How to buy an apartment – a step-by-step guide

Purchasing an apartment is an excellent financial investment, but also a very risky step for those who have not yet encountered real estate transactions. In order not to end up without an apartment and without money, we advise you to contact our real estate lawyers to conduct an assessment of risks and negative consequences, legal examination of documents, check the legality of documents for an apartment and the rights of a person to dispose of this property.

If you decide to act on your own - let's understand the procedure of buying an apartment, I have developed step-by-step instructions for buying an apartment.

Current articles:

— List of documents - preliminary sales contract apartments

— Voennyiy sbor – legal aspect – voprosy y otvetyi

Initially, when you found a buyer, you checked the condition of the apartment, communications, the presence of friendly neighbors, infrastructure, it is time to check the documents and the legality of the seller's property rights.

STEP 1. Check the owner(s) of the apartment

People who want to buy property from people who only are registered in a privatized apartment, but do not have property rights. The residence permit does not give the right to dispose of property: to sell, give, conclude a contract of exchange, lifetime content, etc. The owner (owners, if it is clear from the legal document that there are more than one) must be present in order to conclude the sales contract and its preliminary contract. If the owner cannot be personally present for any reason, then the contract is signed by his authorized representative, who has such powers. Whether or not a person has these powers can be seen from the text of the power of attorney, check the validity period of the power of attorney, check the revoked/amended power of attorney, check the validity of the form on which the document is written (has it not been stolen!).

So:

To verify the owner, we need: original passport, original identification code (or a copy), apartment documents, technical passport, power of attorney (if necessary).

Case from practice:

checking the legality of the owner, we encountered a situation when the representative acted on behalf of the owner by proxy. After numerous checks, the fact of the death of the owner was revealed. Accordingly, the act of power of attorney became invalid with the death of the owner. A person intending to sell property violated the law! Lawyers took appropriate measures - risks and negative consequences were eliminated. In the future, if this fact were omitted, such an agreement would be declared invalid in court.

STEP 2. Check the property

To check the property, you need to take a legal document and technical passport, check for spelling errors, check the owners' surnames, first names, patronymics in all documents, address, other data, whether the street was renamed, etc. Check the authenticity and legality of this document, it is necessary based on the legislation that was in effect at the time of its conclusion (check the form of the document, the need for notarization, the need for the consent of the second spouse when it is certified, whether the legal document has passed state registration, etc.). Get interested and look at the technical passport for the presence of redevelopments made by the owner, and not legalized in the proper way. Competent lawyers of our company will help you understand the legislative base and legal analysis of documents in more detail, check arrests, foreclosures, mortgages, pledges, the legality of the owner's property rights and the rights of third parties.

If you need the qualified help of a specialist, we recommend that you pay attention to our Proverke Juridicheskoy Chistoty Nedvizhimosti.

So:

As we can see, for the analysis of documents and the ownership of an apartment, you cannot do without lawyers. They know and monitor changes in legislation, can point out essential nuances. In order not to face government institutions, courts, etc. in the future, it is better to get an oral or written opinion of experts in this field, to be one hundred percent sure that there are no lawsuits, arrests, third parties on the property.

Case from practice:

In the seller's documents (legal document for the apartment and passport) there were inconsistencies in the last name and first name. Loseva (through "E")-Loseva (through "E"), Anna - Anna. The specialists of our company provided the examination of this document in two copies: one for the notary, and the second for the client, for the use of such a conclusion in the future, thereby saving time, money, legal proceedings, and the search for witnesses.

STEP 3. Negotiations

Before the transaction, the seller, buyer, representative of the real estate agency, lawyers (if available) gather to settle the cost of the apartment, who pays for what payments, set the date and time of the transaction, and negotiate the main nuances of the contract.

If there is a need to transfer an obligation payment (previously the word "deposit" was used), then in such cases a preliminary agreement is concluded in that the form in which the main contract will be concluded (for the purchase of an apartment - a notarial form). The parties choose the type of contract themselves: bilateral (seller - buyer) or tripartite (seller - real estate agency - buyer).

We advise you to use our service Support of Signatures of Real Estate Transactions.

Important! If there is no document confirming the transfer of money (contract, receipt, etc.), it is impossible to return such funds.

So:

When attending negotiations, you need to know your rights and obligations, know what payments and what package of documents and what payments the seller must pay, and what the buyer must pay by law, so as not to be deceived by the other party.

Current articles:

— List of documents - contract of purchase and sale of an apartment

— Price (cost) of concluding a notarized contract of purchase and sale of an apartment

STEP 4. Conclusion of the apartment purchase and sale agreement. Registration of the apartment for the new owner in the Ukrgosreestr

When concluding a contract of sale, the notary must sign the main contract, statements, and the spouse's consent to the sale or purchase. It is necessary to analyze these documents carefully, not to miss anything. If there are any inaccuracies, nuances, you can find out all the information from the notary or from the lawyer who accompanies your transaction. After you have put your signatures on the contract, it is considered that you are familiar with the text of the contract, its content is clear to you, and you agree and confirm the fact of the sale of the apartment (the seller received the money, the buyer received the keys and documentation).

Since January 2013, the State Register of Property Rights (formerly the BTI database) has been in effect. Registrars of the registration service, state and private notaries have access to this database. Now, upon conclusion of the purchase and sale agreement, the buyer is left with the purchase agreement, the technical passport, the extract from the register of property rights on the buyer's registration in the electronic database as the new owner of the apartment.

So:

Now, after concluding the contract with the notary, the buyer does not need to go anywhere else (except to celebrate the successful purchase of his apartment with a bottle of champagne).

You are buying an apartment and thinking about the need for legal