Buying a freehold house in Poland - legal contract? How does the deposit work - to Lawyer 'in trust' or?

As title states - does anybody have a good legit contract for buying a freehold house?

...and of more interest - how does the deposit process legally work here in Poland - i.e. if you are dealing with a legit realtor, seller, and a lawyer?

Does the lawyer get the deposit 'in trust' until the deal closes?

Can you put conditions on the deposit like home inspection or financing?

just curious about the actual deposit process here ... I don't feel like loosing thousands of zlotych here if things get shady....

Yes, but you give the deposit to a notary. But not all will take it, it's not mandatory by law yet. You need to ask about the possibility.


dwutygodnik.krn.pl/artykuly/artykul/bezpieczne_depozyty_notarialne_640.html

Notary puts the money on a special bank account. It's good to pay it before the notarial deed, to meet the transfer deadline. Seller gets the money at the time of land registration. Otherwise, the notary is obliged to hand over the amount due.

One thing you need to be carefulf about is the notaries are only insured up to a few thousand zloty so choose a reputable one

Before you hand any money over for a deposit MAKE SURE that this money is refundable. In many situations the money is not-refundable and you will get NOTHING BACK.

If you sign a "Pre-Agreement" it increases the costs as opposed to just signing & completing, if you decide to just complete you need to ensure that the bank does not back out at the last minute or that the seller does not let you down either. (less likely in Poland for the seller to let you down, but both can happen.)

If you decide to pay the extra Notary costs and do a "pre-agreement" you pay a deposit and then complete later, it is also good as TERRI said to ensure you can get your money back, possibly with a clause for interest and also compensation if the seller backs out, delays or is not able to complete on the specified date. (That is the advantage of the pre-agreement, downside is just the extra cost and hassle of having to visit twice, pay for the interpreters fees twice, travel fees to sign twice, time off work twice and also the notaries fees twice.)

- If you sign a pre-agreement, you MUST be able to complete and you can ensure that it is bullet proof.

# You also need to be very careful with the "Protocol" when completing it should be done be both parties, a very few people (more in the UK) will try and fiddle the protocol - record the metres, and notify all parties of the change over date for bill payment, otherwise you end up paying for things before you took ownership.

Finally, unlike the UK there is not "Fixtures & Fittings list" with a sale of a property, so if you are expecting anything to be included.. you need to make sure it is mentioned in the contract of you might have no light bulbs, lamps, fridge, freezer, washing machine, bath, shower etc etc..

(* This is normal practice outside the UK and if you are not used to it, it can catch you out..)

Hope this is of some use and best of luck..

I remember a story (Harry, was it you that told me? I don't remember who told me...) about how someone bought a flat expecting it to be sold the way that it was presented to them. The reality was that everything upon everything was stripped apart from the floor - even light switches, plug sockets and the toilet was removed.