Completion Time Frame: 1 day
Completion Costs: 10.5% property value (notary fees plus other taxes and fees)
Points to Note:
It is standard practice for the buyer and the seller, as companies, to contract a notary to conduct all procedures. They pay his fees and the transfer taxes/fees to be incurred at the time of contracting him.

Step 2: Obtain authorization from the court to search the title

Completion Time Frame: 21 days
Completion Costs: FCFA 10,000
Points to Note:
One must obtain authorization from the court to search the title at the registry. It takes 21 days to obtain this written ordinance.

Step 3: Search the title at the property registry (Conservation Fonciere)

Completion Time Frame: 7 – 14 days
Completion Costs: (included in procedure 1)
Points to Note:
One obtains an official copy of the title from the registry. The title includes all relevant information on the property, such as its history of ownership, delimitations of the property and the building.

Step 4: Check for unpaid utilities bills at the SEEG (Service de l’Eau et de l’Electricite de Gabon)

Completion Time Frame: 1 day
Completion Costs: no cost
Points to Note:
It is standard practice to check for any unpaid utilities bills associated with the property prior to the transfer. The parties or the notary can do this.

Step 5: Notary drafts and parties execute the sale-purchase agreement

Completion Time Frame: 1 day
Completion Costs: (included in procedure 1)
Points to Note:
It is standard for the notary to draft the sale-purchase agreement for the parties, which they then sign. The notary then notarizes the signed agreement.

Step 6: Register the sale purchase agreement at the land administration (Service des Domaines)

Completion Time Frame: 10 days
Completion Costs: (included in procedure 1)
Points to Note:
The sale purchase agreement is registered at the Service des Domaines, or the administrative authority that keeps the technical records on lands. If there is a mortgage, there is a 0.3% property value fee.

Step 7: Register the sale-purchase agreement at the property registry (Conservation Fonciere)

Completion Time Frame: 14 days
Completion Costs: 0.6% property value (registration fees–included in procedure 1)
Points to Note:
The registrar transcribes the transfer and publishes it in the registry books under the name of the new owner.

Step 8: Collect the new title from the property registry (Conservation Fonciere)

Completion Time Frame: 1 day
Completion Costs: (included in procedure 7)
Points to Note:
The registrar issues the buyer a copy of the land title. After publication, the land title is prepared and issued to the new owner in his name.