Notary fees. Why a notary contract for real estate?

The notary when buying a house, apartment, or property

Notarized purchase agreement for real estate

In Germany, real estate purchases must always be notarized. This is a requirement of the German Civil Code (BGB). A purchase by handshake or with a separate contract is therefore not legally valid and void from the outset. The reason for this is to protect the parties involved in such a large sum of money and such a complex matter by involving a neutral party. The notary is responsible for notarizing a neutral contract and providing impartial advice to the parties.

Obtain written permission from the seller beforehand to inspect the land register for the property being purchased (the land registry office is located at the local court). Pay attention to entries in Section 2 of the land register and clarify their significance for you as the new owner. The notary can provide you with this information. You may be able to assume the mortgages registered in Section 3 (this does not constitute an assumption of the loans). This saves you the costs of registering your mortgages, which are required by the financing bank. The seller also saves the costs of deleting these entries.

Reviewing the Purchase Agreement Before Signing

Before you sign the purchase agreement at the notary's office, you should have received a draft. Review it carefully and mark any passages you do not understand. Clarify these unclear points with the notary. Ask them to explain them and their legal implications for you. The notary acts as a neutral party in this contract and will explain the respective consequences of the agreement. There should be no additional costs for this. Minor questions can also be discussed during the notarization.

For condominiums, the consent of the property manager is often required in the land register. However, this can only be refused for a compelling reason, such as if the seller has a criminal record and this would cause harm to the owners' association.

The Notarized Purchase Agreement

The purchase agreement first establishes a preliminary registration of transfer of ownership in favor of the buyer. This blocks the seller's entry in the land register and protects the buyer from further encumbrances or changes. This prevents the seller from registering any further charges or changes in the land register.

Under no circumstances should you pay the purchase price, or any part thereof, before the preliminary registration of transfer of ownership.

Following the preliminary registration of transfer of ownership, the actual transfer of ownership takes place. This is the agreement that ownership is transferred from the seller to the buyer and is generally contingent upon payment of the purchase price.

The notary then submits the necessary applications to the land registry office. You will typically authorize the notary in the purchase agreement. Please note that the purchase agreement is only legally binding between you and the seller; you will only become the legal owner upon registration in the land register.

You should definitely have a binding financing commitment from a bank before the notary appointment. Only sign the contract after the notary appointment, as you don't know if the seller might back out. Please bear in mind that reversing the purchase agreement is very expensive. Terminating the loan agreement can also incur significant costs!

Notary fees for real estate purchases

Notary fees for buying a house or apartment amount to approximately 2% of the purchase price.

Tip:

An escrow account is no longer necessary; the step-by-step contract processing is just as secure, and the costs are lower for the buyer.