Which persons are involved in a real estate purchase and the execution of the contract?
In addition to the buyer and seller, a notary must be involved. In Germany, a real estate purchase contract must always be notarized by a notary licensed in Germany. The notary is neutral, i.e. he or she does not give legal advice to either the buyer or the seller. His task is to ensure the legal and factual execution of the contract. In other words, he must ensure that the contract complies with the applicable laws and is feasible from a legal point of view. Furthermore, he ensures the actual execution of the contract, i.e. submits the respective applications to the land registry and informs the parties about the progress of the transfer of ownership and he informs the authorities such as the tax office about the transaction.
Typically, the buyer of a contract is allowed to choose the notary.
The cost of the notary depends on the value of the deed, which is usually the purchase price. The fees to be paid depend on the court and notary fees law (GNotKG). For normal apartment purchase contracts, the notary fees are usually paid by the buyer.
Then a real estate agent is often involved. This can work either on behalf of the seller, the buyer or both parties. Most often the latter is the case. The seller has sought an agent to sell his property, who offers the apartment and organizes the sale. If the agent finds a prospective buyer, he concludes a further agreement with him and is thus active for both parties. According to the new brokerage law, the brokerage commission must in most cases be shared between the buyer and the seller.
Both parties to the contract can, of course, still hire their own lawyers. Purchase contracts are sometimes quite long contracts with many legal terms that are not always easy to understand even for native speakers. In this respect, it often makes sense to hire your own lawyer, who only represents your interests, answers your questions and points out possible pitfalls and who makes sure that the contract also contains all points that are important to you. Each party bears the costs of their lawyer themselves.
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