Legal fields

Real estate can be a good investment – if the conditions are right. But the devil is often in the details:

When buying an apartment house as an investment it’s not enough to look just at the purchase agreement itself. All too often the validity and content of the tenancy agreements bought “along with it” have not been properly checked. Hidden risks need to be recognised in advance – and not only because the intention is usually to finance the purchase price with the earnings. Problematic rental relationships frequently incur consequential costs (because, for instance, of losses of rent or court proceedings).

When marketing condominiums using the property developer model, the extensive provisions safeguarding the purchaser in the German Real Estate Agent and Commercial Construction Industry Ordinance [MaBV, Makler- und Bauträgerverordnung] are put into effect in the purchase agreement. They are intended to protect the buyer against loss of his down payment – but the buyer is often also happy to retain the last instalment even if the conditions to do so are not met. As standard contracts, property development contracts are subject in large parts to the tight control of the law with respect to general terms and conditions of business. We help you with legally secure wording.

Buyers of a condominium join an owners’ association whose established rules for coexistence they cannot unilaterally change. It is intended that purchasers know what to expect. Here too: the purchase agreement is not everything. The partition deed and the joint property rules are additional points on the checklist.

In addition, we review for you:

• what encumbrances the property has, such as real estate liens [Grundpfandrechte] (particularly mortgages), and land charges, such as rights of way, pipeline rights or usufructs, and what effects they have,
• whether the buyer has rights in case of defects [Mängelrechte] in the building and the plot of land,
• how the provisions on acceptance [Abnahme] of the individual and joint property are structured,
• at what point in time the contract lays down the transfer of benefits and encumbrances and what consequences this has for the buyer and seller,
• how the purchase agreement defines when the purchase price is due,
• preemptive rights [Vorkaufsrechte] of tenants or municipalities ,
• all questions relating to readiness for occupancy and consequences thereof arising from the purchase agreement,
• to what extent special requests are considered,
• what arrangements are planned to develop the property,
• how the instalment payment plan is organised and whether it complies with statutory requirements,
• how the seller’s obligations to build are described and what construction works the seller may be obligated to,
• all questions that may arise on completion dates,
• provision on access rights set during construction of the building.