Contracts related to the purchase and sale of property, whether residential (house, apartment, or villa), commercial (office, shop, or workshop), or land (residential, agricultural, or industrial) are perhaps the most important contracts a person will ever make in his or her lifetime. The buyer should be familiar with important and basic points about these types of contracts so that he or she does not encounter problems after the transaction. As you know, real estate and land transactions are not an easy task, and many people do not know what important points and matters they should pay attention to when buying or selling property. Of course, due to the general unfamiliarity of people with legal points in real estate transactions, many disputes arise in this matter, which leads to the creation of numerous cases in the courts.

 
• Complete identification of the property seller

 
The first step is to carefully examine the identification documents of the seller or the signatories of the contract. If the owner is not present when the contract is signed, but rather the owner’s attorney, guardian, or custodian is present in his place, the buyer should examine the reasons that indicate their position and determine whether the attorney’s authority in the power of attorney includes the right to sell and collect the transaction price. 

It should be noted that in the case of multiple owners, all of them must sign the contract in proportion to their shares, unless one or some of them have a power of attorney on behalf of the others. This is especially true for inherited properties. Also, in the case of inherited properties, the buyer must see the inheritance monopoly certificate and verify the identity of the heirs, obtain a photocopy of the original from the seller, and consider the settlement of inheritance tax. It
is important to note that in the transaction of inherited properties, you must match the exact specifications of all heirs or their clients with the property information and the inheritance monopoly certificate. Also, the transaction of such properties is not possible except with the presence and consent of all heirs, and if even one person objects, the transaction will not take place. If one of the owners has a power of attorney to participate in the transaction on behalf of the rest of them, only his presence and signature are sufficient.

Another important point is that the parties to the transaction are not prohibited from transacting. Prohibited persons are those whom the legislator has prohibited from conducting transactions or intervening in their property in general or with respect to a specific case.

Prohibited persons are divided into three categories:

1- The incapacitated, which includes minors, the mentally ill, and the insane.

2- Bankrupt businessmen

3- Convicted persons (These individuals are generally prohibited from trading by the judicial authorities due to committing crimes or debts or other legal prohibitions, and in some cases some of their property is confiscated, and until the prohibition is lifted, they will not have the right to conduct transactions related to their real estate and other assets, especially in notary offices).

You may be wondering how to find out if a person is banned from trading.

Through the country’s document registration offices, the Judicial Deputy of the Attorney General’s Office, and the document and property registration offices, you can inquire about the status of individuals being prohibited from trading; therefore, it is recommended that you obtain information about this issue before making any transaction in order to prevent future problems.

 
• Check the status of the property deed

 
The next step is to be fully informed about the conditions of the property and the status of the document being traded. Real estate documents have different types with their own registration rules; therefore, the buyer or tenant should be aware of the type and status of the document before signing the contract. If you see something unclear about the status of the ownership document, you can make the necessary inquiries using the property tracking code through the country’s land registry system.

The property that is being sold should not be mortgaged or pledged by a person or institution, and in other words, the property must be free. If a property is mortgaged or pledged, it is stated in the property ownership document; therefore, when buying a property, it is necessary to pay attention to the document being free. If the property is mortgaged by a bank or another person, then selling the property is problematic. Buying, selling, and trading a house that is mortgaged by a bank as collateral or that has been seized by a judicial authority is legally prohibited.

One of the common legal solutions for buying and selling a house under mortgage and seizure is for the buyer to obtain a power of attorney from the seller to release the mortgage and seizure and to carry out the steps of releasing the mortgage and seizure of the house by spending a portion of the property price to pay the loan and debt that led to the seizure of the relevant property. In fact, instead of paying the entire price of the house to the seller, the buyer pays a portion of it to the creditor natural or legal entity to release the mortgage and seizure of the house.

 
• Matching the specifications recorded in the document with the actual specifications of the property

 
Before making a transaction, pay due attention to matching the details such as the property address, registration plate, area, postal code, etc. with the field details of the property being traded. In addition to being included in the deed and the sale deed, the aforementioned details are also available with the competent authorities.

 
• Requesting account reconciliation from the seller

 
Before selling any property, its debts to government agencies such as the municipality and the tax authority must be paid. The seller must pay these debts and provide the account statement to the buyer. The buyer can ensure the accuracy and verification of the account statement by inquiring with the relevant departments. Also, in some cases, apartments for sale have outstanding debts regarding charges and other financial issues; therefore, it is recommended to determine and settle these issues before buying a house.

 
• Not paying the full amount

 
Do not fulfill all your obligations until the other party to the transaction has fulfilled some of their obligations. Never pay the seller the full amount until the property is fully delivered. Full delivery of the property is not only in the form of physical receipt of the premises but also after the transfer of the registered document. Sellers are also advised not to deliver the property at all if they have not received the entire transaction amount.

If payment is by check, make sure that the check is not issued from a blocked account or is not a stolen check, and that the signature is not forged. However, it is recommended that the seller, if possible, receive a check issued from the buyer’s account and in his presence.

It is important to note that if the transaction price is paid by check, you should be aware that if the check is returned, only the amount of the check can be claimed and the validity of the transaction remains intact; therefore, you cannot cancel the transaction.

 
• Determining the conditions for contract termination

 
Since there is a possibility of many future disputes in real estate transactions, it is better to determine the termination conditions for each party and include them in writing in the contract to prevent future troubles. You may be wondering what is meant by termination of the contract. Termination of the contract is one of the voluntary ways of dissolving and terminating the contract; that is, the parties or one of them has the right to decide on the survival or termination of the contract.

In legal terms, the right to terminate a contract is called “option” or “termination option.” The word option means authority and refers to the authority that a person has to terminate a transaction. In fact, option is the right that the law gives to one or both parties to a contract in certain cases to break the contract they have concluded. This right does not require the agreement and consent of the parties. For example, if a person has a “defect option” in a contract, he can unilaterally terminate the contract regardless of the other party’s consent or not. In other words, terminating a contract contrary to the conclusion of the contract only requires a will.

The effect of termination is the dissolution and destruction of the contract. It should be noted that the effect of termination is future; that is, it eliminates future obligations (after termination); but previous obligations remain valid. For example, if you have bought a house and after three months your contract is terminated for some reason, that house no longer belongs to you and you must return it; but your use of that house during these three months was completely legal and correct. However, from now on you no longer have the right to use that house. After termination, an attempt is made to return the situation of the two parties to the previous state (before the contract was concluded).