How to draw up documents with a notary public when buying real estate or concluding contracts for a foreigner in Ukraine?

Non-residents intending to make a business deal, buy an apartment, receive an inheritance or perform any other action in Ukraine, which requires involvement of a notary, are often faced with many subtle aspects of the procedure.

We will elaborate on the procedure of real estate purchase by a foreigner in Ukraine and what a non-resident might need for this. First of all we will talk about the moments when you will need to apply to a notary - and you will have to do this, for example, in the following cases: 

• When choosing an apartment, if you want to use the services of a representative in Ukraine;

• When signing real estate purchase agreements, etc.

The real estate registration procedure is divided into three stages: 

1. Real estate selection, during which the lawyer will check open sources and warn about the risks;

2. Real estate payment procedure with many tax nuances that we discuss with the Client in advance;

3. Execution of the transaction at the notary - in this case we usually accompany the Client to our trusted notary, help with organizing translations and ensure that all necessary documents are in place. 

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The main steps of the procedure for executing real estate purchase in Ukraine for a foreigner

In general, we talked about the process and aspects of buying a property in our previous article (link above), so here we will highlight the main steps and the things you should pay special attention to.

Of course, you should start with the search for a suitable property, which may include:

• Analysis of the best type of real estate to buy (primary, secondary market, etc.), based on the needs and future plans for the property. Our firm necessarily offers an introductory consultation, during which we find out the current situation of the Client, what documents he/she has and what is his/her main goal of the purchase of the real estate - renting it out, residence, obtaining citizenship, etc;

• Legal due diligence of the real estate, which depends on the specifics of the chosen property, as well as on the history of ownership. Find more details on the procedure here.

• Negotiating the terms of the deal: the price and form of payment. At this stage it is important not to agree with sellers willing, for example, to get a cash payment - there are clear rules for executing such transactions, the violation of which will result in high penalties.

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We had the practice of working on a rather interesting case, where the Client had a purchase and sale agreement certified by a notary, and the additional agreement was drawn up by an ordinary document. The fact is that the purchase and sale agreement must be certified by a notary, and if the agreement has additional conditions, this requires drawing up an additional agreement, which must also be notarized (because an additional agreement can be concluded in exactly the same form as the main agreement). This is why there were problems with the Client, which our lawyer successfully solved.

Let’s talk specifically about the execution of documents.

Rules for preparation and execution of documents when purchasing real estate by a foreigner

1.  Documents that a foreigner must have in order to buy or sell real estate in Ukraine.

A foreigner wishing to purchase real estate needs the following documents:

• a valid foreign passport;

• a translated and notarized in Ukraine translation of the passport;

• an ID code. Our lawyers can help with obtaining identification code in Ukraine within the shortest possible time.

2. Visiting a notary.

If you do not want or, for whatever reason, cannot do the paperwork yourself, conduct the real estate inspection or other related procedures - you have the right to issue a power of attorney to qualified professionals who will organize the entire process on their own.

And in the process of drawing up the power of attorney and executing the transaction - you will have to go to the notary. While at the appointment, you should take into account the following points:

• The text of the power of attorney must comply with the clear wording required by the local state authorities. For example, in order to obtain a TIN it is necessary that the phrase in the power of attorney coincides with the one that the tax office has published and posted at the reception point for these documents. Such nuances can rarely be advised by a notary - they are more likely to be taken care of by a specialized lawyer, who will prepare the text of the power of attorney.

• Power of attorney can be issued both on the territory of Ukraine and in the Client’s country, delivering the power of attorney by courier service. But here again we face the problem of using clear wording in the text. If you want to issue a power of attorney in your country - ask your representative in Ukraine to prepare a text for you.

• If you go to make a power of attorney to a notary in Ukraine and do not speak Ukrainian - you should come to the notary with an interpreter. And not just with anyone - but with a certified interpreter, who will show documents confirming his/her knowledge of language. But it’s also worth mentioning that there is an opinion among the notaries that only certified linguists are able to translate. That is why it is recommended to clarify the requirements for such specialists in advance with the notary who you apply to.

• The purchase and sale agreement must also be notarized and executed either in bilingual form or translated into the language of the foreigner, so that he/she is aware of what he signs.

There are situations where the Client has improperly prepared documents, for example, unnecessary or missing information, or the document is issued by the wrong authority (company).

Recently, while working with the Client, we found out already at the meeting with the notary that the issuing  authority of the official document was indicated incorrectly. The Certificate of the amount of debt for housing and public utility services specified a completely different company instead of the condominium association. That is why we recommend to involve a lawyer not only at the time of the transaction at the notary, but well in advance. Our lawyer will check that all the necessary documents are available and will make sure that they comply with the law.

Obviously, there are many other nuances of the process - we will tell you the best way to proceed if you want to buy real estate in Ukraine easily and without unnecessary delays.

Need more information?

Don’t hesitate to contact our lawyers for advice!

Read more about real estate inspection here.

Read more about pre-sale apartment inspection here.