The process to buy or sell a property

• Author: Schmid, Christoph U.; Pinkel, Tobias
• Pages: 25-34

Consum er mar ket stud y on the fun ctio ning of the r eal estate servi ces for consum ers in the EU – Coun try Fiche Th e Net herlan ds

25

5. The process to buy or sell a property

5.1 Main st eps in t he transaction process t o buy or sell a proper ty

Ta ble 9: M ai n st ep s of th e p roc ess t o buy or se ll a pr opert y

Ma in st ep s Ma in fu nct ion Applicabl e N ationa l sp eci fici tie s/ a dd ition al fun cti ons/ m ain actor s

Est ate age nt ser vice s

Mat ching th e par ties

Usual

In th e Netherlan ds, it is rel atively com mon to in volve a real estat e

agent in th e t ransfer of o wnersh ip. Ho wever, the par ties h ave

becom e m ore acti ve t hem selv es. E.g., some sell ers cre ate the

descript ion includin g t he phot os of the prop erty to b e sol d

themselv es. In ad dit ion, th e m ark etin g v ia i ntern et has b ecom e

incr easingly imp ortan t.

Alt er nat ive mat ching

de vice s

Mat ching th e par ties

Usual

None

Pr elim ina ry cont ra ct

Secu rin g the t ransact ion bef ore

th e fi nal cont ract is conclud ed

Unusual

No form of th e cont ract is r equired. Ther efor e, the r eal est ate ag ent

can provide a stand ard cont ract to the parti es or the p art ies can

conclude the cont ract by usin g st andar d fo rms w ith out t he

in volv ement of a pro fessional. Som eti mes, a notary is al read y

invol ved at thi s step. Ver y r arel y, near ly exclu sivel y i n de als

bet wee n bu sine sses, lawy ers draft th e prelimi nary cont ract s.

Pr elim ina ry chec ks ( la nd

re giste r, a dm inistra tive

pe rm i t s)

Ensur ing t hat t he buy er k nows

all legal obligati ons an d rel evant

fea tur es r elated to th e pr operty

Yes

The land regist er i s checked by t he n otar y; if adm inist rat ive per mit s

need to be ch ecked, th is m ay be d one by a law yer .

Dr aftin g t he sa les con tract

an d/ o r d eed of

con veya nce

Sum marisin g the agreem ent of

th e pa rti es

Yes

Nor mal ly don e by the n otar y; in com mer cial cases lawyers may be

involved.

Lega l a dvice or

cou nse ll in g

Ensur ing t hat t he t ransa ction is

valid and that the p arties know

abo ut th eir righ ts a nd d uties

Yes

Professional duty of the n otar y. Ot her p rofe ssion als a re n orm ally

not inv olved.