Preparatory tasks of the notary for the purchase of real estate
The notary has to act as a neutral party between buyer and seller. He clarifies all legal details, regulates the respective rights and obligations of both contracting parties and drafts the notarial purchase agreement in advance. In doing so, the notary must appreciate the interests of all parties to the contract and formulate the purchase agreement in a legally balanced manner. The drafting of the contract should also ensure that the seller's property is not transferred to the buyer until full payment has been made and that the buyer becomes the owner of the purchased property after the purchase price has been paid.
Preparations on the part of the buyer and seller for the purchase
Before you sign a notarized purchase agreement, you should make some preparations. As a buyer, you should have dealt with all relevant aspects concerning the property and take care of securing financing if you want to purchase the property partly with borrowed capital. As a seller, you should have the creditworthiness of the buyer checked and think through all the modalities of the transfer. The parties to the contract should also discuss which inventory is included in the purchase price. For the buyer, it makes sense that the acquired inventory and its value is listed in the notarized purchase contract, since he does not have to pay real estate transfer tax for this part of the purchase price if the value is realistically determined.
Prior to the purchase, a reservation agreement or a preliminary purchase agreement may be concluded, depending on the circumstances. A reservation agreement serves to provisionally reserve the desired property until the conclusion of the purchase contract and to ensure that no other interested party submits an offer for the property. However, this does not provide absolute certainty for either the buyer or the seller that the notary appointment to sign the purchase agreement will actually take place. A reservation agreement is a non-notarized letter of intent, sometimes backed up by a reservation fee paid by the buyer. The reservation fee should not exceed 10% of the broker's commission.
A preliminary purchase agreement, on the other hand, is a notarized legal commitment to conclude a purchase contract and already lists essential points of the purchase contract. Due to the considerable amount of notary fees for a preliminary purchase agreement, it is rarely concluded
Signing of the purchase contract at the notary appointment
During the notary appointment, the notary reads the entire purchase agreement to the contracting parties. If minor changes are requested, the notary can usually add them to the contract immediately, provided both parties agree. The purchase agreement is then signed by the contracting parties and the notary. Once signed and notarized, the contract can no longer be rescinded, with the exception of a few special cases.
In Bavaria, the notary receives a notary fee of around 1.5 percent of the purchase price. The costs for this and for the new registration of a land charge are borne by the buyer. However, the seller bears the costs for the deletion of the seller's land charge already entered in the land register or other existing encumbrances.
The contract should include
A contract of sale for real estate is more extensive than a standard commercial contract. It is therefore important to be precisely informed about the contents. We have compiled a checklist for you with the most important regulations that should be included in a purchase contract:
