10 mistakes when buying an apartment that can get expensive

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

You will be saved by attentiveness to the nuances, which at first glance seem insignificant.

1. Do not check documents

Thorough study of documents is such an elementary stage that it seems as if no one will get caught on it. But it is precisely such confidence that has every chance of becoming fatal.

For example, the seller will show a passport - an ordinary document, nothing suspicious. And later it turns out that six months ago he reported to the police that he had lost him. And now he's trying to close a deal on an invalid ID. In the future, this can promise many problems, even if the buyer ultimately manages to prove his case.

There are also less obvious mistakes and misprints, due to which the legality of the transaction runs the risk of being questioned - different dates of the same event in documents or a mismatch in one letter in the names.

What to do

Always read each paper carefully, even if you have a model contract in front of you. Check dates, first names, last names - all key information. The special service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs "Checking the list of invalid Russian passports" will help to establish the authenticity of the passport. To do this, you only need a series and a document number.

2. Ignore the legality of the layout

The state prohibits breaking and building walls at random. Arbitrariness is dangerous here: they will cut through the doorway in one apartment, and the whole staircase will collapse. Therefore, any redevelopment must be agreed upon.

If the previous owner did not complete the alteration according to the letter of the law, this responsibility will fall on the shoulders of the new owner of the home and will require a lot of time and a lot of money. Moreover, some transformations will never be approved. And you will have to return the walls to the places laid down according to the documents, otherwise the apartment may even be taken away and sold at a public auction.

What to do

Request an extended extract from the Unified State Register of Real Estate, which contains the technical plan of the apartment. Then it will be possible to compare it with the real arrangement of structures and understand if everything is in order. In some cases, the fact of uncoordinated redevelopment will be recorded in the plan.

3. Do not check the archival information about those registered in the apartment

It happens that a certificate of registration in form 9, where everything registered in the apartment is indicated, does not raise questions. But there are controversial categories of tenants that are worth knowing about, even if they are discharged.

For example, these are the missing. If the court has recognized a person as such, he can be written out by the Law of the Russian Federation dated June 25, 1993 No. 5242-1. But when the missing person returns, he has the right to claim the restoration of registration at the old place of residence.

The situation is similar with the prisoners. Since 2015, they have ceased to be issued by the Federal Law of December 31, 2014 No. 525-FZ, in order to register in places of deprivation of liberty. However, the terms of imprisonment are long, so theoretically there is a risk that the offender, after serving his sentence, will return and try to register in his old apartment.

What to do

You need to ask the seller for two certificates:

• Archive about registration in form 9. It is not always given willingly, because it contains personal data of former residents. But it is this document that shows in dynamics everyone who has ever been registered in the apartment.
• Help in form 12. It contains information about whether someone from the “problem” categories has ever been registered in the apartment.

4. Do not require the consent of the seller's spouse

The property acquired in marriage is considered joint property, even if it is recorded only in the name of the husband or wife. So one spouse has no right to sell an apartment without the consent of the other. A deal made without the approval of the second person can be challenged.

But that's not all. Similar problems sometimes arise anyway, even if the owner of the apartment is divorced. For example, the ex-husband and wife did not manage to divide the property and still own it jointly.

What to do

Require a notarized consent of the second spouse or a court decision on the division of property, according to which the property was transferred to the seller.

5. Do not know how privatization was formalized

If, at the time of privatization, a person who had the right to participate in it refuses his share, then he retains the right to live in the apartment for life.

It sounds a little scarier than it actually is. Such a tenant can voluntarily agree to check out of the apartment and register in another place, and also do it by court order.

Nevertheless, if the buyer does not immediately clarify this issue, then he risks participating in long litigation in the future.

What to do

Check the documents for privatization and compare the dates in them with the list of tenants registered at that time in the apartment, which are indicated in the archive certificate in form 9.

And if you find a person with the right to live for life, then receive from him a notarized statement of waiver of this right and a document of registration at a new address, after he is discharged from the old apartment.

6. Do not look at the certificate of legal capacity of the seller

Any deal is valid if its participants were in a sober mind and solid memory. Unfortunately, the incapacity is not obvious - you can buy an apartment from a sane-looking owner, and then find out that he had no right to sell it. And in the end to be left without money and without an apartment.

What to do

Ask the seller for a certificate of legal capacity from a psychiatrist and a narcologist. Moreover, if possible, it is better to go to the doctor with him to make sure that he did not buy documents in the transition.

7. Discard heirs

Buying an apartment that has been inherited by the owner is a potential source of problems. Of course, things don't necessarily go according to the worst-case scenario.

But sometimes, after the sale, deprived heirs appear who challenge the deal. They, too, could apply for an apartment, so the process of dividing the living space must be restarted. The buyer in this situation is innocently injured.

What to do

The more time has passed since the inheritance was received, the less the risk that dissatisfied people will appear. So look in the certificate for the year when the apartment was transferred. And consult with a lawyer - let him check the specific situation with the housing that you are going to buy.

8. Losing sight of children

If the owner has children, it is possible that the apartment was bought using maternity capital. In this case, parents are obliged to provide their children with shares in housing. If not selected, then the transaction can be challenged.

But the decorated children's shares in the apartment promise additional problems. If the owner is a minor, the consent to the sale must be given by the guardianship authorities. And if the children are over 14 years old, then they themselves.

What to do

Ask the real estate seller for a certificate from the Pension Fund stating that the maternity capital was not used to buy an apartment. If the owners are children, make sure that all the necessary consents are in the package of documents.

9. Do not check payments for housing and communal services

It's not even about debt. If the previous owner did not pay for the communal apartment, then the debts remain to him. The exception is overhaul, here the new landlord will have to repay the non-payment.

It is worth looking at utility bills in order to make sure that the communal apartment will not ruin you in the future. Because even in one city, the amounts sometimes differ greatly from one district to another and from one management company to another.

Previous owner's debts are at risk when they are huge. And if he has already entered into bankruptcy proceedings, then the sale transaction may be declared invalid, and the apartment may be returned to the mass to pay off debts.

What to do

Ask to show payments for the last months.

10. Cheat with the contract

People go to all sorts of tricks to evade taxes. For example, it is suggested that not the entire amount of the transaction should be entered into the contract. It may be beneficial for the seller, but not for the buyer.

In which case, the buyer will make all claims for exactly the amount indicated in the documents. He will also not be able to receive the full tax deduction for the purchase of housing. And when selling faster than three years later, he risks paying more tax than he could.

Moreover, there is no need to agree to a deed of gift instead of a purchase and sale agreement, when the transfer of money is formalized by some document. First, then the buyer will have to pay the tax - for income in the form of real estate received as a gift from someone other than a close relative. Secondly, the transaction may be invalidated.

What to do

Write the truth in the contract. Counterfeiting is beneficial to the seller, but you should think about yourself and your advantages first.