Real estate sales contract, gift giving

The most common way of transferring the ownership of real estate (apartment, family house, holiday home, land, farmland) is the sale and purchase in exchange for consideration, as well as free gifts. In addition to these, exchange and possession may occur. The transfer of property ownership can be done with the help of a lawyer or a notary public.

In the case of real estate sales or gifts, the following costs must be considered:

1. Real estate registration procedure fee, i.e. the fee for the land registry procedure is HUF 6,600 per property.
2. The cost of an authentic title deed is HUF 3,000 per property.
3. Lawyer's fee

4. Property acquisition tax: as a general rule, 4% of the property's sales value. Statutory tax concessions can also be claimed.

When viewing the property prior to the sales contract, the following must be checked:

• in the case of a single-family house, the condition of the roof structure and roof insulation;
• wear, breaks, traces of possible soaking;
• inspection of masonry, examination of cracks;
• checking the exact floor area, which may differ from the registered or announced data;
• structure and condition of windows and doors (doors, windows);
• facade thermal insulation;
• boiler type and condition;
• condition of pipes and heaters;
• electrical network;
• traces of mould, waterlogging;
• condition and fragmentation of coverings;
• operation and condition of air conditioning equipment.

If you have any doubts about the technical condition of the property, hire a structural engineer or architect to inspect the technical condition of the selected residential property.

What else should we pay attention to when buying real estate:

• viewing a copy of the property's title deed, which reveals the history of the property's legal situation and the existence of possible legal risks;

1. in the case of purchasing a building plot

• it is advisable to view the local building regulations and development plan, which can usually be downloaded free of charge from the website of the given settlement, but we can also ask for help from the local municipality;
• we can also measure the plot with a land surveyor if we have doubts about the plot boundary or the exact dimensions of the plot;
• check the exact condition of public utilities and connection points;

2. in the case of purchasing an apartment in a condominium

• the condominium charter and
• viewing the SZMSZ (organizational and operating regulations) is recommended;
• joint cost debt control is essential;
• inspection of the storage rooms belonging to the apartment, as well as the premises belonging to the apartment from the common property according to the founding deed;
• verification of utility debts from utility bills in advance, and then on the basis of the certificate issued by the utility service providers.

Smaller (2-4 apartment) apartments in condominiums are often undivided joint ownership, in which case it is essential to see the usage agreement before purchasing, and it is important to know that in case of transfer of ownership, the co-owners have the right of pre-emption.

It often happens that, due to the salability of the selected property, it is necessary to ensure the seriousness of the purchase intention already when viewing the property. The most common method of this is a deposit, the peculiarity of which is that the party responsible for the failure of performance loses the given deposit, and is obliged to refund the received deposit twice. If the contract is fulfilled, the debt is reduced by the amount of the deposit. If the performance of the contract fails for a reason for which neither party is responsible, or both parties are responsible, the deposit will be refunded. The standard amount of the deposit is 10% of the purchase price, but the parties can freely agree on the amount with the limitation that the amount of the excessive deposit can be reduced by the court at the request of the obligee.

The advance payment is considered an installment of the purchase price, which is always refunded in case of failure of the contract.

The stipulation of a penalty for failure may also be suitable to ensure the fulfillment of the contract, which, however, creates a unilateral payment obligation for the provider of the penalty. You can oblige yourself to pay the money owed if you break the contract for a reason for which you are responsible. You are exempted from the obligation to pay penalties if you excuse your breach of contract. The amount of the penalty also depends on the free agreement of the parties, but here too the rule known at the time of booking applies, according to which the amount of the excessive fine can be reduced by the court at the request of the obligee.

It is also possible to stipulate different securities at the same time, i.e. to establish a penalty and a deposit, however, the deposit and the penalty are both flat-rate in nature, so the amount of the penalty and compensation is reduced by the amount of the deposit. There is therefore no obstacle to insuring the contract twice, but the deposit must be included in the stipulated penalty amount.

However, the deposit and penalty cannot be imposed by themselves, as they are contractual guarantees, which means that they are meant to secure the agreement between the parties. Therefore, those who wish to ensure the seriousness of their intention to buy with a deposit must first create a written contract with the seller. In order to transfer the ownership of the property, you need a notarized or countersigned document by a lawyer, which can typically be prepared later, after viewing the property. The parties have the opportunity to enter into a pre-contract or make and accept a purchase offer during the inspection and before the attorney's deed is prepared.

In a preliminary contract, the parties agree to conclude a contract with each other at a later date and establish the essential terms of this contract. Its peculiarity is that although the pre-contract in itself is not suitable for the transfer of ownership, i.e. for submission to the Land Registry, the court can create the contract at the request of either party according to the conditions laid down in the pre-contract. The preliminary contract must be concluded in the form prescribed for the contract, i.e. in writing. The pre-contract is governed by the rules of the contract to be concluded based on it, i.e. in this case the real estate sales contract.

Other tips:

• don't let them urge you, buying real estate requires serious financial planning and entails a serious obligation in the long term;
• don't make sudden decisions;
• we always clarify what stays in the property and what the buyer takes;
• don't forget to take out home insurance for the property you buy;
• as the last step of the home purchase, don't forget to transfer utilities and other services.