Selling a house runs in five steps: valuation, assembling documents, marketing, viewings and negotiation, notarisation. The indispensable documents are the land-register extract, cadastral map, building plans, living-space calculation and a valid energy certificate — which must be shown to interested parties unprompted at the viewing at the latest, or a fine may follow.
Land-register extract, cadastral map, building drawings and specification, living- and usable-space calculation, energy certificate, evidence of modernisations and an extract from the building-encumbrance register. For leasehold land, add the ground-lease contract. Anything you cannot supply, we obtain from the land registry, building authority and cadastral office.
Typically several months from valuation to notarisation; payment usually follows four to eight weeks after the notary appointment, once the priority notice is registered and the property is free of encumbrances. A realistic asking price and complete documents are the two biggest levers on the timeline.
Not if you occupied the house yourself in the year of sale and the two preceding years, or owned it for more than ten years. Otherwise the gain is a private disposal under § 23 EStG and taxed at your personal rate. Selling more than three properties within five years risks being classed as commercial property trading.
Yes. Under the Building Energy Act you must present it unprompted at the viewing at the latest and hand it over on completion. The listing itself must already state energy source, year of construction, energy value and efficiency class. Missing it can mean fines of up to €10,000.
Known defects belong in the brochure and in the conversation. The usual exclusion of liability in the contract does not cover fraudulently concealed defects — you remain liable years after the sale. Being open is not only more honest here, it is cheaper.
Major refurbishment rarely pays off; small things often do — clearing out, painting, fixing minor faults, tidying the garden. We tell you what makes sense for your property at the viewing, before you spend anything.
We value your house free and without obligation — using comparable sales from the Ostalbkreis, not an online estimator.
