Buying property in Estonia as a foreigner

There has been more interest in buying real-estate for expats living in Estonia and although the process is not complicated legally speaking, we thought it might be good to go over some basics.

So can anyone buy an apartment in Estonia? The answer is yes. There are some very specific limitation regarding certain lands but apartments are free to buy for anyone. No need to be a resident even.

What kind of agreements can you expect? Buying real-estate has to be done via a notary and the agreement is a notarized agreement. This means there will be notary fees and a state fee. The buyer and seller usually decide how these costs are divided. If there is a real-estate broker involved, they usually take care of organizing the notary appointment.

In the current market, it is also common for the buyer and seller to sign a booking or reservation agreement. This means the seller will not offer the apartment for anyone else for a certain period of time so the buyer can deal with their bank and organize financing.

In case of taking a bank loan then there will also be a loan agreement - usually the buyer can influence very little in the bank's terms. There are also quite a few procedures in place regarding the origin of funds etc due to anti-money laundering laws so a few weeks is needed for this process. Especially if some parts of the financing are transferred from abroad.

So after the stressful period of searching for the dream apartment is over then the legal part should be quite straightforward. Also check our article about conducting a thorough check of the apartment.