The procedure for selling an apartment through a notary

To avoid legal abuses and fraudulent schemes, selling an apartment through a notary is a prerequisite for real estate transactions. The same rules apply during the sale of a share in an apartment. This amendment was introduced into the legislation in the summer of 2016. How does the purchase and sale of housing work now, and how much do the services of a notary office cost? You will find comprehensive answers to these questions in our article.

Stages of a transaction for the purchase and sale of an apartment through a notary office

To sell an apartment, it is not enough to create and sign the appropriate transfer and acceptance certificate. The sale process occurs in several stages, let's look at each of them.

Stage I: preparation of required documents

Both parties to the transaction are required to prepare a package of documents consisting of:

• preliminary agreement signed by the seller and the buyer. This document must contain all the nuances of the transaction;
• papers confirming the seller’s right to dispose of the property;
• confirmation of the registration procedure for property rights;
• consent of the legal spouse to the sale procedure and to the purchase of real estate. These documents must be notarized;
• consent of the guardian or trustee to sell the apartment if it is owned by a minor;
• papers confirming that all homeowners have received notification that one of the owners wants to sell his share of the apartment or house. These documents relate only to the shared sale of an apartment;
• extracts about all persons who are registered in the housing being sold;
• certificates of absence of debts for public services;
• copies of the certificate of receipt of maternity capital, as well as statements of the availability of money in the account. Papers are needed if the purchase of an apartment will take place at the expense of maternity capital;
• copies of the loan agreement (if any);
• copies of a document confirming receipt of budget funds that are entitled to certain categories of families and individuals as financial assistance;
• copies of the loan agreement, if payment for new housing will be made using funds from a budget loan.

The parties must provide the notary with copies and originals of all of the above documents.

Stage II: drawing up a contract

When drawing up an agreement, the notary and the parties to the transaction pursue different goals. For the first, the main thing is to do everything legally and protect the deal from challenge. The parties themselves must ensure that the conditions specified in the contract are fulfilled correctly .

Stage III: procedure for completing the transaction

Completing a purchase and sale transaction is a complex process consisting of three main points:

• the seller and buyer sign a preliminary agreement. This document must contain all the nuances of the purchase/sale and the term of the agreement. After this, the parties undertake to transfer to the notary a complete package of necessary documents (originals and copies);
• the parties sign the agreement. The notary must be present at this moment and certify the signatures of the seller and buyer;
• the new owner registers ownership of the purchased apartment.

The time frame for registering ownership is not yet clearly limited, but it is better for the new owner not to delay this procedure . But if the purchase and sale of an apartment is through a notary, then the owner must submit an application within three working days after signing the agreement.

The notary may offer to perform electronic registration of the purchase and sale agreement, but this will not be cheap. Experts advise owners to personally visit a Rosreestr branch or use the services of the MFC.

Stage IV: transfer of funds

Experts advise that you must formalize the transfer of money for the purchase of an apartment in writing. Regardless of the type of payment, the seller must issue a receipt confirming receipt of the money.

This paper is not notarized, but it can be certified by two witnesses to the transaction. Since the notary does not control this stage, it is better for the seller to learn about all the methods and subtleties of transferring/receiving money in order to eliminate the possibility of fraud.

Price of notary services

Hiring a notary is not a cheap pleasure. In 2018, a client of a notary office must pay:

1. State duty prescribed by the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. It is 0.5 percent of the contract value. In practice, a citizen needs to pay 300-20,000 rubles as a state fee.
2. 0.5 percent of the cadastral value of housing. This payment is made in cases where the price is not specified in the contract for its sale.
3. Legal advice will cost 7 thousand rubles.
4. The cost of technical work (the notary appoints it personally).
5. Fee for the actions of a notary (according to Article 333 of the Tax Code).

The resulting amount is no longer small, but it is not final yet. In addition to the above expenses, a citizen is obliged to pay:

• 2-5 thousand rubles for the notary to formalize the consent of the spouse to the transaction or the consent of the owners of parts of the common property to sell the share;
• 100-500 rubles for certification of photocopies of documents required by Rosreestr.

Shared ownership: transaction features

Until the beginning of the summer of 2016, the owner of a share in common property was allowed to do whatever he wanted with his part. He could change it, sell it or give it to someone as a gift, and registration of the transaction through a notary was not mandatory.

But since June 2016, the sale of shared ownership in an apartment or any other action with real estate that is not registered with a notary is a gross violation of the law. According to the government decision, now a transaction with real estate, which is shared ownership, must be notarized. Otherwise, the document will not be officially registered.

This change also applies to cases where any transactions are carried out with real estate owned by several owners. If the object is owned by one person or the property is not divided into shares, the presence of a notary is not required. “Unallocated shared ownership” means real estate that, for example, has 2 owners, but one certificate of ownership.

The new law also applies to transactions with real estate owned by a minor citizen of the Russian Federation. The presence of a notary is mandatory.

Since the presence of a notary is an additional cost, many citizens try to cheat and save their money. To do this, they put any date in the apartment purchase and sale agreement before the first of June 2016, and the whole process is cheaper. But as practice shows, this trick is rarely successful, so it’s better not to risk it.

Price issue

Until the summer of 2016, the procedure for registering a transaction cost Muscovites 5 thousand rubles, and the state duty was 2 thousand. The draft real estate purchase and sale agreement cost 1.5-3 thousand rubles. If registrars participated in the transaction, its price increased to 15 thousand rubles.

Since apartment prices in Moscow are much higher than, for example, in Novosibirsk or Crimea, the government decided to develop a certain tariff. According to it, the higher the value of the property, the greater the amount its owner must pay to the notary's office.

Responsibility of a notary

In addition to the fact that the notary is obliged to certify the contract, he must also ensure that the real estate transaction complies with all legal requirements. However, he does not control the fulfillment by the parties of their obligations and the payment by the buyer of the cost of the apartment.

The settlement of the transaction can be carried out through a notary's deposit, but you also need to pay for this service. If the parties choose to pay in cash, the notary does not take part in this and does not certify the note.