Germany: cross-border payments and remote closing

A German purchase is notary-led and very safe for the buyer, but it is formal, and a buyer abroad needs to know the order of events and who pays what, when. This briefing walks through it for agents who serve cross-border buyers. Costs and timing come from advisory summaries rather than statutes, so confirm them with the notary before you quote a client.

The sequence

• an offer in Germany is usually verbal or by email and is not legally binding until notarised; a reservation agreement exists but is described as legally weak
• every contract that transfers German real estate must be recorded by a notary, a rule found in the civil code, section 311b; the notary drafts the purchase contract, reads it out at the signing and handles the payment instructions and the filing at the land register
• a priority notice in the land register protects the buyer and is a precondition for paying the price; the notary confirms when the payment conditions are met
• after signing, the tax office assesses the transfer tax; summaries say the buyer has four weeks to pay it, after which the office issues a clearance certificate
• the buyer is then entered in the land register; from offer to entry, eight to twelve weeks is described as typical, and from signing to keys six to twelve weeks

Ask the notary how the draft reaches the buyer before the appointment and how a buyer who does not read German will follow the text. German practice usually involves a sworn translator or the notary's own arrangements, which we state from general knowledge, so ask early.

What it costs

Summaries give the following ranges, which you should treat as indicative:

• transfer tax between 3.5 and 6.5 percent of the price, set by each federal state; two summaries disagree on some states, so look up the rate for the state in question
• notary fees of about 1.5 percent and land-register fees of about 0.5 percent
• agent commission of about 3.57 percent including VAT, typically shared equally between buyer and seller for homes under the rules in force since December 2020; check the current law
• total purchase costs of roughly 9 to 13 percent on top of the price

How the money moves

The price is paid in euro either into the notary's escrow account or directly to the seller, as the contract says. The notary decides when payment is due. For a buyer abroad:

• ask the bank how the transfer is converted and ask for a SWIFT confirmation for each payment
• pay from the buyer's own account; a payer who is not the buyer needs an explanation and a record
• plan for the transfer tax separately: the tax office sends its own demand to the buyer after signing
• keep every receipt and every notary email in one folder

For a purchase that needs a loan, the lender's conditions come first. Summaries report loan-to-value of 50 to 70 percent for non-EU buyers and fixed periods of five to fifteen years. The notary will not set the date of the signing for you; the financing timetable and the signing date have to fit together.

Closing without being in Germany

A buyer who cannot attend can sign through a representative holding a notarised power of attorney, often a lawyer in Germany. For a power of attorney signed abroad, ask the German notary what form they will accept, for example whether an apostille or a translation is required, and what the power must say about price, financing and registration. The notary still has to identify the buyer, so expect an identity check even when a representative signs.

For a buyer using a foreign company or a trust, one summary says the beneficial owner may need to be registered a month before the signing. Ask the notary on the first day.

Check the register and the building before the signing

Ask the notary for a current extract from the land register and read what it says about charges and rights of third parties; a lawyer or the notary can explain the sections. For a flat in a block, the buyer normally wants the owners' declaration, the minutes of recent owners' meetings, the monthly service charge and the building's maintenance reserve, because these decide what the buyer pays after closing. We state this from general knowledge of German practice, so confirm the list with the notary or a lawyer. A remote buyer should receive these documents translated or summarised in a language they read, well before the appointment.

Where deals stall

• the buyer has no German tax number yet, and the transfer-tax assessment has nowhere to go
• the loan approval and the signing date do not match
• the payer of the price is not the buyer
• documents are not available in a form the notary accepts
• a power of attorney is too narrow or too old
• the buyer did not understand the contract and wants changes after reading

What to tell a buyer abroad

Give a one-page timeline with the notary appointment, the payment condition, the tax payment and the land-register entry, and tell them the notary, not the agent, controls the sequence. See also our briefing on serving expat buyers and the 2026 changes.

Working with D.H. Realting

D.H. Realting is a trilingual (Russian, English, Polish) overseas-property platform. We introduce buyers, including expats and cross-border buyers, and support the process. Agencies that handle the deal locally and want to be introduced to such buyers can contact us through our partners page.

This briefing is informational only and is not legal, tax or investment advice. Facts were checked on 12 October 2026 from the sources named in the text; rules change, so confirm with a local lawyer before relying on any point.