The property market appears once again to be moving with properties that have been on the market for years, finally finding buyers.
Zoie Hawker from Fine & Country real estate confirmed that things are looking up as more properties at the higher end of the market are selling. “Enquiries are increasing, mostly from the French, British and Germans but sales are regularly held up due to discrepancies in the property paperwork. Lawyers are progressively more diligent in their searches and it can take a long time to sort out any problems.”
If you are selling your property the last thing you want is for the sale to fall through because at the last minute the buyer’s lawyer finds out that your property registrations are not in order. If you are placing your property for sale with an estate agent they will require the following documents:
Caderneta Predial – tax department registration
Certidão de Teor Registo da Conservatoria – land registration
Licença de Habitação – Habitation licence
Escritura de compra – deed of purchase
Certificado energético – Energy certificate
The tax department and land registrations descriptions must match and must describe the property as it is being sold. For example the registrations may say you own a three bedroom villa with a garage when in fact you are selling a three bedroom villa with a separate annexe converted from the garage! You will have a problem!
Is your pool registered? Was your garage conversion legal? Is that extra bedroom properly registered? Do you have a habitation licence? Do not get caught out by nasty surprises which come to light when the buyer's lawyers conduct their searches. Any discrepancies will need to be rectified before the sale, adding extra time to the process.
Sovereign – Consultoria Lda offers clients a Property Health Check - a thorough search of your property title to establish if it is in order or to discover any defects that could be a bar to a successful future sale.
The Property Health Check provides you with a complete dossier of the documents you will need to produce for a real estate agent or the buyers’ lawyer when you come to sell, including property plans, tax and land registrations, habitation licence and a detailed report on the property, explaining any anomalies discovered. This will allow you to put things in order before you advertise the property for sale.
Remember too that you will need to have an Energy certificate which must be provided by a certified engineer and if you are applying for your Habitation licence you will also need an Acoustic Certificate. Sovereign can organize these for you.
Contact Sovereign for more information.
Sovereign - Consultoria Lda
Parque Empresarial Algarve
8400-431 Lagoa
Algarve
T: +351 282 340480
Fax: +351 282 342259
E: icosta@SovereignGroup.com
W: www.SovereignGroup.com
