There are two stages in the process of purchasing an immovable property. It is necessary to start by entering into a purchase agreement and then to apply for the new title to be entered in the property register.
One of the essential formal requirements of an immovable property purchase agreement is that it must be drawn up in writing, otherwise it is null and void. Although a purchase agreement need not be prepared by a legal professional, this is recommended on account of the typically high value of immovable property.
A purchase agreement must also comply with other statutory requirements. In particular, the agreement must sufficiently identify the subject of the sale (the immovable property that is to be sold) and include the transferor’s commitment to hand over the property to the transferee and enable them to assume ownership. The agreement must also include the transferee’s commitment to accept the property and to pay the transferor the purchase price.
General rules of the law of obligation apply to immovable property purchase contracting. An agreement is concluded as soon as the parties have agreed on the content and, to that effect, have duly expressed and confirmed their will. In the case of an immovable property purchase agreement, they do this by signing it. If numerous people’s signatures are required, all signatures must be on the same document.
Nevertheless, dealings prior to the conclusion of an agreement may also be binding. If contractual negotiations progress to a stage where it looks highly probable that an agreement will be concluded, a party that then breaks off the negotiations for no justifiable reason, despite the reasonable expectations of the counterparty that an agreement will be concluded, is deemed to have acted dishonestly. In this situation, the party that has acted dishonestly must pay the counterparty damages covering the loss stemming from the non-conclusion of the contract, determined by reference to similar cases.