Buying property in Germany: all you need to know!

You have just found the apartment or the house of your dreams and you are wondering how to do it as quickly as possible so that the business does not pass you by! How can you be sure that it is the right property? What documents are needed? What should I watch out for?

How to buy real estate in Germany?

If you cannot finance your purchase through your own financial contribution only, then please note the importance of having contacted your banker before starting the research.

Even if he can only decide once you have a concrete property to present to him, in order to avoid any unpleasant surprises, you will have to ensure your solvency by presenting your plan to purchase to him.

In Germany, since there is no promise to sell or suspensive clause in the sales contract, if you are not sure that you are getting financing from your bank, there is no point in stepping forward.

Indeed, once the owner of the property agrees to sell you his property, you will need to quickly make an appointment with the notary (in Germany the notary is neutral and works for the interests of the buyer and the owner. at the same time) to sign the sales contract and to prevent another interested buyer from running faster than you. This is where the race against time is played out for you!

As a general rule, the appointment with the notary is organized very quickly, it is the story of a few weeks, or even a few days. In order for him to prepare the draft contract, you will first have provided him with a copy of your identity document and information on your marital status as well as the owner's contact details.

However, as long as no contract is signed the owner is still able to accept further purchase offers from interested buyers. If the property is attractive and in a high demand area, it is very likely to happen.

So, if you agree with the proposal for a sales contract that the notary will have presented to you, it is therefore important to sign it quickly. But it can turn out to be risky insofar as you will not be able to go back on the signing of the sales contract. Hence the importance of being sure of your own and having obtained the green light from your banker beforehand.

Your banker will normally be able to tell you, depending on the state of your finances, whether your project is, in their opinion, fundable as well as the conditions of the loan that you plan to apply for.

Architectural plans, sections and areas

Unless you are lucky enough to have a suitcase full of bills, your banker will ask you for these plans in order to grant you the long-awaited home loan. Once you find the property of your dreams, whether it is an apartment, house or commercial property, the property will be carefully verified by your bank. Or put it another way: the bank will want to make sure that it can put the property up for auction in the event of the bankruptcy of its client. All the details will therefore come under the microscope!

In addition, plans (as long as they reflect the current state of the asset) are of great value for renovation or remediation projects. For example, they are an important basis for energy advice and for performing airtightness (infiltrometry) tests by thermography.

Of course, these plans can be reproduced later. But unless you're the person with the suitcase mentioned above, it usually costs money, money you could use for a new kitchen or outdoor fixtures, for example.

Technical construction manual (Baubeschreibung)

What is it about ? A technical construction notice generally comes from the promoter or very often also from the architect in charge of the project. This includes a detailed description of the wall thicknesses, insulation materials and other materials originally planned.

In practice, it often happens that the technical construction instructions deviate from the final construction. In case of doubt, walls, for example, can be examined by means of endoscopy or additional procedures in agreement with the DIN (the German standards body) and depending on the age of the construction.

The technical construction instructions provide the experts with the results on the quality of the workmanship and are the basis for renovation or renovation measures.

For a newly constructed building, it goes without saying that it is easier to draw conclusions on the quality of the construction than on an old building, since a new construction must take into account the current regulations on unsuitable materials. construction and be subject to certain appraisals before the start of work.

Cadastral extracts and land register

These very important documents can be examined before the purchase so that construction charges, debts or insolvencies can be known in time. Also a promoter can be controlled on his liquidity.

However, the land register cannot be consulted by whoever wants and under any conditions. You must be able to prove that you have the right and especially go through a notary. This implies that the purchase procedure is well advanced and that the signing of the sales contract is imminent. As a general rule, it is the notary in charge of the file who checks the extract from the land register for the preparation of the sales contract and only on financial interests.

In addition, to act without fail and rather than realize too late that a carport, outdoor installation or energy sanitation (etc.) cannot be carried out, the interested buyer should have consulted the cadastral plans beforehand. . The notary is not required to check them.

In addition, in the event that certain restrictions appear therein, the purchaser must adhere to them.

The Energy Pass, or the energy quality of a property

As a rule, the seller is obliged to present the energy passport to the buyer. The energy identity card gives the first benchmarks on the energy quality of the construction or building. But is this pass calculated correctly?

What exactly is he telling us? What will the real costs be for the new buyer?

For old buildings, it is essential to have the house or apartment appraised by a specialist. An appraisal is inexpensive compared to the total price of the property and should therefore be included in the overall purchase price. In addition, the energy performance diagnosis, in addition to giving you a guarantee of independence on the estimation of the various works to be undertaken, will allow you to control and reduce your energy needs.

The expert can offer you solutions for each identified need. Certainly, some solutions may require significant work and therefore require a financial investment, but others can be put into practice very quickly for a ridiculous price. In both cases, you will have an accurate estimate of the energy costs to predict which can be decisive in your purchasing decision.