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Purchase offer template for Iceland

Purchase offerKauptilboð

The buyer's signed, written offer to buy a named property at a stated price, with a payment plan, conditions and a deadline for the seller's answer. When the seller accepts it in writing and signs, a binding purchase contract exists. The parties then sign the formal kaupsamningur.

Use it when you have inspected a property and want to buy it. In Iceland the accepted offer is the contract, not a step before it, so make it only when you are ready to buy at that price. If a licensed agent (fasteignasali) handles the sale, the agent prepares the documents (lög 70/2015, 16. gr.), and you check the draft against this template. Use this template as it stands only in a private sale without an agent.

Reviewed October 28, 2026. Not legal advice. Have a notary or lawyer check your case before you sign.

Key facts

Applies to
Whole country
Effect of acceptance
A written offer accepted in writing with a signature is a binding purchase contract (lög 40/2002, 7. gr.).
Written authority
An agent or representative needs written authority to sign (lög 40/2002, 7. gr.).
Seller's answer with changes
A reply with changes counts as a rejection and a new counter-offer (gagntilboð).
Late acceptance
A late acceptance forms a contract unless the offeror objects without undue delay (lög 7/1936, 2. gr.).
Unmet condition
If a condition is not met, the contract lapses 2 months after it was made, unless agreed otherwise (lög 40/2002, 5. and 8. gr.).
Sales overview
An agent gives it to the buyer, who signs for receipt, before any offer. It is updated if older than 3 months (lög 70/2015, 10. gr.).
Buyer's costs
The buyer pays the stamp duty and the registration costs. The party who hired the agent pays the agent (lög 40/2002, 14. gr.).
Seller's spouse
Written consent is needed to sell a home that is the family residence (hjúskaparlög 31/1993, 60. gr.).

The document

Text shown

You sign the Icelandic version. The English version helps you understand it. Your answers fill both.

Purchase offer

  1. 1.Parties

    1. 1.1

      Offeror (buyer): Buyer's full name, ID no. Buyer's Icelandic ID number (kennitala), Buyer's address.

      List every buyer. A foreign buyer without a kennitala needs one before registration.

    2. 1.2

      Offeree (seller): Seller's full name, ID no. Seller's kennitala.

      Name every owner shown in the land register.

  2. 2.The property

    1. 2.1

      The buyer hereby makes a binding offer for the property Address of the property, property number Property number (fasteignanúmer), more precisely Description of the property, together with everything that belongs and should belong to it, including the share of the common parts and the land rights.

      Copy the property number from the HMS register or the sales overview. A wrong number can block registration later.

    2. 2.2

      The offer is made on the basis of the sales overview dated Date of the sales overview, which the buyer has read and signed for, and of the buyer's inspection of the property.

      The sales overview and your inspection set what you can later claim as a defect. Keep the signed copy.

  3. 3.Purchase price

    1. 3.1

      The purchase price is ISK Offered price in ISK, in figures (Offered price in words krónur).

      If the figures and the words differ, a dispute follows. Check both.

  4. 4.Payment schedule

    1. 4.1

      On signature of the purchase contract the buyer pays ISK Paid at signing of kaupsamningur, ISK in cash.

    2. 4.2

      Optional

      From the proceeds of new mortgage loans that the buyer takes, paid to the seller when the loans are paid out: ISK Amount to be paid from new loans, in ISK.

      Delete it if you pay without a loan. If you keep it, keep the financing condition below.

    3. 4.3

      On signature of the deed of conveyance the buyer pays ISK Paid at signing of the afsal, ISK in cash.

      The three amounts must add up to the purchase price. The last payment at the afsal gives the buyer leverage if a defect appears after handover.

  5. 5.Conditions

    1. 5.1

      Optional

      This offer is made subject to the buyer obtaining adequate financing, including a credit assessment and a loan commitment, no later than Deadline to confirm financing. The buyer must notify the seller in a provable way before that date whether the condition is met. Otherwise the contract lapses and neither party has obligations to the other.

      Keep it whenever part of the price comes from a loan. Set a realistic date. Without a date the contract lapses only after 2 months.

    2. 5.2

      Optional

      This offer is made subject to a professional condition inspection arranged by the buyer, including a moisture test, revealing no defects beyond those stated in the sales overview. The buyer must notify the seller in a provable way of the result no later than Deadline for the condition inspection. Otherwise the condition is deemed met.

      Recommended for older houses and where moisture or mould is a risk. Agree access dates with the seller.

  6. 6.Purchase contract and handover

    1. 6.1

      The purchase contract shall be signed no later than Latest date to sign the kaupsamningur. The property shall be handed over to the buyer on Handover date, vacated and cleaned.

      The law requires the seller to vacate and clean the property at handover. The risk passes to the buyer at handover.

    2. 6.2

      The seller pays all charges on the property up to the handover date, including property charges and the owners' association fees, and the buyer from that date. The buyer pays the stamp duty and the registration costs for the purchase.

    3. 6.3

      Other terms: Other terms.

      Name fittings that stay or go, known defects and any tenant in place.

  7. 7.Validity of the offer

    1. 7.1

      The offeror is bound by this offer until Date and time the offer expires. If the seller's written acceptance does not arrive before that time, the offer lapses.

      State a date and a clock time. A withdrawal is valid only if it reaches the seller before or at the same time as the seller learns of the offer.

    2. 7.2

      A reply by the seller that contains a change, an addition or a condition is a rejection of this offer and a new offer (counter-offer).

  8. 8.Signatures

    1. 8.1

      Place of signature, Date of signature. Signature of the buyer: Buyer's full name.

    2. 8.2

      The seller accepts this offer without changes. Date and time Date and time the seller accepts. Signature of the seller: Seller's full name.

      Every owner signs. If the property is the family home of a married seller, the spouse adds written consent here.

Formalities

  1. The buyer signs the written offer. The seller accepts by signing it.
  2. An electronic signature that the law treats as equal to a handwritten one is valid.
  3. If an agent or a representative signs for a party, the authority must be in writing.
  4. No notary, witness or registration is needed at this stage.
  5. With an agent, you receive the sales overview (söluyfirlit) and sign for it before you make the offer. The agent also signs the accepted offer.
  6. A married seller needs the spouse's written consent to sell the family home.
  7. Send the offer so you can prove when the seller received it, for example by email with a reply or by hand against a dated receipt.

Common mistakes

  • Making an offer you are not ready to keep. Once the seller signs, you have a binding contract, and you cannot later treat the offer as a first step.
  • Leaving out a financing condition when you need a loan. Without it, a refused loan does not release you.
  • Writing a condition without a deadline. The contract then stays uncertain for up to 2 months before it lapses.
  • Skipping the inspection before the offer. You cannot later claim defects that you saw or should have seen when you inspected the property.
  • Treating the seller's changed reply as acceptance. It is a counter-offer, and nothing binds you until you accept it in writing.
  • Not checking that every owner, and the spouse of a married owner, will sign. Without the spouse's consent to sell a family home, a court can set the sale aside.
  • Forgetting to compare the offer with the sales overview. Note any defect or fact that differs from it in the offer.

Legal basis

Sources

Describe the home you want