Checking an apartment in the European Union before buying: which documents to request before the deposit
Checking an apartment in the European Union before buying: which documents to request before the deposit
An apartment in the European Union can be fully checked without leaving Ukraine. Everything that truly protects the buyer is in the documents, not in the walls.
A viewing answers the question "do I like this apartment?" — today a video viewing is enough for that. But the legal safety of a property is confirmed only by documents. Below we explain what exactly needs to be requested before paying the deposit, in what order the check is carried out and what to do if the money has already been handed to the seller.
Which documents are checked before buying an apartment abroad
Seven documents are checked before buying — and all seven must be examined before paying the deposit. The check runs in three directions at once: the property, the seller and the terms of the deal itself. An ordinary viewing of the apartment covers none of them.
The following are requested:
— an extract from the register: who the owner is and since what date;
— information on encumbrances: a mortgage, a pledge or a seizure;
— information on court disputes involving the seller, not only the property;
— the permit to put the building into service;
— the cadastral number and the official floor area of the apartment;
— certificates confirming there are no arrears on utility payments and owners' association fees;
— confirmation of the right to sell, taking into account the spouse, shares and possible heirs.
The documents are examined twice. The first time — at the stage of preparing the written opinion, when the property is only being considered. The second — immediately before signing the deal.
The register is constantly updated, so a new entry may appear in it between the first check and the signing.
What the seller should show before the deposit
Before the money is paid, the seller should usually show three main documents: an extract from the register, a document confirming ownership and the permit to put the building into service.
Providing these documents involves no cost or risk for the seller. A refusal to show them does not in itself prove there is a problem, but it means the buyer is paying money without understanding the legal condition of the property.
What matters is not only that the documents exist, but also who requested them and when. A scan sent by the seller reflects the situation as of the date it was obtained, while a current extract from the register shows the condition of the property as of today.
Between those dates, entries may appear in the register that will not be in the previously sent set. That is why documents sent by the seller are information for a preliminary conversation. Documents requested independently from an official source are a proper check.
How to check whether the building has been put into service
The fact that a building has been put into service is confirmed by a document, not by the fact that people already live in it.
The permit to put the building into service is a separate official document with a date and a number. Residents, electricity, water and a working elevator do not replace this document and do not prove that it exists.
A building officially accepted into service and a building actually occupied by residents are different legal situations. They affect the ability to register ownership differently.
For our properties the building has already been put into service, so we show the confirming document rather than naming an expected completion date. The difference between "the building is completed" and "the building will be completed" is the difference between registered ownership and a promise.
How to check the seller: the right to sell, shares, heirs
The seller must be checked separately from the apartment itself. A person may be listed as the owner but still not have the right to sell alone.
A court dispute arises against a person, and the consequences for the apartment may appear later. That is why information is searched for not only by the property's address but also by the seller's name.
The following are checked:
— the basis on which ownership arose: how and when the property passed to the seller;
— marital status and whether the spouse's consent is required;
— the existence of shares and other owners;
— inheritance grounds and possible claims by heirs;
— open court proceedings involving the seller.
Claims by an heir or a former spouse do not arise suddenly: the potential grounds for them can be seen in the documents in advance.
If a problem is discovered after ownership has been registered, the proceedings will take place with your participation and at your expense.
Do debts on an apartment pass to the new owner
Some of the debt may be tied not to a specific person but directly to the property. This mainly concerns utility payments and owners' association fees.
Such debts follow the apartment, and the new owner may discover them after the deal has been completed.
That is why the check must include requesting certificates on the status of payments: separately for utility payments and separately for the owners' association.
This is the most routine item of the check, so it is skipped more often than the others. Yet it is precisely this item that regularly becomes the most unpleasant discovery after the purchase.
A debt discovered before the deal is not necessarily a reason to give up the property. It is a ground to recalculate the price of the apartment or to require the seller to pay off the debt before signing.
A debt discovered after the deal becomes the new owner's expense.
What is written in a power of attorney for buying real estate abroad
A power of attorney is a document with clearly defined limits, and not permission to act "on behalf of the owner in everything".
It specifies the particular property, the maximum purchase price, the period of validity and the exact list of the representative's powers.
The representative cannot buy a different apartment, pay more than the set amount or continue to act after the power of attorney has expired.
The order here is the reverse of what buyers often do: the power of attorney is issued after the written opinion has been received, not before the check is carried out.
First you need to understand which property exactly is being bought and on what terms. Only after that are the necessary powers given to the representative.
The deal can be carried out in three ways, and we name them openly: in person, by power of attorney or through the management company. The chosen option is recorded in the written opinion before the deal.
What to do if the deposit has already been paid and there was no check
Even if the deposit has already been handed over, the situation can still be corrected. The check is carried out after the money has been paid, and it is its results that make it possible to determine whether there are grounds to demand a refund and which documents can be relied on in doing so.
The course of action:
The full set of the same seven documents on the property is requested.
Everything that has already been signed is checked, as well as the terms on which the money was handed over.
The circumstances discovered are compared with the agreed conditions for refunding the deposit.
After that, three options are usually possible:
— a refund of the money, if there is a documentary ground for it;
— a revision of the price, if the problem discovered reduces the value of the property;
— withdrawing from the deal and accepting the loss, if continuing the deal would cost more than stopping in time.
In all three cases you first need to obtain a document and only then discuss the situation with the seller. A conversation without supporting documents, as a rule, produces no result.
For the future, a simple rule applies: a clause on refunding the deposit if encumbrances are found must be included in the agreement before the money is transferred, not at the moment a dispute arises.
On this route, the correct order of actions matters more than speed. The written opinion must be received before the deposit is paid, the deposit is handed over before the main contract is concluded, and a repeat extract from the register is requested immediately before the signing.
A deal assembled in the wrong sequence has to be reassembled. And that is the most expensive rework of all those we encounter.
For a sense of the amounts: a comparable two-bedroom apartment in the European Union costs €200,000–300,000. Our property is about €100,000 with a down payment of 30%, that is, around €30,000.
The remaining amount is paid in installments over 36 months without interest, and ownership passes to the buyer immediately. It is exactly these €30,000 that the preliminary check of the documents protects.
After that the route continues in the usual order: a company, rent, fully legal income, an employment contract, a card — and after three years, given LAWFUL grounds, the owner obtains European Union citizenship.
Even before the first conversation, you can check three things:
— all matters in Romania are handled remotely by our management company;
— the work is carried out officially under a contract that sets out the timelines, the cost and the procedure for working together in advance;
— the company's licenses are publicly available on the website.
The final decision on a banking transaction is made by the bank. The company does not guarantee that the bank check will be passed and does not advise on matters relating to other jurisdictions.
The entry point to the route is a free compliance assessment with a written opinion. It is carried out without fail before the deposit is paid and requires no payment.
Following the assessment you receive:
— a recommended bank;
— a list of documents to confirm the source of funds;
— a preliminary assessment of the origin of the capital;
— the expected timelines and the structure of the purchase;
— a straight answer to the main question: whether this structure suits you.