| Useful informationfor Sellers / Seller’s guide
1. Research of the market conditions
If you have decided to sell your real estate, you should first make up your mind whether you would like to do this on your own or refer to a qualified company specialized in this field. In both cases, it would be advisable to make a detailed study of the market of real estates similar to yours and not only.
Study the price levels of similar real estates in the district and respectively – the period of time that they have already been offered on the market. Usually the announced prices are just offers and they are further negotiated upon. An experienced consultant could help you save time and efforts here, as well as give you the clearest idea about the realistic price you would be able to get for your real estate.
If you decide that it would be better for you to sell your real estate without resorting to the assistance of a consulting company, you would most probably save the money for the commission that you would otherwise have to pay. It is worth mentoning, however, that the preparation of the real estate in view of making it more competitive, its overall markting, the drafting of the advertisements and their publications would be of much better quality if you refer to professionals in this field for some help.
In case you decide to entrust this task to a consulting company, it is recommendable that you first check in Internet or in a local newspaper and that you look for some information which are the biggest and the leading companies in your district. When you select one, find out how experienced it is in this field and to what an extent it might turn out to be helpful to you. In order to establish clear relations between you and the company that will represent you it would be best to settle all issues in writing in the form of intermediation agreement. This document stipulates the agreements reached between the two parties, including the term for which the company will represent your property and the compensation it would receive for that.
2. Necessary documents
It is important that you provide all necessary documents proving the title on the real estate in advance because otherwise you run the risk of not being prepared when a willing buyer appears on the scene. You should follow up on the validity of the documents because some of them have different expiry dates and it is advisable that they are renewed on a regular basis. Usually the necessary documents are as follows:
- Documents certifying ownership rights – this is usually a notary deed, but might also be: title deed or record; Purchase and Sale agreements signed in accordance with the State-Owned Real Estates Ordinance, the Municipal Property Act and the Act on the State Ownership of state-owned or municipal real estates, if signed after 01.06.1996; court decision under Art.19 of the Obligations and Contracts Act, which has entered into legal force /for the declaration of the preliminary agreement as final/ and an Ordinance of an executor for assigning the public sale of a real estate; Certificate for the heirs of the persons who own the real estate in accordance with the title document; Will cerified by a notary, handwritten will, registered in the Registration agency if announced after 01.01.2001.
- Other documents:
- Declaration of consent for sale in compliance with Art.33 of the Act on Property in case of refusal of the owner to buy the share of the real estate proposed to him.
- Power of attorney certified by a notary – if the deal needs to be closed through an athorised person. The documents that need to be attached to it are the following declarations, which should be dully filled in and certified by a notary: citizenship declaration and declaration for civil status, as well as declaration for the absence of tax payables within the meaning of Art.226, para.1 of the Tax Proceedings Code.
- Declaration for waiver of right for usage if the primary notary deed stipulates a preserved or established right for usage of the real estate. The declaration should be certified by a notary and registered in the Registration Agency.
- Certificate for marriage, Court decision for divorce /and completed legal proceedings/ in the case of sale of a real estate, acquired in marriage.
Obligatory documents certifying the current status of the real estate:
- Current layout of the real estate, issued by the municipal technical service of the district where the real estate is located if the right transferred is possession of land;
- Current tax valuation in compliance with Art.226, Para.1 of the Tax Proceedings Code, issued upon request of the owners by the tax administration of the district where the real estate is located;
- Declaration of citizenship and civil status – needs to be filled in by all buyers and sellers of the real estate.
- Identity documents of the parties to the deal
- Receipts for paid state fees due by the parties to the deal (in particular cases).
If a legal entity is party to the deal, the following are required:
- Certificate for the current legal status of the company, issued by the District court of the legal seat and head office of the company /should not be older than 6 months/
- Decision of the competent body, which according to the document of incorporation of the company /Statute, Company agreement/ is authorized to take decisions in respect of deals with the company property.
- Explicit powers of attorney, certified by a notary, with detailed description of the real estate as welll as of the actions that the person is authorized to perform.
3. Closing the deal
The purchase of a real estate may be carried out either in a few stages or directly after all the necessary checks are completed through signing the final Purchase and Sale Agreement /notary deed/.
The stages of closing the deal may be as follows:
Deposit
There are certain cases when both parties need some time to provide all the necessary documents and make all the required checks on the real estate before the signing the preliminary or the final agreement. Usually these procedures do not take longer than one month to complete. In order to guarantee his intentions of buying the real estate the purchaser gives a deposit, which most often amounts to 1-2% of the agreed price. The safest approach in such a case is that the money is left to be safeguarded in the consulting company. The contractual relations are settled through a deposit receipt, drafted by a legal consultant, which fixes the agreed price of the real estate, the deadline for signing the preliminary or final agreement, some other specific conditions and respectively – due default penalties.
Checks
Before signing a preliminary or final Purchase and Sale Agreement the buyer and his counsultant check the title on the property (whether the seller/s are the actual owners) and whether there are any encumbrances (mortgages, attachments, registered statements of cliam, constituted limitations of property rights, whether possession has not been transferred to third parties, whether there are any registered rental contracts, whether there are executive case files instituted against the owner, whether there are administrative case files, which pose an obstacle to the usage of the real estate, etc). These checks are made in the registration institutions, as well as in other municipal and state authorities.In order to perform these checks the buyer needs a copy of the documents of ownership of your real estate.
The original ownership documents should be provided in the notary’s office upon the closing of the deal.
Signing a preliminary Purchase and Sale agreement
It is very important for you to know that to a very big extent all the issues that you agree upon in respect of payment approach, taking possession, covering the expenses for transfer of ownership rights, etc. is stipulated in the preliminary agreement. Everything should be clearly and explicitly stated at the moment of its signing in view of avoiding future misunderstandings. It goes without saying, however, that all the issues that come up afretwards may be agreed upon in an additional annex, signed by the buyer and seller.
Signing the final agreement in the form of notary deed – or the so-called closing of the deal, shall be conducted in the presence of a notary. If some of the documents were not provided at the signing of the preliminary agreement, at this point you will have to deliver all the originals.
It is worth mentioning that the preliminary agreement might contain some specific articles, which are in force and effective even after the signing of the notary deed. They might also be transferred and listed in the text of the notary deed too.
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