Required Certificates
To be able to put your property up for sale, whether it is an apartment,
a house, or an investment property, you must be in
possession of various official documents:
- Electrical Compliance Certificate: This document proves to potential buyers that the electrical installation complies with current industry standards.
- PEB Certificate: This is a certificate measuring your property’s energy performance. It shows future owners what work could be done to improve its efficiency.
- Soil Certificate: This mandatory document allows regional authorities to monitor the transfer of land between different individuals or entities, and thus to decontaminate soil that would require such treatment.
- Urban Planning Information: Available upon request from your municipal administration and within 30 days, urban planning information includes, among other details, permits obtained, the property’s spatial layout, and any related violations.
- Title Deed: Issued by the notary upon purchase, this official document represents the identification of the property you wish to sell. If you acquired the building following the death of a relative, you will need to prove you are the heir by presenting, among other things, the declaration of inheritance.
- Post-Intervention File (DIU): This file must be compiled for all works carried out on the property since its purchase. It includes, in particular, the execution plans and photos of completed works (new window frames, updated electrical installation, new insulation, etc.) and must be handed over to the buyer upon signing the deeds.
Selling an Investment Property
As the owner of an investment property, you will need to complete
a few additional steps before you can sell your property. Ifit is rented – and this applies to all types of property – you mustbe in possession of the current leases, whether they expire in the comingmonths or in the coming years. You will also need to inform thetenants occupying the property that it is going to be sold, otherwise the salecould be cancelled. They then have 30 days to notify their
desire to acquire the property, whether it is sold individually or as a whole.
In the context of a unit-by-unit sale of your investment property, you will need to engage a surveyor to prepare the deed of division and the pre-cadastral survey. Indeed, if you acquired the property as a whole, the amount of property tax and the land registry will be modified following the division of the building. Finally, for any co-owned apartment, you will also be obliged to provide the buyer with additional information, such as the minutes of general meetings for the last 3 years, a copy of the latest balance sheet approved by the General Assembly, as well as periodic expense statements for the last 2 years. The complete list of documents to be made available to the buyer is included in Article 577-11 §1 of the Civil Code.
Signing the Official Sale Documents
One of the Spouses Owns the Property
Are you married or in a legal cohabitation, but the property belongs to only one of the spouses? If it is your primary residence and that of your partner, the latter will need to go to the notary to officially give their consent for the sale.
Your Property Has Found a New Owner
It is now time to go to the notary for the
signing of the official sale documents. Initially, you sign
the preliminary sales agreement, which allows the buyer to go to the bank
to submit their loan application. Indeed, it is rare for a financial
institution to officially grant a mortgage loan before having a copy
of the agreement signed by both parties.
Once this first step is finalized and the buyer has received loan
approval, you can sign the deed of sale. The period
between these two steps can sometimes be long – the maximum period is 4 months –
as this is when the notary conducts various mortgage searches
in the name of the selling owner, i.e., you. During a
property sale, the notary must indeed verify that there is no
outstanding mortgage on the property being sold, and also that you do not have any
outstanding debts, whether administrative (unpaid taxes or social
security contributions) or private (all debts listed with the National Bank
of Belgium).
Are you planning to sell your property in Etterbeek or Brussels? Our real estate agents are available to assist you.
