Step 1: A notary prepares the Sale-purchase Agreement & the Agreement on Transfer of the Ownership of the Real Estate, and the parties sign it at the notary’s office

Completion Time Frame: 10-30 days
Completion Costs: Notary fees according to a 2006 notary fees table are EEK 21820 + 18% VAT.

If a document contains several bilateral or multilateral transactions, the value of such transactions shall be added up and the notary fee shall be calculated based on the aforementioned sum. In case the transactions concerning the sale-purchase and encumbrance of the same Real Estate are certified at the same time, the transaction value upon sale-purchase agreement is 2/3 of the sales price and the transaction value upon establishment of a mortgage is 2/3 of the amount of the mortgage. In this case, notary fees are EEK 21820 + 18% VAT.
Notary fees are usually paid to notary’s bank account in cash or by card payment directly after signing the agreement or by bank transfer to the notary’s bank account within time period set by the notary.
Points to Note:
After setting an appointment, a notary will prepare the draft of the agreement of the sale and purchase of the real estate and the agreement of the transfer of the ownership of the real estate.
Then, both parties will sign the agreements at the notary’s office. Pursuant to Estonian law, it is mandatory that all transactions related to the transfer of real estate are notarized by a notary public. The parties may prepare the sale and purchase agreement in accordance with the laws of the Republic of Estonia. However, the notary will review it and if the agreement is not in accordance with the law, then the notary will amend the agreement or ask parties of the agreement to modify the agreement in accordance with the law, since the notary is financially liable for any potential mistakes or law violations.
Copies of all documents related to the agreement (transaction data, power of attorneys, documents concerning acquisition of the property, copies of identity documents, etc) shall be delivered to the notary’s office 3-4 days before the conclusion if the agreement. All originals shall be submitted to the notary on the day of the conclusion of the agreement. In case a document has not been issued in the Republic of Estonia, the document shall be certified by an apostille or legalized and translated into Estonian prior to the conclusion of the agreement.

Step 2: Payment of the state fee (stamp duty) at a commercial bank

Completion Time Frame: 1 day
Completion Costs: Stamp duty based on a table of fixed fees is EEK 10400 as of January 1, 2007
Points to Note:
The state fee for making the changes in the Land Register must be paid prior to applying for registration.

Step 3: A notarized application is filed to the Land Register and corresponding entries are made to the Land Register

Completion Time Frame: 30 days
Completion Costs: Already paid in Step 2
Points to Note:
The notarized application to the Land Register is filed to transfer the ownership of the real estate to the buyer in the Land Register Book.
Land Register shall publish a register notice regarding a Real Estate, which has not yet been entered in the Land Register only before opening a register part for an immovable in the register.
The notice is published in the official publication Ametlikud Teadaanded and, if necessary, in any other manner available to the persons concerned. In case the Real Estate is already registered in the Land Register (as in this case), no publication is necessary.

The documentation shall include:
Notarized Sale Purchase Agreement and Agreement of the Transfer of the Ownership of Real Estate (obtained in Step 1).
Receipt of payment of state fee (obtained in Step 2)