Aragón & Aragón / Guatemala Law Firm

In Guatemala the real estate market and transaction is subedited to a series of social, legal, and procedural factors, that in many cases the lack of attention to one of them causes obstruction, delay and interruptions in the real estate transactions. (Not. Rita Pérez Gálvez.)

Of the previous appoint, we as a specialized law firm in the real estate law, Aragón & Aragón presents to you a series of aspects that you as buyer or seller, of a land or property, must consider before, during and after the transaction.

It is important that the seller or buyer, takes into account these tips, who may help to make simply and to facilitate the succeed transaction and to avoid future problems.

Always remember to consult a Notary, who in these cases must act as an impartial figure between both parties, his obligation as a professional, is to advise, to orient and to draft for the parts the suitable document with respect to the transaction that is desired to do, according to the circumstances that you specify of each transaction, in individual.

1. Request the owner the ownership deed of the property, verify that he’s the legitimate owner, that this deed is registered and figure in the books of the Register of the Property.
2. Request at the Register of the Property a complete certificate of the history of the property or land that you wish to acquire.
3. Analyze the sequence of land registration that appears in the property, for example, the sequence of the actual and previous owner’s, movement that the same one has, and other subjects..
4. Corroborate that the property doesn’t have valid mortgages and effective annotations.
5. Verify who appears as the present owner of the property, and that’s the same who you are negotiating the transaction.
6. Validate the area that appears enrolled in the property is the same as the actual. Of being possible, request for a copy of the property deed and map, of the first inscription of the property. Compare this information with the actual location, area, measures and neighbor properties.
7. Request to the owner of the property, his personal identity documents, and if it’s possible, verify in the local dependencies the authenticity of the document.
8. Inquire in the local dependencies in charge of Real Estate (Government and City Counties) a deployment of the property, with this data you can verify to actual owner, price and area, and in case necessary, you’ll be able to demand to the actual owner to update this data, so that what it seems in the Registry of the Property is similar as the information that the Government and City County has.
9. Verify that the owner is up date in the payment of the Property Taxes (in charge of the City Council s in where it is located the property).
10. If the case that the property count with provided services, such as electrical energy, telephone service, water, etc., ask the owner to provide you with the deeds of property of this services, and he’s up-to-date in the payments of these services.
11. Make clear the way to carry out the transaction, in whatever to the form, price and mode of payment.
12. Calculate the amounts that each one will have to disburse respect to payment of taxes, expenses and fees.
SELLER
1. Have ready the property deed. Also prepare the related documents, such as water deed, telephone, shares, etc.
2. Prepare the documents related to payments receipts of services and taxes, according to the case.
3. Make sure to identity the person that wishes to buy the property, ask for a copy of the document of identification. Of being possible, make a deep in investigation of its identity, managing in the several Registries the veracity of identification documents.
Note.


In the cases that the buyer or owner is a legal organization (such as mercantile or civil society, off Shore, or others of similar nature) or acts in representation of somebody (power of attorney) verify, for both parts:

1. That the documents and identification correspond to the same part of the business, and had the faculties to perform the transaction.
2. Make sure that the representative is authorized to carry out the wished contract.
3. Validate that the representation document has not been revoked or cancelled by his proxy.
DURING THE SUBSCRIPTION OF THE CONTRACT
OWNER AND BUYER
1. Consult a Notary. The Notary must act impartial with respect to both parts, and its function is to take the will from the parts and to shape it in a document that fills and fulfills the formalities established by the law for each especial case.
2. Verify that the data briefed in the document are the correct one (data of identification, identification of the property, amounts, terms, etc.).
3. Read carefully the contract project. Discuss all the points of the project. If you had a doubt, suggestions or comments, let it know to the Notary, so he’ll make the explanation or take note of the corrections, to carry out in the final document.
4. Verify that both parts sign the writing or contract, and the Notary authorized by his signature.
5. Corroborate the expenses that correspond to each part, such as: taxes, fees of inscription and professionals fees of the Notary.
6. Ask for a copy of the signed contract.
AFTER THE SUBSCRIPTION OF THE CONTRACT
BUYER
1. Ask to the Notary to extend a legitimate copy of the authorized contract.
2. Make sure to immediately present the document for its inscription in the Registry of the Property (in case of having agreed that is the Notary who handle the procedure, ask for a copy the receipt).
3. Check the updates of your document inside the Registry of the Property. You can do it through service that the Registry of the Property of Guatemala offers to its users accessing to the web site www.rgp.org.gt, entering the data that appear in the copy of the receipt.
4. When the document has been registered, verify in the respective inscription, that the same one is correct (verifies the number of the property, names, terms, amounts, etc.), if some error arises, let it know to the Notary immediately.
5. Make sure that the Notary sends the warning to the Government offices and City Council.
SELLER
1. Make sure that the property is registered to name of the buyer before the Registry of the Property make the inscription.
2. Aware to debit in your countable registries the transaction of this good
3. Make sure that the Notary sends the warning of crossing corresponding to the Government offices and City Council.

In Aragón & Aragón we know the importance and necessity of the a good costumer service, we offer you the real estate services, with regard to all the stages before mentioned, for which, we can advise and take care of the process, that is taken on the best way and in benefit of the parties, contact us