Preliminary sale agreement checklist for Estonia
Checklist for reviewing the notary's draft sale contract or pre-contractNotariaalse müügilepingu või eellepingu projekti kontrollnimekiri
Estonia has no valid private preliminary sale contract. Every contract that obliges a party to buy or sell an immovable, a pre-contract included, must be certified by a notary. This checklist helps a buyer review the notary's draft before the signing appointment.
Use it when the notary sends you the draft sale contract (müügileping) or the draft pre-contract (eelleping). Check each point, write down your questions and send them to the notary and to the other party before the appointment. Use it also when an agent or a seller asks you to sign a reservation agreement (broneerimisleping) before the notary.
Reviewed October 28, 2026. Not legal advice. Have a notary or lawyer check your case before you sign.
Key facts
- Applies to
- Whole country
- Form
- Notarial deed for any contract that obliges a party to acquire or transfer an immovable (Asjaõigusseadus § 119).
- Private contract made anyway
- Becomes valid only if the real right agreement is later signed and entered in the land register (Asjaõigusseadus § 119).
- Transfer of ownership
- Needs a notarial real right agreement with no condition or time limit, and a land register entry (Asjaõigusseadus § 120; Notarite Koda).
- Land register processing
- The court decides a land register application within one month of filing (Justiits- ja Digiministeerium).
- Priority notice (eelmärge)
- Once registered, a later disposal of the immovable is void as far as it harms the buyer's secured claim (Asjaõigusseadus § 63(3)).
- Reservation agreement
- Valid without a notary only for a pure reservation: a reasonable fee that pays just for keeping the property off the market for a time.
- Binding reservation
- No party may have to buy or sell later. A binding one is a pre-contract, void without a notary (Supreme Court, 2-16-8456, para 16).
- Apartment association debts
- The buyer is liable as a surety for the seller's due debts to the association, up to the value of the apartment (KrtS § 43(2)).
- Let property
- The lease passes to the buyer (Võlaõigusseadus § 291).
- Ending a lease after purchase
- Only within 3 months, only on urgent own need, and with the 3-month notice period (Võlaõigusseadus §§ 312 and 323).
- Lease noted in the land register
- The buyer cannot end it on the ground of own need at all (Võlaõigusseadus § 324).
- Energy performance certificate
- The certificate or a copy is handed to the buyer at the contract, or it is available in the building register (Ehitusseadustik § 67(2)).
The checklist
Before the notary: reservation and payments
Read any reservation agreement before you sign. It may only bar the seller from selling to others for a set time.broneerimisleping, broneerimistasu
Check that any fee is reasonable, and what happens to it if the sale fails.broneerimisleping, broneerimistasu
Agree the price, payment plan, handover date and included items with the seller, and give them to the notary.
The notary drafts the contract from these terms. You do not need to bring a draft.
Prepare proof of the origin of your own funds, such as bank statements.rahapesu tõkestamise ankeet
The notary may not certify the deal until the origin of the money is known and plausible.
Parties and the property in the draft
Check that the seller in the draft is the owner shown in the land register, and that every co-owner signs.kinnistusraamat
The land register is presumed correct, and a buyer who relies on it in good faith is protected.
Check whether the seller's spouse or registered partner must consent, or whether a court or guardian approval is needed.abikaasa nõusolek
Check the description: register part number, cadastral unit or apartment number, area, storage room and parking space.registriosa number, korteriomand
The land register shows whether a cellar room or a parking space belongs to the apartment.
If you are not an EEA or OECD citizen and the land has farm or forest land, ask the notary about a local council permit.volikogu luba
Encumbrances and existing rights
Read how the draft removes each mortgage: the seller's bank's consent and the payment that clears it.hüpoteek, kustutamine
Read the servitudes, rights of use, prohibition notes and pre-emption rights listed in the draft.servituut, keelumärge, ostueesõigus
They bind every later owner. A registered prohibition note blocks entries.
Ask for every current lease and check how the draft deals with it.üürileping
Price, payment and handover
Check that the price, loan and payment dates match your deal, and that you pay through the notary's deposit account.notari deposiit, eelmärge
With the deposit the notary transfers the money only after filing the land register application.
If you pay without the deposit account, check that a priority notice secures your claim.notari deposiit, eelmärge
A registered priority notice protects the buyer against later disposals.
Check the handover date, the passing of risk, the meter readings and the keys, and who pays the costs up to handover.valduse üleandmine, üleandmise-vastuvõtmise akt
The deed and a handover report fix the condition and the date from which the buyer bears the costs.
Check who pays the notary fee and the state fee for the land register entry.notari tasu, riigilõiv
Condition, defects and the building
Check that the known defects are listed in the draft, and read any clause that limits the seller's liability.puudused, müüja vastutus
The seller must disclose known defects. Precise wording in the contract avoids later disputes.
Check that the building has a use permit or a use notice, and that the energy certificate is in the building register.kasutusluba, kasutusteatis, energiamärgis
For an apartment, ask the association for the seller's debt statement and check how the draft settles any debt.korteriühistu, võlgnevuse tõend
Formalities
A private template would be void. Any contract to acquire or transfer an immovable, a pre-contract included, needs a notarial deed (Asjaõigusseadus § 119(1), Võlaõigusseadus § 33(2)).
- The binding document is the notarial deed. The notary drafts it from the terms the parties give and sends the draft before the signing.
- The notary checks the land register, the identity, capacity and powers of the parties, and the origin of the money.
- The parties sign before the notary, at the notary's office or by remote certification.
- The sale contract and the real right agreement (asjaõigusleping) can be in the same deed (Asjaõigusseadus § 120(3)).
- When the parties need time, they sign a notarial pre-contract or a sale contract with a priority notice (eelmärge) for the buyer.
- The notary files the application with the land register department of the county court. The buyer becomes the owner when the court makes the entry.
Common mistakes
- Signing a private paper that binds you to buy, and paying a fee. As a pre-contract it is void, and you may need a court to recover the money.
- Expecting every reservation fee back. A pure reservation agreement is valid, so you can lose that fee if you walk away.
- Paying the seller before the notary files the transfer. Use the notary's deposit account, or have the contract secure your claim with a priority notice.
- Keeping side deals out of the deed, such as a promised repair or cash for furniture. The notary records only the deed and must check where the money comes from.
- Accepting a broad exclusion of the seller's liability without a technical inspection. The notary checks the legal side only and does no building survey.
- Forgetting the apartment association. Ask for its statement of the seller's debts, because the buyer answers for due debts up to the value of the apartment.
- Buying a co-owned share as if it were an apartment. A share (mõtteline osa) gives no separate ownership of a flat. Co-owners can have a pre-emption right.
- Signing before the bank approves your loan. The certified contract binds you to pay. Get the loan decision first, or ask the notary for a loan condition.
Legal basis
- Asjaõigusseadus (Law of Property Act), § 56 and § 56¹ (presumed correctness of the land register, good faith acquisition), § 63 (notes in the land register, priority notice), § 119 (form of the obligation), § 120 (real right agreement)
- Võlaõigusseadus (Law of Obligations Act), § 11 (form), § 33 (pre-contract), § 291, § 323 and § 324 (lease on change of owner, note in the land register), § 312 (notice periods)
- Korteriomandi- ja korteriühistuseadus (KrtS), § 43 (liability of the buyer of an apartment) and § 44 (pledge of the apartment association)
- Ehitusseadustik (Building Code), § 67 (energy performance certificate on sale)
- Kinnisasja omandamise kitsendamise seadus (Restrictions on Acquisition of Immovables Act), §§ 4 and 5 (agricultural and forest land)
- Riigikohus (Supreme Court), civil chamber judgment of 29 November 2017, case 2-16-8456, paras 11 to 16 (reservation agreement or void pre-contract)