Required documents for the sale of an apartment

The wrong paperwork can severely backtrack any legal process.Get it right the first time with this guide on preparing documents. If you decide to sell an apartment, make sure that you have the entire package of documents necessary for the correct execution of the procedure. Otherwise, you may find a buyer, and the transaction will not take place due to the lack of an important paper. We tell you what documents you need to have when selling an apartment on the secondary market in 2024.

Without what documents you can not sell an apartment

The list of documents for the sale of real estate varies depending on the specific situation. The owner of the housing may be single or have a spouse, he may have minor children, etc. All this will affect the content of the package of documents for the sale of housing. But there is an approximate list that you can focus on, taking into account your situation. Let’s go through it with details.

Seller’s personal documents

A passport is one of the mandatory documents when selling real estate. Without a passport, it will not be possible to complete a transaction. It is also important that the necessary photographs are pasted into the old-style passport. The notary must provide both the original and a copy of the document, and all the owners of the apartment (if there is more than one owner).

If a citizen of another country sells real estate, his passport must be translated into Ukrainian, and the translation must be notarized.

The identification code also belongs to the personal documents of the seller. In the passports of the new sample, it can be seen on the back of the document, so you do not need to provide anything additional. If the owner has an old-style passport, he must provide an identification code separately (original and copy).

Constitutive documents

What could it be:

• a sales contract confirming that the apartment was purchased from the previous owner;

• certificate of ownership;

• certificate of the right to inheritance by will or by law;

• hereditary contract;

• life maintenance contract;

• an exchange agreement confirming that the apartment was obtained by exchanging for other property;

• a court decision recognizing the seller’s ownership of a particular living space.

To successfully complete the transaction, you have to provide the original of one of the above documents. The certificate, contract or court decision must be valid. Also, the document must be entered in the State Register of Real Rights to Real Estate. Otherwise, the notary will refuse to certify the sale of housing.

If the ownership of the apartment was registered before 2013, you must also obtain a relevant certificate from the BTI (Technical inventory office). Since 2014, property rights have been entered into the electronic state register, so it will not be difficult for a notary to find the necessary data.

Technical certificate

The package of documents must include a technical passport for the apartment. It contains all the data about the living space: address, floor, area, plan. Here you can also see the redevelopment, if they were carried out in the apartment.

You can get a technical passport at the BTI or at a private organization that has a state qualification certificate.

Information about registered persons

When an apartment is sold, all registered persons have to be evicted from it. You can get a document on the absence of those registered at a specific address at the TsNAP (Administrative Service Centre) or from a notary if the object is located in Kyiv. In addition to a certificate of those registered in the apartment, it is worth issuing an extract on the absence of arrears in utility bills. The letter is optional, but the buyer can request it.

Extract from the state register

An extract from the State Register of Rights to Real Estate can be obtained online by filling out a simple application and paying symbolic fee. The document will be sent to the specified e-mail. In the extract you can find information about the owner and co-owners of the living space, the date of receipt of ownership, the circumstances of receipt. With the help of this document, you can also check if the property is in bail or mortgage.

Conclusion on property valuation

From 2021, a certificate of the cost of an apartment can be obtained online for free. To do this, you need to register in the unified database of reports of the State Property Fund (State Property Fund) and fill out a form with data on housing for sale. The service evaluates the apartment using the information received from the seller, after which it generates a certificate.

If the homeowner does not agree with the result of the automatic assessment, he has the right to dispute it and contact a professional appraiser directly. It is important to note that the amount of tax that will have to be paid when selling the property depends on the value of the property.

What other documents may be needed to sell an apartment and in what cases

Situations with the sale of real estate are different, each case is individual. Before you put up a living space for sale, it is worth checking whether you will have to look for or draw up additional documents. What cases can cause additional paperwork to be collected?

Multiple owners

If the co-owners do not interfere with the sale of real estate, they also need to be present at the conclusion of the transaction, having with them the originals and copies of passports and identification codes.

If one co-owner wants to sell his share, the owners of other parts of the housing can be the first to buy it out. If none of them wants to redeem, this refusal must be notarized. Also, the notary has to certify the seller’s message about the intention to sell his part. In addition, you will have to go to court to get a court decision, which will indicate who owns what part of the apartment.

The court decision, a notarized message and the refusal of other owners to purchase the share being sold have to be attached to the rest of the documents.

Underage apartment owners

If there is a minor among the owners of the living space, you have to attach the child’s birth certificate and a copy of it to the package of documents. In this situation you will also need written permission from the guardianship authority (original and copy).

To obtain a permit, you have to provide the following documents to the guardianship authorities:

• parents’ statement that they both agree to the sale of housing;

• information about the composition of the family;

• technical passport for the apartment (original);

• an extract from the State Register of Rights and Encumbrances, which lists all co-owners of real estate;

• passports for adults, identification codes and birth certificates for minor co-owners;

• certificate of divorce or death of spouse (if applicable);

• powers of attorney from all co-owners to conduct a sale and purchase transaction, if it is performed by an authorized person.

Minor children who are not homeowners must be expelled from the apartment before the conclusion of the contract of sale. Otherwise, the transaction will not be executed. It is worth noting that a minor child can be discharged only together with the mother or together with the father. The other parent must provide their written consent. The child must be immediately registered at a new address.

Disabled property owner

If the co-owner of the apartment is a person with limited legal capacity or recognized as incapacitated, then a court decision will be required to recognize the incapacity. Also, the package must be accompanied by a decision on the appointment of a guardian for this person and the decision of the guardianship and guardianship authorities.

Property purchased during marriage

If the apartment was bought in marriage, this property can be sold only with the consent of the spouse. Consent is made in writing and certified by a notary. This can also be done right at the time of the conclusion of the transaction, if both spouses can attend it in person.

If the couple divorced, then you need to attach a court decision on the division of property to the documents. This decision gives the right to sell the apartment or its share. When the divorce is filed, but there was no division of property, the consent of the former spouse or ex-wife will be required to sell the living space.

To sell an apartment, a widower or widow must have with him a death certificate of his spouse (wife) and a certificate of inheritance.

It is also important to understand that if the apartment was inherited or received as a gift after marriage, it can be freely sold without the consent of the spouse. The same applies to real estate purchased before marriage.

Apartment in mortgage

It is widely believed that you cannot sell real estate for which the mortgage loan has not been repaid yet . Still, the deal is real. To do this, you need to get the consent of the bank to sell the apartment.

If the seller has already found a buyer for his home, the latter must contact the banking institution where the mortgage was issued. The buyer must sign an agreement according to which he buys the real estate acting as a pledge. The same person then pays off the balance of the mortgage at the bank. Now housing can be sold in the usual way.

Privatized real estate

In a privatized apartment, all family members act as owners and they all have a legal right to real estate. Whether people live in this living space at the moment or live elsewhere does not matter.

To sell a privatized apartment, you need to obtain permission to sell from all co-owners. To conclude a transaction, you will also have to provide original passports and identification codes of all property owners.

The co-owner may refuse to sell the apartment. In this case, you need to issue a written notice that one of the owners wants to sell his share. The co-owner who refused to sell his part, if desired, can redeem the share that is being sold. If he does not plan to buy it or does not redeem this part within 30 days after receiving written notice, it can be sold to others.

To legally conclude a sale and purchase transaction, you have to have in the package of documents the original notice of the desire to sell your share, consent or refusal to purchase from other co-owners.

Absence of a co-owner at purchase transaction

If any of the co-owners of the apartment is in another city, abroad, or cannot be present at the conclusion of the purchase transaction for another reason, he can issue a power of attorney to another owner of this living space. The power of attorney is issued in writing and certified by a notary.

If the apartment has one owner and he wants to sell it, but cannot personally come to the deal, he can also issue a power of attorney to a third party. A power of attorney may give the right to draw up the necessary documents, represent the interests of the seller in various institutions and directly to conduct a transaction of real estate production.

There are situations when, regardless of the package of documents, an apartment cannot be sold. This can happen if the property is under arrest or prohibition, it is not privatized, refers to social or departmental housing, if the co-owner cannot be present at the transaction and cannot issue a power of attorney. Before you start collecting documents, it is worth checking if there are any factors that will make it impossible to sell a home. And only then you can start the process with all papers.