2 payments each year. You should get an envelope from your comune for that. If your comune has a website such as in Milan you can pay it online there.
Up to now, I have never received a water bill, and I don’t want to ask unnecessary questions…
There are some Facebook groups for each city with underground ads directly from home owners but they are few, and you need to make sure you will still get a contract and that there is no catch and you’re not getting scammed.