Notaries in Hasselt: what you need to know as a seller

Notaries in Hasselt play a fixed role in every property sale, but many sellers only find out late what that role actually involves. Who does what, who chooses the notary, and what do you as a seller actually pay yourself? This article sets it out for anyone selling in Hasselt or elsewhere in Limburg, from the first appointment to the signing of the deed.

What a notary does when you sell your home

The notary is a public officer and does not defend the interests of either party, but oversees a legally valid sale for buyer and seller together. That distinction surprises some sellers: your notary is not a lawyer.

In practice, a series of searches takes place before the deed can pass. Think of the town planning information from the city of Hasselt, the soil certificate from OVAM, the cadastral data, and the check on whether a mortgage or seizure still rests on your home. Those searches take time and are the main reason why weeks pass between the preliminary sales agreement and the deed.

The notary also draws up the notarial deed, or reviews it when a second notary has drafted it. On the day of the deed, the full purchase amount arrives in a third party account. Your outstanding mortgage loan, if any, is repaid first, after which the balance is transferred to you. The deed is then registered and transcribed, which makes the transfer of ownership official.

Does the buyer or the seller choose the notary in Hasselt?

Both parties may appoint their own notary. In practice the buyer often chooses first, because the buyer bears the largest share of the costs. As a seller you are not bound by that: you may always place your own notary alongside the one appointed by the buyer.

This is where most misunderstandings arise. Two notaries cost nothing extra. The fee is fixed by law and is in that case divided between both offices. The buyer pays exactly the same amount as with a single notary. There is therefore no financial reason to give up your own notary, and there is a good reason to appoint one: someone who follows the file on the selling side.

If you choose a notary in Hasselt itself, the searches with the city and a face to face appointment often run more smoothly. It is not compulsory. A notary from any Belgian municipality may handle the sale of a property located in Hasselt.

What do you pay as a seller at the notary?

The largest part of the deed costs lies with the buyer. The registration duties and the fee on the purchase are for the buyer, not for you.

As a seller you mainly pay for the documents you are legally required to supply, and you are best off collecting them before you put your home online. In Flanders these are the EPC energy performance certificate, the soil certificate, the inspection report of the electrical installation, and for homes built before 2001 also the asbestos certificate. For an apartment, the documents from the building manager are added to that.

There is also a cost item that sellers regularly overlook. If a mortgage loan is still running on your home, that registration has to be cancelled at the deed. This release costs a few hundred euro and is deducted from your sale proceeds. Ask your notary for an estimate as soon as you know roughly what your home will fetch.

If you want to know where you will land financially first, that starts with a realistic price. A free valuation of your home gives you the starting point to set those costs against your net proceeds.

How long does it take from preliminary agreement to deed?

The rule of thumb in Belgium is four months. From the signing of the preliminary sales agreement you have that period to have the notarial deed passed, because the registration duties have to be paid within that time. In most files the deed is signed after two to three months.

That time goes largely to the searches by the notary and to the financing of the buyer. The town planning information from the city, the soil certificate and the tax and mortgage checks each have their own processing time. You have no influence on most of them.

What you do have influence on is your own file. Sellers who only request their certificates after the preliminary agreement has been signed easily lose a few weeks. Scheduling an asbestos certificate or an electrical inspection takes longer than expected in busy periods. Anyone who has those documents ready by the time an offer comes in keeps well within the four months.

Notary and estate agent: who does what in a sale in Hasselt?

The division of roles is clearer than it seems. The estate agent sets the asking price together with you, takes care of the photos and the advertising, does the viewings, filters the candidate buyers and negotiates the price and the conditions. The notary comes into the picture for the legal part and for the deed.

The preliminary sales agreement is where both worlds meet. Both an estate agent and a notary may draw one up. If you have the notary draft it or review it, you are on firmer ground regarding suspensive conditions, deadlines and the consequences of financing that does not come through.

The market in Hasselt and the rest of Limburg has its own rhythm and price level. An office that sells there every week values your home differently from an office that rarely comes there. You can compare up to three agents active in your municipality, free and without obligation, and ask straight away how they handle the cooperation with the notary.

How to prepare your sale in Hasselt

The notary is rarely the reason a sale is delayed. Incomplete files are.

So collect early what you will need anyway: the EPC, the soil certificate, the electrical inspection, the asbestos certificate for a home built before 2001, and for an apartment the documents from the building manager. Then ask your notary what else applies in your specific situation, certainly if a loan is still running or if the property comes from an inheritance.

Also speak to your notary before the preliminary agreement is signed, not after. That is the moment when the conditions can still be adjusted.

If you want the sale wrapped up faster, start with the price and with the party that puts your home on the market. Compare estate agents in your area without obligation and put your file to those who follow the Hasselt market daily.