Which documents to ask the owner for at the very start
Documents are collected when the agency agreement is signed, not shortly before the notary. The core set is proof of ownership, a cadastral sketch or plan, a tax valuation and an encumbrance certificate. The exact list depends on the case and is confirmed by the notary — but if you start looking in the final week, the deal slips or dies.
Why they are gathered at the start, not the end
Common practice runs the other way: sign, publish the listing, find a buyer, and only then ask the owner about paperwork. That is when it turns out the sketch is eight years old, that there is an undisclosed mortgage, or that an heir in Spain has not yet accepted the inheritance.
The buyer will not wait. They have an approved mortgage with a deadline, they have seen other properties, and every week of delay moves them closer to somebody else’s deal. A document that takes a month to obtain eats exactly that window.
So collection starts on the day the agency agreement is signed. That is when the owner is motivated and you still have time.
The core documents
- Proof of ownership. A title deed, a partition agreement, a court decision or another legal basis. Check that it is properly registered.
- Cadastral sketch or plan of the unit. From the cadastre. It has a validity period — ask when it was issued.
- Tax valuation. From the municipality where the property sits. Taxes and fees on the deal are calculated from it.
- Encumbrance certificate. From the property register. Shows mortgages, injunctions and registered claims.
- Identity and marital status documents for every owner.
For a property in a condominium, add a certificate that there are no debts to the building. For agricultural land or a plot, the set is different.
Where it usually gets stuck
Four situations repeat often enough that you should spot them from a distance.
An inherited property with several heirs. One of them abroad or unwilling to sell is enough to stop everything. Ask about this at the first meeting, not once the buyer has paid a deposit.
An old title with no cadastral identifier. The property has to be identified against the current cadastre, and that sometimes needs a separate procedure.
Unpermitted alterations. A removed partition wall, a glazed balcony, merged units. If the gap between the plan and reality is visible, a mortgage buyer will not pass the valuation.
An outstanding mortgage. Not an obstacle in itself — it is cleared from the sale proceeds — but it needs coordination with the bank, and those days have to be planned for.
How not to lose track of them
Documents for fifty properties in fifty cloud folders is a system, right up until you need one urgently. The practical rule is that a document lives attached to its property rather than in a separate folder tree, and that each one carries its issue date.
In practice that means uploading the document against the property itself rather than into a separate folder — so opening the property shows what exists and what is missing.
The second thing worth tracking is expiry. Sketches and encumbrance certificates go stale. If a property sits for six months, the documents gathered at the start no longer satisfy the notary and have to be reissued. Better that the system reminds you than that you find out on Thursday about a Friday completion.
Frequently asked questions
Who pays for issuing the documents?
As a rule the seller, since they are documents about their property. In practice some agencies cover part of the cost as part of the service — that belongs in the agency agreement, not in the middle of the process.
Can a property be sold without a title deed?
Proof of ownership does not have to be a notarial deed — it can be a partition agreement, a court decision or a declaratory deed. What matters is that the basis is registered and the property can be identified against the cadastre. Without proof of ownership there is no sale.
How long are the documents valid?
It varies and it changes. Sketches and encumbrance certificates have limited validity, and so does the tax valuation. Confirm the exact periods with the notary for the specific deal rather than relying on a general rule.
Who does the final check?
The notary. They are responsible for the legality of the transaction and their list is the one that counts. The agency’s job is to have the documents collected and checked in time, so there are no surprises on completion day.
The OptiEstate teamWe build the software Bulgarian agencies use every day. We write about what we see there.
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