Our procedure when buying/selling a house

What can you expect from us and what is involved if you are buying or selling a property?

If you have engaged a buying or selling broker, he will usually draw up the deed of sale. There are also estate agents who prefer to leave that to us. If no estate agent is involved, we can draw up the deed of sale for you. The deed of sale contains important rights and obligations for both buyer and seller.

As soon as we have received the deed of sale from the estate agent, we will send the buyer, the seller and the estate agent(s) a confirmation of receipt of the deed of sale. At that time, we will also carry out the first checks for you. These checks include an enquiry at the land registry office whether the seller is the owner of the property and whether any mortgages or attachments have been registered at the land registry office. We also request information from the municipal personal records database, the bankruptcy register, the matrimonial property register and the guardianship register regarding the seller and the buyer.
In the case of leasehold, we will contact the municipality and, in the case of flat rights, the owners' association. We will also try to obtain information from the municipality about the WOZ value, property tax and sewerage charges.

If there are encumbrances or mortgages on the sold property, we will contact the encumbrancers or banks. We ask them against receipt of what amount we may clear the mortgage. For a seller and buyer, it is important to know that the bank will cooperate in cancelling the mortgage if the sale proceeds are insufficient to repay the entire loan. The same applies in respect of any distraining party.

If the deed of sale stipulates that the buyer must pay a deposit, we will keep an eye on this. Buyer and seller are kept informed. If the deposit is not made on time, the seller has the option of putting the buyer in default.

We then prepare the draft deed of delivery, and the mortgage deed if necessary. The deed of delivery records the transfer of ownership based on the agreements in the deed of purchase. When drawing up the mortgage deed, it is often necessary to work on the basis of documents prescribed by the bank. However, we assess whether these are not disproportionately onerous for the buyer.
The draft deed of transfer is sent to the parties and any estate agent(s). The draft mortgage deed only goes to the bank, buyer and his mortgage advisor (if any).

Once we have all the financial details, we prepare a statement of account for the seller and for the buyer, showing all the amounts to be paid and received by the relevant party. Depending on the amounts, there may still be an amount to be paid or received.

On the agreed day of delivery, the keys are generally handed over to the buyer by the seller. It is important for the buyer to visit the property again on that day prior to delivery.
Just before signing the deed of conveyance, we check the data at the land registry, the municipal personal records database, the bankruptcy register and the receivership register again and check that the identification documents of all parties are valid and have not gone missing. This is done again after the deed has been registered at the land registry after signing.

Once it is established that the deed has been registered at the land registry, funds can be disbursed one working day after a copy of the deed has been registered. The reason for waiting for this is that bankruptcies have retroactive effect.
The buyer will then receive a copy of the title deed and any mortgage deed The title deed is a copy of the deed of transfer.

For more information on how to proceed when buying or selling a house, please contact us. We will be happy to help.