Austrian Real Estate Law, Purchasing Real Estate in Austria – Retain an Austrian Attorney as Your Personal Counsel – Law Experts Attorneys: Attorney Dr Wiesflecker will work exclusively on your behalf
Austrian Real Estate Law, A Vast Legal Field – Retaining An Attorney In Austria
Real estate law comprises a wide range of different legal fields. It is very comprehensive, complex and also consists of different provisions that apply in Austria’s nine federal states. Consequently, the term “real estate law” refers to the sum total of all provisions and norms related to real estate. Real estate does not only include land parcels with and without buildings; it also refers for instance to houses or condos.
Austrian Real Estate Law, Purchasing Real Estate - Searching & Buying With Your One-Stop-Shop-Law-Firm
The traditional field of real estate law comprises the purchase as well as the sale of real estate along with all related questions and activities. Principally, any natural or legal entity (company, foundation, coop, association) has the right to acquire real estate in Austria.
The inspection of the respective property is the mandatory transaction that must take place when a property, condo, house or just a land parcel is purchased or sold. Subsequently, the respective purchase, gifting or handover agreement is compiled in most cases. After the closing and the registration of the transaction in the register of deeds, this results in the conveyance of the title to the respective property, which at this point is also reflected in the register of deeds. In conjunction with the conveyance of title, as the writer of the purchase agreement and escrow agent, the attorney is required to handle numerous details, ranging from the previously mentioned real estate inspection, the writing of the agreement, the purchase price collection and management to the registration of the deed rights. The payment of the taxes and fees due as well as the organization and assessment of the property management are also part of the attorney’s obligations. Any litigation matters resulting from a real estate transaction are usually also resolved or handled before a court of law by the attorneys involved.
Principally, the acquisition of real estate in Austria is subject to the payment of property transfer tax. Moreover, when the title is registered in the register of deeds, a registration fee is due.
Austrian Real Estate Law, The “Grundverkehrsrecht” (Land Transaction Law) – Attorney Austria
The Austrian land transaction law, which makes the conveyance of ownership contingent upon certain conditions, must be taken into account in any property conveyance transaction. Depending on where in Austria the real property is located, the acquisition may be subject to a permit in accordance with the respective federal state’s land transaction laws. These land transaction laws govern the purchase of real property by domestic buyers and also include provisions for the acquisition of real estate by foreign nationals. As a rule, these land transaction laws impose approval processes for the acquisition of rights by foreign citizens from non-EU countries. Citizens of the EU, on the other hand, are subject to the same terms as Austrian citizens thanks to the fundamental freedoms afforded to them by European Union law.
Austrian Real Estate Law, From The Right To Build To Lease-Hold Covenants - Real Property Law Austria
Besides the acquisition of real estate, Austrian real estate also covers issues related to the right to build, third-party-owned land rights, residential ownership, real estate developer contract law, zoning laws and rent as well as lease-hold matters. Obviously, the discipline of real estate law also addresses questions affiliated with the alteration of real property, such as the consolidation or division of land parcels or other properties.
Your Real Estate Lawyers in Austria - The One-Stop-Shop for all Your Legal Needs in Real Estate and Property Matters
Thanks to the fact that Dr Wiesflecker worked for renowned business law firms that did business around the globe for years, paired with his domestic and international contract law as well as civil law expertise, Dr Hannes Wiesflecker boasts the specialized knowledge and years of experience required to successfully close real estate transactions. As Attorney Wiesflecker has also successfully completed the International Legal English Certificate (ILEC, University of Cambridge, UK), Dr Wiesflecker is able to effectively provide legal advice and work in international law. All property and cross-border-cases can be conducted on grounds of high-quality English language proficiency.
Law Experts Attorneys is a law firm with international experience that maintains offices in Innsbruck (main office), Telfs and Vienna (branch offices). Our partner network will assist you find and proceed on the optimum path to successfully implement your project.
As your legal counsel, we look forward to providing comprehensive, all-encompassing out-of-court and in-court advice as well as representation in all real estate law related matters. Listed below are just some of the key services we offer:
- Extensive assistance with real estate searches in continuous partnership with experienced and professional experts as well as real estate brokers
- Advice related to the acquisition of real estate and real estate companies, contract writing and negotiation services
- Advice related to the sale of real estate and real estate companies, contract writing and negotiation services
- Review and inspection of the respective properties and compilation of purchase offers or letters of intent, analysis of any potential problems ahead of negotiations
- Compilation of purchase agreements, gifting agreements, transfer agreements, right to build contracts or easement agreements
- Assumption of trusteeship/escrow agent responsibilities and safeguarding of purchase price payments
- Clarification of all land transaction law and foreign national land transaction related issues
- Computation and payment of the taxes and fees affiliated with the acquisition of real estate
- Generation of lease, usage and lease-hold agreements
- Compilation of all other property-related contracts (easement agreements, etc.), including recording in the register of deeds
- Preparation and establishment of condominium ownership
- Handling of real estate projects in compliance with the Austrian real estate developer contract laws (Bauträgervertragsgesetz)
- In-court and arbitration court representation in all real estate law related matters
We will be pleased to assist you with comprehensive and competent advice! Click here to send an e-mail to Law Experts Attorneys or call us at +43(512)586 586.
Real Estate Law Austria – Purchasing real estate in Austria: Gain insights into the following other Austrian real estate law aspects:
Austrian Real Estate Law – Acquisition of property, Real Estate Law Austria
Austrian real estate law makes the acquisition of real property contingent upon the closing of an effective contract (in most cases a purchase agreement), which documents that seller and buyer have achieved an agreement on the property to be purchased and its price. However, the presentation of a written record is required for the implementation of the purchase agreement in the register of deeds. The signatures must be notarized by a notary public.
Austrian Real Estate Law – Trusteeship/escrow agent and safeguarding of the purchase price
As a rule, the parties to a real estate purchase transaction agree on having the purchase price collection safeguarded by placing the property in escrow with an escrow agent. This is based on the logical conclusion that a buyer will not want to pay the full purchase price until the buyer’s title to the property has been ensured in the register of deeds. The solution that is common practice in Austria, which is to integrate an escrow agent as a neutral entity, has proven to be particularly efficient. The register of deeds compliant records are generated by the escrow agent, with whom the buyer also places the purchase price in escrow. The escrow agent executes the purchase agreement in the register of deeds and the purchase price is not transferred to the seller until the legal transaction has been concluded. If the execution of the purchase agreement should not be successful (for instance because of the absence of a land transaction permit), the escrow agent must return the purchase price to the buyer.
Buyers are frequently not in a position to provide the funding for a real estate acquisition on their own and thus need the services of a bank for this purpose. If this is the case, a separate escrow agreement is made with the bank, which pays the purchase price directly to the escrow agent subject to the condition that the escrow agent does not disburse the purchase price until it has been collateralized by the bank.
Austrian Real Estate Law – Register of deeds
The register of deeds is a public register maintained by Austrian district courts, in which land parcels and their existing in rem rights are recorded. Anyone can review the register of deeds. The content of the register is the land registry as it defines the land registry municipality and the plot.
Entire land parcels/plots as well as sections of the former are defined as components of a register of deeds body. It is mandatory for sub-sections to be concretely defined in plans.
Reductions and enlargements of land parcel sizes are also entries into the individual components of the register of deeds body and thus have to be treated in the same way as the incorporation of the ownership title. The removal of a component of the register of deeds body and its addition to another register of deeds body that already exists or the opening of a new entry number for the component is permitted only if the component to be removed is concretely designated and if the records used as grounds for such requests meet the requirements for the incorporation of the ownership title.
The Austrian register of deeds laws (Grundbuchgesetz = GBB) impose strict standards for documents based on which a registration in the books is supposed to be implemented (ref. §§ 26, 27 Sect. 1, 31 et seq. GBG). For instance, these records must identify the individuals involved in the legal transaction in such a manner that they cannot be confused with other individuals.
The 2008 amendment of the GB resulted in the transition from the manually updated register of deeds to automated computer-supported data processing (ADP). Consequently, all register of deeds-related requests must now be submitted electronically.
Austrian Real Estate Law – Easements
Easements are in rem rights that can be documented in the register of deeds so that they are visible by and applicable to everyone. Respective legal grounds must exist for the registration of easements. The grounds must be documented in the respective contractual records. Among the typical easements are residential or usufruct rights, which grant individuals the right to live in or have use of the property for the rest of their lives even after property has been conveyed to other owners.
Austrian Real Estate Law – Condominium ownership
In Austria, the term “condominium is used to define a structurally enclosed, autonomous part of a building of a type and size that makes it suitable to satisfy the individual residential needs of humans.
Condominium ownership is the in rem right granted to the co-owner of a real property that allows him or her to exclusively use and make unilateral dispositions with regard to the condominium.
All condominium owners have intangible ownership title to the parts of the property designated for shared use (stairwells, heating systems, garden, roof).
Austrian Real Estate Law – Right to build
The right to build gives someone the right to build or maintain a structure on third-party land for a specific period of time with the owner’s consent. The purpose of the right to build is to monetize the property while the owner does not have to forego title to the property. The right to build must be established for a certain period of time, which must not be less than ten years and must not exceed one hundred years. As a rule, the right to build expires when the agreed-upon term ends.
A right to build is established as a result of the contract-based entry of this right into the register of deeds. The right to build is entered as a book recorded attachment to the land in the part of the register of deeds where the land parcel is registered.
On the other hand, the German term “Baurecht” also refers to all legal standards pertaining to building and construction, i.e. the building codes and construction laws.