The notary draws up sale agreements, primarily concerning real estate, which under Polish law must take the form of a notarial deed. These include, above all, agreements for the sale of:
- residential premises constituting separate real estate,
- a cooperative ownership right to premises,
- land, including an undeveloped plot.
Before the arranged meeting with the notary, which both the buyer and the seller should attend, it must be determined whether a mortgage is to be established in the sale agreement, e.g. to secure the repayment of a loan granted for the purchase of the real estate or to secure the payment of the sale price if the payment date is deferred. Ownership of the real estate passes to the buyer at the moment the deed is signed at the notary office, not upon payment of the sale price.
What obligations arise from concluding a sale agreement in the form of a notarial deed?
The buyer must pay the amount due (the sale price) in the amount and within the time limit resulting from the sale agreement concluded at the office. In addition, within 14 days of concluding the sale agreement, the buyer is obliged to notify the relevant municipal office of the concluded agreement so that real estate tax can be charged to the new owner.
What costs are involved in a real estate sale agreement?
The buyer should pay at the notary office the court fee for making entries in the land and mortgage registers, including e.g. the entry of ownership or the entry of a mortgage in the land and mortgage register. It is worth noting that these fees are collected and remitted to the appropriate offices on the buyer’s behalf by the notary. You must also pay the notarial fee for drawing up the sale agreement (no higher than specified in the decree of the Minister of Justice), as well as for official copies of the deed (PLN 6 per page).
Moreover, it is worth remembering that the seller may sometimes be obliged to pay income tax: if the real estate is sold before 5 years have passed since its acquisition, the seller may be required to pay income tax on the proceeds from the sale of the real estate to the tax office (this time without the notary’s intermediation).
What documents are needed to conclude a notarial sale agreement?
To draw up a real estate sale agreement, documents are required — including the identity documents of both parties, the number of the land and mortgage register kept for the real estate or for the cooperative ownership right to premises, and the document constituting the basis of acquisition – e.g. a notarial deed, a deed of certification of succession or a court decision, e.g. declaring the acquisition of inheritance. If part of the sale price is to be paid with money from a bank loan, the loan agreement must be presented. Additional documents that may prove necessary to conclude the sale agreement include: a certificate from the Housing Cooperative, an extract from the land register, an extract from the spatial development plan or a certificate of its absence, a certificate stating whether the plot is covered by a simplified forest management plan, a revitalisation certificate, and an energy performance certificate.
It should be emphasised that different documents will be required in different cases, which the notary will assess each time. For this purpose, please contact us.
What information must be included in a real estate sale agreement?
A notarial real estate sale agreement covers all the essential information about the transaction. It contains the parties’ personal data, a description of the real estate, the sale price and the terms of payment. In addition, the agreement must include information about any encumbrances on the real estate, such as mortgages or easements.
The notary’s role in the process of selling real estate
The notary plays an important role in the signing of a real estate sale agreement. Their task is, above all, to ensure the proper course of the transaction and to protect the interests of both parties. The notary verifies the identity of the parties and makes sure that both parties understand the contents of the agreement and act of their own free will. In addition, the notary checks the legal status of the real estate, including any mortgage encumbrances or easements.
The notary’s task is also to draw up the notarial deed.
Preliminary real estate sale agreement
A preliminary sale agreement is a document containing an obligation to conclude a sale agreement in the future. In practice, this means that the parties undertake to conclude, within a specified time limit, a sale agreement on the terms set out in the preliminary agreement. A preliminary sale agreement must contain all the essential elements of the future sale agreement, such as a description of the real estate, the sale price and the date for concluding the sale agreement.
Signing a preliminary agreement is justified in situations where the parties need more time to prepare for the transaction. This may be necessary when the buyer has to obtain a mortgage loan to purchase the real estate, and this process takes time. A preliminary agreement gives both parties certainty that the transaction will be carried out on the agreed terms, while allowing all the formalities to be completed before the sale agreement is concluded.
A preliminary sale agreement remains in force until the sale agreement is concluded, unless the parties have agreed otherwise.