Buying property in Berlin

Buying property in Berlin – what are the steps? What is the procedure?

I am checking purchase agreements (and the „surrounding“ documents) on a daily basis. Here I want to roughly explain, what the steps are.

1. Role of the notary

First of all you have to see that a notary is involved at a very early stage. The reason is consumer protection as the lawmaker has the picture of the „naive once-in-a-lifetime-buyer“ on one side of the table and the „greedy shady real estate guys“ on the other one. That is of course not necessarily true, but better to be safe than sorry. So the notary, as an „official person“ is obliged to draft a neutral and balanced contract.

After you have received the documents it makes sense to  get everything checked by a lawyer to find „flaws“ or „red flags“ e.g. in the protocols of the annual meetings of the home owners or the partition deed.

2. Procedure after signing

Once you have signed, the „real work“ of the notary starts. You can see him or her as a moderator, as he or she is the only person, „everyone is trusting“. He is dealing with the banks involved, to get the old mortgage deleted, the new one entered and – most important for you – to get your priority notice entered. He is also sending out the purchase agreement to the tax authorities, so they can demand the property purchase tax. So usually you only hear or read twice from the notary. The first time when he or she confirms that the purchase price is due and payable. And the second time when you have been entered as new owners into the land registry.

So the role of the notary is to ensure that everything goes as smoothly and quickly and that all parties are „safe“. „Safe“ in the sense that the buyer becomes the new owner, the seller receives the monies; but nobody too late or too early.

3. Our and my service

Buying property in Berlin – I am would be happy to guide you through the process and to consult you regarding the documents you have received. I am reviewing those for „red flags“ and/or possibilities to optimize the draft in your sense. And I can usually give a lot of helpful hints regarding the practical approach. For example how to easily avoid „sitting“ on a loan agreement you do not need (anymore) and how to save some property purchase tax and how to avoid trouble with the bank by and while doing so.