To Own A Condo; Steps to Follow

For some time now, our focus has been on high rise buildings, specifically luxury apartments. Today is the very last bit of the series and it is specifically dedicated to Eunice Peterson, who has been the inspiration behind this.

The acquisition process of apartments may have some slight differences depending on the company involved. However, some essential procedures remain constant for most apartments, as far as Ghana is concerned. Here are some general steps to be followed in the acquisition of apartments.

Identification of the property

Identification of property is the first step to the purchase of an apartment. This is where the prospective buyer identifies the type of apartment he or she intends to buy. How does one identify a property?

Properties are identified through advertisements in newspapers, the internet, billboards and posters. Because the identification process can be hectic, the tenant may decide to engage the services of an Estate Agent to do the work of identification to save them the stress and also to acquire expertise services. During this period the prospective buyer must visit and inspect the site of the property to see the development and the owner to help draw conclusions as to whether he or she wants to proceed with the purchase the property.Source: Google

Draft an offer letter

At this stage, the prospective buyer needs to write an offer letter to the owner. In the offer letter, the buyer must declare his intentions to buy the property at the market price, terms of payment and period with which he wants to pay over. All negotiations on the market price must be done at this stage.

Source: Google

Acceptance letter

The owner sends an acceptance letter to the prospective buyer. This letter is a confirmation of the seller’s approval of the offer letter.

Source: Google

Conduct a search

The onus lies on the buyer to perform due diligence before purchasing his or her property. In doing this, one must conduct a search at the Land Registration Division of the Lands Commission, which reveals all the details of the property and if there are any encumbrances on it. He can further go on to do background checks in the vicinity. If the buyer is confident with the information acquired, then he or she can go ahead to draft the agreement.

Source: Google

Sold and Purchased Agreement

The preamble of this agreement is a copy of the land document (indenture). It also describes exclusively the property you are purchasing. The necessary payments are made at this stage.

The Indenture

An indenture is a legal document that shows the terms of agreement between the purchaser and the vendor of the land. It includes the date of the document, type of the document, term of document, consideration, the parties involved, signature of witnesses, oath of proof and certificate of proof and the schedule. After the indenture is prepared, it is advisable that the prospective buyer goes further to register his or her land in order to secure it. Registration is key because the indenture and site plan are not enough evidence to show the buyer is the genuine owner. For example, in a case where the seller is dead and there is a dispute over the property, the buyer could be accused of forgery if he or she has no certificate of title. He may only be entitled to equitable interests which are only discretionary.

In order to start the registration process, one must obtain the yellow card from the Lands Commission. However, there are requirements one must meet to obtain a yellow card and they are as follows: