Notary day step by step: what actually happens in that hour

Notary day is a result, not an event

Many clients are nervous about the day at the notary. In fact it is the calmest part of the whole process — provided the groundwork has been done. Problems are not solved at the notary's table; what is read out there has already been agreed.

When something does go wrong, it almost always went wrong weeks earlier: a document nobody checked, a deadline nobody agreed, or a sentence nobody read.

Before the notary: what has to be done

1. The agreement in writing. A reservation or preliminary contract setting out the price, the deadlines, what stays in the apartment, when the handover happens and what happens if one side pulls out.
2. A Land Register check. Who the owner is, and what mortgages, attachments, servitudes or restrictions are recorded. I always look at this myself, and in advance, not on the day of the deal.
3. The owners' consents. Co-owners, a spouse's consent, several heirs. A missing consent is the most common reason a deal gets postponed.
4. The housing association's position. Arrears, the renovation loan, the budget, planned works. The buyer's bank will ask for this anyway.
5. The money and the bank. Whether the buyer is coming with a loan or their own money, whether the notary's escrow account is used, when the money arrives and when the seller's old mortgage is deleted.
6. The draft contract. The notary sends the draft in advance. Read it in a calm moment, not while looking for a parking space. Ask your questions before, not during.

The day of the deal

Before it starts

Arrive early. Bring valid photo identification — an ID card or a passport; a driving licence will not do. If someone is coming with a power of attorney, it has to be notarised and already with the notary.

Reading the contract aloud

The notary reads the contract aloud. It is a requirement of the law and it is also your last chance to correct something. The reading feels slow, but this is exactly where the mistakes nobody spotted earlier come out: the wrong floor area, the wrong name, a forgotten storage room, furniture that was never agreed.

If something is not clear, say so. The notary is impartial and their job is to make sure both sides understand what they are signing. There is no stupid question in that room.

Signatures

For a home, the sales contract and the real right contract are usually signed at the same time — meaning the agreement and the transfer of ownership happen in one document. In a mortgage deal, the mortgage in favour of the buyer's bank is set up in the same room.

The money moving

The purchase price moves either through the notary's escrow account or directly on the agreed terms. Escrow means the money is already in the notary's account and goes to the seller once the conditions are met. It is the safest option for the seller and I prefer it whenever it is possible.

The Land Register entry

A signature does not yet make you the owner. The notary files the application and ownership passes when the entry is made. It takes time and there is no point in rushing it — but it is worth knowing that this time exists.

What most often holds things up on the day

Notaries are precise people and they will not sign when something does not add up. These are the things I have seen deals postponed over on the very morning:

• One party does not turn up. A co-owner is abroad and there is no power of attorney. A digital signature does not replace a sales contract — remote authentication exists, but it has to be agreed weeks in advance.
• An expired document. An ID card is valid until the morning of the deal and not an hour longer.
• An old mortgage in the Land Register. The seller's loan was paid off long ago, but the entry is still there. Deleting it needs the bank's consent, and that does not arrive the same day.
• Furniture that was never agreed. The kitchen units, the curtain rails, the sauna stove. If it is not written into the contract, the argument starts at exactly the moment everyone is already sitting at the table.
• An association debt nobody knew about. An unpaid invoice from the previous owner comes out of the buyer's bank enquiry.

Each one of these can be solved. What makes it expensive is that solving it takes days, and in the meantime the buyer's loan decision can expire or the other side can lose their nerve.

Costs

The notary fee comes from the law and depends on the value of the deal, so it is not negotiable and does not differ from one notary to another. On top of that comes the state fee for the Land Register entry. Who bears these costs is a matter of agreement between the parties — in Estonia they are often split in half, but that has to be written into the contract, not assumed.

Ask the notary's office for the exact sum in advance. Then there are no surprises on the day.

When you are selling and buying at the same time

A very common situation: you are selling your apartment and buying a new one at the same time. The two deals have to line up, because the money from the first goes into the second.

There are two ways to do it. Either both deals are put on the same day, usually one after the other at the same notary's office, or a longer handover deadline is agreed in the first contract, which gives you time to move. Both work, but neither happens by itself — it has to be settled when the first offer is accepted, not a week before the notary.

After the signature: the work is not over

The most common mistake is to think everything is done once the notary is finished. What remains is the part that actually causes disputes:

• The handover and the report. Meter readings, keys, condition, photos. The handover report is a short piece of paper that pays for itself the first time somebody disputes something.
• Contracts transferred. Electricity, gas, internet, insurance.
• Notifying the housing association of the change of owner.
• Moving out on the agreed date. If the seller is staying on in the apartment, that has to be in the contract, not in verbal good faith.

Where I fit into this

My job is to make notary day boring. I check the documents in advance, deal with the notary, the bank and the other side, go through the contract with you beforehand and am there at the deal. If something comes up, it comes up weeks before the signature — that is the only point where fixing a problem is still cheap.