Buying a Property in Estonia
The process of buying real estate in the Republic of Estonia can seem a bit complicated on the surface. With that said, the government of the Republic of Estonia has worked rather diligently to liberalize and modernize the laws governing the buying and selling of real estate in that country. In this regard, a good deal of effort has been expended making it a bit easier for foreign nationals to buy real estate in Estonia.
There are two primary contracts involved in the sale of real estate in Estonia. Both documents are prepared by a notary. Indeed, in Estonia it is mandatory that a notary be involved in the real estate sales process, that a notary prepare these primary documents. The initial agreement in the Estonian real estate sales process is the sales-purchase agreement. This agreement is prepared by the notary and is executed by the buyer and the seller once the seller makes an offer on the property that is for sale. Generally speaking, once the oral offer is made by the buyer to the seller, the sales-purchase agreement can be prepared and executed with a period of ten to thirty days.
During the period of time between the execution of the sales-purchase agreement and the final agreement in the sales process, the buyer obtains financing and the seller makes certain that the property physically and legally is in a position to be conveyed and transferred to the buyer. In addition, during this interim period, the buyer must pay to the government what is known as a state fee — which is in the amount of 0.4% of the value of the real estate being sold and purchased.
The final agreement in the real estate sales process in Estonia is entitled the transfer of ownership in real estate agreement or document. When this document is duly executed by the parties, an application is made to the Land Register Office to transfer the ownership of the real estate from the seller to the buyer. In addition, following the filing of this application, a public notice of the change in ownership of the real estate is published in the Official State Gazette, the official publication Estonia that publishes legal notices of this nature.
In summary, the process of buying real estate in Estonia does include a number of hurdles that seem confusing and complicated on the surface. But, as has been noted, the laws have been modernized and liberalized in recent years. Chances are quite good that the government of Estonia will continue to work to make the real estate laws in that country a bit more “user friendly” and less cumbersome in the future.
Tags : Estonia¸ Real Estate, Property
Vacations in Andorra Spain
Andorra covers 468 square kilometres of mountainous landscape and twisting rivers and has a population of 68,000. Nearly twothirds of the population are of Spanish extraction, and Catalan is widely spoken. The climate is temperate, with warm summers and very cold winters, although a sweater can come in handy yearround. As with any mountain area, you can expect rain, or snow in the winter, at any time. For a small place, Andorra packs a big punch. In June alone, 20 festivals or cultural events take place, ranging from the exotic-sounding ‘night of the Andorra fire vella’, where dancing around bonfires is the order of the day, to ‘the market of the sea’, selling secondhand nautical equipment – an eccentric event to hold in a landlocked mountain retreat.
The centrepiece of Andorra’s gastronomy is traditional, mountainstyle food alongside pica pica, a local equivalent of the ubiquitous Spanish tapas. Culinary life in Andorra has been spiced up with an influx of Chinese, Vietnamese, Indian and Japanese chefs so almost anything goes. The Andorra Tourist Office website will fill you in on events, activities, and the local gastronomy. Andorra is not a full member of the European Union (EU), but receives some of the perks of membership and so enjoys the best of both worlds. For example, Andorra is treated as an EU member for trade in manufactured goods (no tariffs), but as a non EU member for agricultural products, thus escaping the rigours of the Common Agricultural Policy. Andorra is also a duty-free zone. Although the currency operating is the euro, Andorra doesn’t have the chore of minting its own euros, relying instead on Spain and France to supply the cash.
One downside of Andorra’s not being in the EU is that your European Health Insurance Card won’t be accepted here, so taking out your own health insurance, especially if you plan to ski, is vital. The property market in Andorra has experienced a boom over the past three years, with prices rising by an average of 16 per cent a year. In Andorra, foreigners can own only one property on a plot of land no larger than 1,000 square metres.
