Buyer's Guide

Total Buyer's Guide: How to Become a Property Owner

Buying an apartment or house is one of the biggest, but also most stressful events in life. It is a process that we plan for a long time, look forward to, but at the same time it scares us. We have probably had visions of what we want for years, and now that the moment has come for such a big and important decision - the feeling of happiness and excitement is almost always accompanied by a feeling of stress because of everything that awaits us until the moment when we finally have the key to our new home in our hands. There are countless questions, and many different answers, which often leads to a feeling of confusion. Don't let stress prevail and let yourself be helped and guided by our team. We are with you from the first step to the day you open the door to your new home.

If you are not looking for a new home, but a profitable investment - in that case, we have answers and we will help you find the best and most cost-effective solution for your plans.

However, whatever intention you have regarding the purchase of a new property - the path to ownership is the same and not at all easy to go through alone, especially if you are making this move for the first time.

Below we bring all the basic and important information that you will encounter in the process of buying a property. Let this text be a guide to everything you need to pay attention to, and contact us to make the process as easy, simple, cost-effective and fast as possible.

Carefully explore your finances

First of all, it is important to decide what budget you have. Whether you have saved or inherited money, high or low, regular, irregular or split income, or you decide on one of the options offered by banks, a visit to the bank is necessary. A conversation with your banker will give you a realistic insight into your financial situation and opportunities and a better idea of your budget and creditworthiness.
This first step will allow you to keep your search for potential properties within a realistic framework. With the information you receive, contact one of our financial experts for further consultation. Namely, at Regent, among other things, we also offer individual financial advice.

Determine your needs and desires

Although we can present you with several ideas from our diverse offer at the initial meeting, it certainly makes more sense that at the moment of the initial conversation you have at least a somewhat clear vision of what kind of property you want to buy. Make a list of features that are important to you. Location, number of rooms, appearance of the interior and exterior - all these are data that will make it easier for us to find the ideal property together and at the same time eliminate those offers that do not meet your wishes. In this phase, our real estate agent can be of great help to you. Our experts are familiar with the locations, understand the local market and can also schedule a viewing of the properties you are interested in.

When talking about location, keep in mind to research all potential advantages and disadvantages, for which we also provide our assistance. The infrastructure of the settlement, the environment, the amount of greenery, the view, the accessibility, public transport, the proximity of educational, health and social facilities and shops are important factors for the everyday life you want to live in your new environment.

Get to know the property and its documentation

Before submitting an offer, it is important to check the property documentation, namely - an excerpt from the land register, a building permit or other appropriate act for construction, an occupancy permit and an energy certificate. It is certainly necessary to have an insight into the ownership registered in the land register of the municipal court in the area where the property is located. Also, the owner should be asked for all documents about the building and the land he owns, and the energy certificate. A land registry excerpt is the only proof of ownership or other right that may be the subject of registration in the land register, while an energy certificate is a document that presents the energy characteristics of the building, and is prepared by authorized persons for energy certification - energy certifiers.

If you are buying a new building under construction, the investor is obliged to give you access to the executive / final building permit or other appropriate act for construction. In addition to the building permit, the occupancy permit is equally important, which the building cannot obtain if it deviates from the construction conditions prescribed by the building permit or other appropriate act for construction. It is advisable to request access to the main project, which is part of the building permit.

It should be noted that the investor, i.e. the owner of the building, is obliged to obtain an energy certificate before issuing the occupancy permit. It is important to know that if a property is purchased, after signing the sales contract, the seller is obliged to give the buyer the energy certificate of the property. Obtaining all the mentioned documents and having access to them can be ensured by our agents and experts of our team. In our team, we have the knowledge and experience of builders, lawyers and real estate agents, whose cooperation functions in such a way that we obtain all the necessary and correct documentation for you within a reasonable time and thus facilitate this, for many, laborious process.

Conclusion of a pre-contract

After you have found the ideal property and checked all the documentation related to it, it is time for the first serious step - the conclusion of a pre-contract. Signing a pre-contract is a common part of the property purchase process. According to it, the property is defined, by stating land registry data such as cadastral municipality, parcel number, etc., description of the property (address, description of the apartment / house, area…), agreed price, date of conclusion of the final contract and payment of the agreed deposit.

As for the deposit, it is usually agreed that in case of the buyer's withdrawal, the seller retains the deposit, while in case of the seller's withdrawal, he must pay the buyer twice the amount of the deposit (the most common agreed amount is ten percent of the property value). The pre-contract must be certified by a public notary, but for the collection of all the mentioned data and the drafting of the contract, you can contact our Regent expert team who will make this process simple.

Sales contract

Once the pre-contract has been signed, it is necessary to draw up a sales contract which, in addition to everything stated in the pre-contract, also contains the date of delivery of the property into the possession of the buyer and the seller's guarantee that third parties do not have any rights to the property. The drafting of a sales contract is a serious and detailed process in which attention must be paid to a number of items. Therefore, the support of our legal experts is highly recommended at this step. Be sure that with our guidance in this process you are fully protected as a buyer.

The final version of the sales contract is certified by a public notary in several copies so that the seller, the buyer and the public notary can keep a version of the same, but it must also be submitted to the land registry department of the competent municipal court, the tax administration when reporting real estate sales tax, and the bank in case the property is bought with a loan.

In the case of buying with a loan, the contract must first be solemnized by a public notary, and the bank then registers a mortgage on the property. Read more about the solemnization process HERE.

Entry of ownership

At Regent, we are with you in this final step as well. Namely, the right of ownership of the property on the basis of the sales contract is not acquired automatically, but by entry in the land registers, in which we also offer our assistance. More detailed information about registration in the land registers can be found HERE.

Real estate sales tax

After you take a satisfied breath and finally unlock the door to your new home, know that the process is not quite over. Namely, within 30 days from the occurrence of the tax obligation (signing the sales contract), you must report the purchase of a house or apartment to the office of the Tax Administration in the area where the property is located. The rate of real estate sales tax is 3% of the market value of the property at the time of its acquisition. In certain cases, the buyer is exempt from paying real estate tax, and you can find out more about it and real estate sales tax in general HERE.