Buyer's due diligence checklist for Iceland
Buyer's due diligence checklistGátlisti kaupanda fyrir kauptilboð
The documents and checks a buyer of a home in Iceland should complete before making an offer: the sales overview, the land register certificate, the property register entry, building drawings, the owners' association statement, a condition inspection, the seller's capacity and the buyer's own right to buy.
Use it from the first viewing until you sign the purchase offer. In Iceland the accepted offer is already a binding contract, so the checks must come before the offer, not between offer and deed. If a licensed agent sells the property, the agent must collect most of these documents for the sales overview. In a private sale you collect them yourself.
Reviewed October 28, 2026. Not legal advice. Have a notary or lawyer check your case before you sign.
Key facts
- Applies to
- Whole country
- Sales overview age
- The agent must update it if it is older than 3 months, unless nothing has changed (lög 70/2015, 10. gr.).
- Inspection duty
- You lose claims for defects you saw or should have seen, unless the seller was grossly negligent or dishonest (lög 40/2002, 29. gr.).
- Seller's information duty
- Missing or wrong information from the seller makes the property defective, even if sold "as is" (lög 40/2002, 26. to 28. gr.).
- Declaration of division
- A transfer of a unit in a multi-unit building cannot be registered without one (lög 26/1994, 16. gr.).
- Unpaid common costs
- The owners' association has a statutory lien (lögveð) on the unit for unpaid common costs (lög 26/1994, 48. gr.).
- Tenant in place
- A sale does not end a lease. The buyer takes over the landlord's rights and duties (húsaleigulög 36/1994, 42. gr.).
- Foreign buyers
- Need the minister's permission unless Icelandic citizens, domiciled in Iceland or holding EEA or EFTA rights (lög 19/1966, 1. gr.).
- Stamp duty
- 0.8% of the official property value for an individual, 0.4% for a first home, 1.6% for a company (lög 138/2013, 4. and 5. gr.).
The checklist
Seller and title
Land register certificateVeðbókarvottorð
Identity of every owner and their authority to signEigendur og umboð
Seller's marital status and spouse's consentSamþykki maka
Land lease, if the plot is leasedLóðarleigusamningur
If the plot is leased (leigulóð), check the term, the annual rent and the conditions of the land lease on the land register certificate.
Sales overview and property register
Sales overview, signed for receiptSöluyfirlit
Costs and debts in the sales overview
Property register entryFasteignaskrá, fasteignamat og brunabótamat
Approved building drawingsSamþykktar teikningar
They show the approved layout. An extension, a basement flat or a converted loft that is not on the drawings may be unapproved.
Multi-unit buildings
Declaration of divisionEignaskiptayfirlýsing
Owners' association statementYfirlýsing húsfélags
It states the monthly fees, arrears, the building fund balance and decided works. Unpaid common costs are a statutory lien on the unit.
Minutes of recent owners' meetingsFundargerðir húsfunda
They show planned repairs, disputes and house rules, for example on pets or short-term letting.
Condition
Your own careful viewingSkoðun kaupanda
Professional condition inspection and moisture testÁstandsskoðun og rakamæling
Earlier reports on the propertySkýrslur um ástand eignar
The agent must include known condition reports in the sales overview. Ask the seller for any report on damp, sewage pipes or roof repairs.
Occupation, costs and your own position
Buyer's costsStimpilgjald og þinglýsingargjald
Your right to buy as a foreignerHeimild til fasteignakaupa
Loan approval in principleGreiðslumat
A bank's credit assessment tells you what you can borrow. Without it, write a financing condition into the offer.
Formalities
A due diligence list is a checklist by nature. In an agency sale, the law makes the agent responsible for collecting the documents in the sales overview.
- You do not sign this checklist.
- With an agent, you receive the sales overview and sign and date it for receipt before you make an offer.
- The seller signs a statement that the overview is correct to the best of his or her knowledge.
- Order a land register certificate online from the district commissioners with Icelandic electronic ID, or ask the agent for one.
Common mistakes
- Making the offer first and checking later. Once the seller accepts, you are bound, except through the conditions you wrote into the offer.
- Trusting the listing size. Compare it with the property register and the drawings. A smaller area is a defect only if it is much smaller than the seller stated.
- Skipping a professional inspection of an older house. Moisture and mould damage is often hidden, and your claim weakens if you could have found it.
- Not asking the owners' association about decided works. It claims common costs from the current owner, so agree in the contract who pays for decided works.
- Assuming every seller can sign alone. A married owner needs the spouse's written consent to sell the family home. An estate or a company needs its signatories.
- Buying as a non-resident from outside the EEA without checking whether you need permission. Ask before you make an offer.
Legal basis
- Lög um sölu fasteigna og skipa nr. 70/2015, 10. to 12. gr. (sales overview, its content and the agent's duty to collect information)
- Lög um fasteignakaup nr. 40/2002, 18. and 26. to 29. gr. (defects, information, "as is" sales and inspection)
- Lög um fjöleignarhús nr. 26/1994, 16., 47. and 48. gr.
- Lög um eignarrétt og afnotarétt fasteigna nr. 19/1966, 1. gr. (who may acquire property)
- Húsaleigulög nr. 36/1994, 42. and 43. gr. (sale of let property)