Notary –
Real estate law

For most people involved, buying or selling a property dwarfs all other transactions in terms of financial significance alone. Significant amounts of saved assets must be invested and additional loans taken out. For the seller, too, real estate is often the most significant item in their own assets.

To ensure that buyers and sellers receive appropriate advice during such an important process and to avoid risks, the involvement of a notary is required. The notary ensures a legally balanced arrangement and helps to avoid risks, obtains the documents necessary for execution, and supervises the transfer of ownership to the buyer in the land register.

For example, it must be prevented that the buyer pays the purchase price without receiving the property. On the other hand, the seller must not lose their property without receiving the purchase price. The notary discusses the objectives of the parties to the contract with them, informs them about the possible arrangements, and, based on this, draws up an appropriate and balanced draft purchase contract.

Real estate purchase agreements can relate to the acquisition of a building plot, a single-family or multi-family house, a condominium, or even a heritable building right. The specific characteristics of a property have an impact on the drafting of a contract. This applies in particular to a so-called property development contract, whereby the buyer acquires a plot of land or a share of land in connection with a building – house or apartment – that is yet to be built. The seller is the builder of this property.

Your notary will regulate the following aspects in every real estate purchase agreement:

• Protection of buyer and seller

• Deletion or continuation of encumbrances

• Warranty for defects

• Transfer of ownership

• Uses and encumbrances

• Allocation of development costs and the

• requirement for a survey (purchase of partial areas).

Financing should be finalized before notarization. If a bank loan is taken out, the buyer should discuss with their bank when the loan can be paid out. The notary will then coordinate the due date of the purchase price with the disbursement date. If the financing of the purchase price has already been clarified in detail at the time of conclusion of the purchase agreement, the real estate lien (land charge or mortgage) serving as security for the loan can be notarized immediately after the purchase agreement.