Buying and selling property
With property, almost nothing can be put right after the event. What matters is what's on the title register, who holds the money and the order in which each step is taken.
Where to start
The initial conversation is free. Send us the title number (list vlastnictví) and whatever you've had from the other side: a reservation agreement, a draft purchase agreement, the listing. A standalone task starts at CZK 5,000 excl. VAT; for a standard transfer we'll quote a fixed price upfront.
When you call us
The estate agent or the other party supplies a ready-made text. It tends to be written for whoever commissioned it, and that shows most clearly in when, and to whom, the money is released.
Until the transfer of ownership is registered, the purchase price should sit somewhere neither party can take it from on its own. Who chooses that place, and on what conditions the money is released, is really the central question of the whole transaction.
A mortgage, an easement, a note of enforcement proceedings or of pending litigation. Some of these can be dealt with; others are a reason to walk away from the purchase. You need to know which is which before you sign.
The bank has its own requirements for the wording of the contract and the order of steps, and these have to be aligned with the seller. A mismatch here can hold up a transaction for months.
What's transferred isn't the property itself but a share in the housing cooperative. The Land Registry isn't involved, the cooperative's articles apply and the risks lie elsewhere than with outright ownership.
Damp, leaks, unauthorised building work or something the listing didn't mention. What matters is what the contract said about the condition of the property and what could have been spotted on viewing.
Practice
Checking the title register and anything registered against the property
Reservation agreements and what not to sign in them
The purchase agreement and the application for registration in the Land Registry
Attorney escrow of the purchase price
Aligning the contract with the bank's mortgage requirements
Removing a mortgage and settling with the seller's creditor
Transferring a cooperative share and dealing with the cooperative
Liability for defects and what to do about it after handover
The cheapest intervention is the one before signing. After registration, all that's left is dealing with the consequences, at a much higher cost.
How we handle it
The title register, its entries, pending-application flags and the title deeds. Sometimes the transaction stops here, and this is the cheapest moment for it to stop.
The purchase agreement, the application for registration and the escrow agreement as a single package. The money is released against registration, not against a promise.
Certified signatures, filing with the Land Registry, monitoring the proceedings. We know when each step should happen, and we'll get in touch if it doesn't.
Handing over the property, recording the meter readings, transferring the utilities, releasing mortgages. This is the part most often rushed, and the one that most often comes back to bite.
From practice
Title register
The title register carried a note of pending proceedings that neither the listing nor the reservation agreement mentioned. Checking before signing showed what it concerned, and the transaction went ahead only once it had been resolved. Otherwise the buyer would have paid for a property that was the subject of a dispute.
Escrow
The other side's draft provided for the purchase price to be released once the application for registration was filed, not once the transfer was registered. The difference is several weeks during which the Land Registry can still refuse the application. Changing a single paragraph moved the risk back where it belonged.
Part of Contracts and Compliance
Let's work it out
Call or write to us. The first conversation is always about understanding your situation, not about selling.
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