Do you want to buy a flat and are you afraid of getting a raw deal? When buying a flat, considerable amounts of money are in the game. You buy the property for a long time if not for a lifetime. Therefore it represents a very important step in your life.
What to beware of to end up according to your expectations?
Precisely specify ownership of the flat
Before you start searching the offers of real estate agencies, determine in which ownership are the properties to be found. There are 2 types of ownership you can consider - personal property or cooperative ownership.
In the second case you do not buy your ownership to the flat but a share in the cooperative. It establishes right to use the property but your rights are limited in comparison to the ownership of personal property. However for a fee it can be transferred to a personal property.
This is the reason why price for cooperative ownership share is lower. Moreover for this ownership transfer 5 % property transfer tax does not apply.
Calculate your financial possibilities
Make sure you know how much you can pay. Take interest in what kind of loan you can get from banks. Add up all your available finances.
You have to bear in mind that you will not pay only for the price of the flat. Whole process can cost you more. The flat can not be available to live in at once, fees for loan and other costs can occur.
Verify the legal status of the property
Have you found a property that interests you? Congratulations but before you start to celebrate, make sure that everything is the way it looks from the outside.
Look into the land register and make sure there are not any executions or liens bound with the property.
Also make sure the person you are communicating with is the real owner of the property. All this can be easily verified on-line. On the website of the Land Register Office there is an easy application where you can find the flat.
Clarify the status of the property in the contract
Inspect the condition of the flat, the best in presence of an expert. All the defects found need to be mentioned in the purchase contract. When, in following months you find defects and problems not mentioned in the contract, you can claim your money back.
