Legal
The file behind a property deal
What delays a signing is rarely the price: it is a document that expired while the deal was being negotiated.
A property deal gathers documents from places that do not talk to each other: the registry, the town hall, the building's management, a technician, the bank, the owner. Each takes its own time and each stays valid for a different period, and that is what turns an agreed completion into a postponed one.
Typical pieces and how fast they age
| Piece | Who it comes from | How it ages |
|---|---|---|
| Registry information | The land registry | Very fast: it reflects one moment |
| Planning status of the property | The town hall | Slowly, unless changes are under way |
| Technical certificates for the building | A technician | They carry their own validity |
| Statement of debts to the building | The managing agent | Changes every quarter |
| Documentation for installations and equipment | The owner or their maintenance firm | Inherited with the property |
Important
The first row throws anyone who has not lived it: **registry information describes an instant, not a permanent state**. Between requesting it and completing, new charges can appear, so the one that counts is the one from completion day, not the one that opened negotiations. What is asked for first is therefore usually what has to be asked for again at the end — and whoever discovers that at the notary's postpones a completion over something a phone call would have solved.
How to order it so you are not always behind
- 1
List everything needed on completion day, from the start
Including what takes weeks and does not depend on you.
- 2
Note for each piece who issues it and how long it takes
That is what lets you ask in the right order rather than all at once.
- 3
Ask for the slow things first and the fast-ageing ones last
The opposite of the intuitive order, and the one that avoids repeats.
- 4
And keep it all in one shared place with dates
Five parties take part and none of them sees the others' email.
Watch out
What postpones completion most often is not a missing document: it is **a document that was there and expired during the negotiation**. If a deal drags on for two months — and they do — what was requested at the start reaches the notary out of date. It is worth reviewing the whole file a week before the planned date, not the day before: whatever is missing can still be requested.
What gets forgotten and shows up later
Worth knowing
Which documentation is required in each deal, what formalities apply and what each party takes on is determined by your lawyer or notary, and varies by property type and region. **Ask at the start, not at the end**; here we only explain why the order of requests matters as much as the list.
›Is it worth pulling the registry information at the start?
Yes, to know what you face. And again at the end, which is the one that counts.
›Who should hold the file?
One person, even with five parties involved. Split up, something is always missing.
›And for a rental?
Fewer pieces, same logic: the slow ones first, the expiring ones last.
A real case
The situation
A completion is postponed because registry information pulled two months earlier is stale.
What you do
- Requests the slow items first and the fast-ageing ones last, reviewing the file a week ahead
What you get
The date holds and whatever expires arrives freshly issued.
The situation
The deal folder is assembled from loose emails.
What you do
- Gathers everything in one file
What you get
What is there and what is missing is visible at once.
The situation
A document is missing on signing day.
What you do
- Checks what is missing in advance
What you get
The appointment is not repeated.
The situation
Each party works from their own copy.
What you do
- They share the same file
What you get
Everyone looks at the same thing.
The situation
Too much is shared when the folder goes out.
What you do
- Shares only what concerns each party
What you get
No information is handed over that should not be.
The situation
Years later the transaction must be evidenced.
What you do
- Keeps the file with its date
What you get
The answer comes from the archive.
This article answers
- documents for a property sale
- what the notary asks for
- certificates expiring during a deal
- preparing a property completion