Kibkom North Cyprus Forum

If you have sold a property recently, did you use a lawyer or a Notary? Is it a complicated procedure?

PapaBravo wrote:If you have sold a property recently, did you use a lawyer or a Notary? Is it a complicated procedure?

Depends on the nationality of the purchaser. Two properties sold recently on our estate to TCs. All done and dusted within a day, no advocates involved, only a notary. I suspect, however, sales to non-TCs is a whole different ball game. PTP procedure etc.

When we bought here three years ago we used a notary. Wouldn't touch a lawyer here. All has to go through a notary anyway. To my way of thinking any avukat is a total waste of money but each to their own.

I also used a notary when I purchased three years ago; she was the notary who did all the legal business for our TC friends and family. She had previously done purchases and sales for TCs, but ours was the first non-TC , so there was some degree of learning for her; nevertheless, our PTP was obtained within two months, and our kocan within two months later - note that this was on a pre-built/pre-owned apartment and NOT an off-plan purchase....

Why use either . Let the buyer do it all. As long as you get your money . The buyers solicitor or notary will make sure all your taxes and charges are paid. Why waste money

Susiesusie is correct the Vendor does not need legal representation, the Purchaser is responsible for the contract (if there is one) and subsequent transfer.
However for those Vendors who are not familiar with the procedures here they should be very aware that some unscrupulous people might try to take advantage of them so be very careful do not sign anything until you are sure what you are signing & do not give a POA to the Purchaser or let them have access until you have received ALL your money.
The Vendor has responsibility for providing receipts for all utilities including the current property tax and also paying or claiming exemption from Stoppaj (Sales Tax) from the Tax Office. If you are not familiar with these offices you will probably need some sort of assistance.
Most lawyers here seem to excel in only one field & I will leave you to guess what that may be!

Purchased a small plot of land a few years back. Used a Noter who completed forms and got Buyer to sign. Should he back out from that point on, he would be liable to pay me £20,000. Immediately after, other forms were signed by both parties and cheque handed to Noter to pass on to buyer. Sale completed within approx 20 minutes. Change of name on title deeds at Tapu took about one week.

Yes the process is very quick if the buyer is Turkish Cypriot and has the funds in cash, however if they need Permission to Purchase or to obtain a Mortgage this makes it much more protracted & complicated.

Just my own experience

When I sold I used neither advocat or noter, just an estate agent. When he found a buyer , I met the buyer, who handed me a £2k non refundable deposit (in cash). The following week I went to the Tapu with the agent and the buyer. With help of agent we first got the papers from tax office saying there was nothing outstanding on the property tax wise. Took this to the tapu. Before I signed the transfer at the tapu the buyer handed me the remaining monies, part in cash and the majority as a banker draft. My risk was that the bankers draft was fake, or that the bank that issued it went bust before I could cash it, both risks that I considered minimal. I then signed the transfer papers at Tapu and paid the agent their agreed fee.

When I subsequently bought again the process was pretty similar. No noter and no advocat, just the estate agent. We all met at the tapu. The agent and seller went and got the paper work from tax office to say nothing outstanding on the property. I handed the seller a bankers draft for the agreed price minus the agents fees. Handed another one to the agent for his fees and paid the sales tax to the tapu. Seller signed and tapu gave me a receipt and a couple of weeks later I returned to the Tapu , handed over the receipt and got the Kocan with my name on it.

Just to note in both cases all parties were trnc citizens, so no ptp issues, and the deeds before sale/purchase were in the respective names of the seller.

So the conclusion is that a Notary is just as good & might in fact be better than a lawyer but they will most definitely charge a lot less money - good luck!!

Wow! What a mine of information. Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to respond. Lots to think about.

The biggest scam ober here is why the lawyers charge more than a uk solicitor to buy or sell a property where all other salaries are substantially lower. People should stop using them .they dont have duty if care for the client . For the trnc they are over charging foreigners .

You are right they do not have a duty of care & accept no responsibility when their carelessness or negligence results in their clients being disadvantaged.

From some of the replies (thank you), it does seem that the seller does not need to use a lawyer. I have a couple more questions, aimed mainly at buyers and sellers with UK bank accounts . If the buyer uses a lawyer and I do not, and the transfer of money is from the buyer's UK bank account to my UK bank account, do I wait until the money is in my account before signing over the property?

Is there a problem (in the UK) when transferring relatively large sums of money into an account - do they require a 'Bill of Sale' to show it is a genuine transaction?

Thanks in anticipation.

I understand that these issues are often dealt with by the buyer obtaining a Banker's Draft in advance of the actual 'exchange' date.

All questions of legality can then be answered beforehand, and the Banker's draft is as good as cash (provided that it's a decent Bank! ).

Thanks to everyone who has contributed in such a positive way. I think I now have a way to proceed - a little extra cost, but more security.

If you get a bankers draft here your should get a copy of all the paperwork as you will need it for the bank here and for any transfer to a UK bank account.

13roman58 wrote:If you get a bankers draft here your should get a copy of all the paperwork as you will need it for the bank here and for any transfer to a UK bank account.

That sounds sensible!

I think that PB's query related to a UK Bank - are there any precautions/procedures that we ought to know about in those circumstances?

From recent experience on behalf of friends every piece is paperwork is required both sides and probably still need more
good luck

13roman58 wrote:From recent experience on behalf of friends every piece is paperwork is required both sides and probably still need more
good luck

That's a good principle !

Don't you think that this should be on the general forum as it is for general viewing

13roman58 wrote:Don't you think that this should be on the general forum as it is for general viewing

It's no good asking me!

I'm not a fan of the 'Separate forums' idea anyway...