How to buy an apartment that is already in a mortgage

Is it possible to buy an apartment that is already on a mortgage

Mortgage housing is pledged by the bank - a record of this is in the Unified State Register of Real Estate. The owner cannot conduct transactions with such an apartment without the permission of the mortgagee: Rosreestr simply will not register the transfer of ownership. But this does not mean that it is impossible to sell or buy mortgaged real estate. It's just that the procedure itself will be a little more complicated and longer.

Why sell an apartment that has a mortgage

If the apartment went to the bank through the court, because the owner is in debt on the loan, then the financial institution sells it through a public auction. When the owner himself decides to sell mortgaged property, potential buyers may be suspicious of this. The mortgage has a reputation for slavery, the shackles of which can only be thrown off with the last payment. If a person sells an apartment, something is wrong either with him or with the apartment, some believe.

In fact, there can be a million reasons. The owner decided to move to another city for work or to a larger apartment due to the addition to the family. The spouses are getting divorced, want to pay off the debt and share the money for the mortgage apartment. The borrower has changed financial circumstances, he can not cope with the loan and wants to give it back before the situation becomes irreparable.

Of course, the reason may be something unpleasant: the roof is leaking, there is a drug den at the entrance, and the management company collects so much money as if it sprinkles the sidewalks with Swarovski crystals in winter. But you are not insured against such risks even when buying an apartment without a mortgage - you just need to check everything.

Now in Russia, almost half of real estate transactions take place with the attraction of mortgages. So there will be more apartments on the market that are encumbered with mortgages.

Is it profitable to buy an apartment that is already in a mortgage

When a bank sells a debtor's apartment at a public auction, a substantial discount can be expected. For a financial institution, this is a non-core asset, so it tries to get rid of it by simply returning its own.

When selling a home by the owner, one cannot expect an unusually favorable price. But he can still throw off a little - for unnecessary trouble and to motivate you to buy an apartment with an encumbrance.

How to buy an apartment with a mortgage

Depending on the conditions, you can buy an apartment in different ways.

With the repayment of the mortgage at the time of the transaction

Conditions: the transaction is carried out with the consent of the bank in which the current owner issued the mortgage; the buyer purchases the object for cash.

The safest scheme. It protects all parties to the transaction: the buyer, the seller, and the bank. Let's look at an example.

An apartment for 3 million rubles is on sale. The bank agrees to the transaction and determines the amount of the remaining debt - 500 thousand rubles. Two cells are used for calculations. Before signing the purchase and sale agreement, the buyer's money is laid in them: 500 thousand in one and 2.5 million in another.

The documents for the cells prescribe who can pick up the bills and when. If the purchase and sale agreement is signed, and the transfer of ownership is registered in Rosreestr, the bank will be able to take its 500 thousand from one cell, the seller - 2.5 million from the second, and the buyer - a mortgage to remove the encumbrance. If the deal fails, the buyer will return his funds, and nothing will change for the rest.

Sometimes funds for a loan can be deposited not through a cell, but directly to the bank, but the financial institution is in any case actively involved in the process.

With the assignment of debt

Conditions: the transaction is carried out with the consent of the bank, the buyer purchases housing on a mortgage from the same bank.

The buyer submits an application for a mortgage to the bank, as if he were buying any apartment. The approval process will be similar and will take about the same amount of time. Since he will become the borrower during the purchase, the financial institution will check his solvency and decide whether he is ready to see him as a client.

Here, in addition to the sale and purchase agreement, an agreement is concluded for the assignment of rights of claims for an old loan or a new loan agreement between the bank and the buyer. The encumbrance in Rosreestr is removed and a new one is imposed with the registration of the rights of the next owner.

Tatiana Trofimenko Leading Lawyer of the European Legal Service

This scheme is also quite safe.

With early repayment of the mortgage at the expense of the buyer

Conditions: the bank does not agree to sell the apartment, the buyer purchases the apartment for cash. Or the buyer takes a loan from another bank.

In this case, the buyer repays the loan. Accordingly, he should have on hand an amount equal to the remainder of the debt. The parties conclude a preliminary agreement for the sale and purchase of an apartment, according to which the seller receives money to close the mortgage. Then the encumbrance is removed from the apartment, and then the housing is sold as real estate without collateral.

This option is more risky for the buyer, since the money is transferred under an agreement that is not subject to registration with Rosreestr.

Tatiana Trofimenko Leading Lawyer of the European Legal Service

In theory, the seller can refuse to register the purchase and sale agreement with Rosreestr. The buyer will be able to receive money from it, but only through the courts.

What to remember

You can buy an apartment that is already in a mortgage.
It should be checked in the same way as housing without encumbrances.
It is safer to buy an apartment with the consent of the bank and with its participation.