Buying and selling real estate

Before you purchase or sell real property you will need at least the following:

• a certificate of title
• a certificate of mortgages and encumbrances.

You may also need:

• an extract from the cadastre
• map extract in the cadastre.

The certificates can be purchased from the National Land Survey Finland e-service (in Finnish).

You can also request these certificates from the seller if you are buying real estate.

• When trading property, prepare a deed of sale with the seller or buyer. 
• You can draw up and sign a deed in the National Land Survey of Finland's property exchange service (in Finnish).
• If you prepare a written deed of sale, an attesting notary must also be present when the document is signed.

• A title to the property will become pending without an application if you and the seller have prepared a deed in the property exchange service (in Finnish). 
• If you have prepared a written deed with the seller, ask the  attesting notary to apply for a title for the property.
• Apply for a title to the property within six months of the deed of sale being signed.

If you wish to use the property you have purchased as collateral for the debt, apply for a mortgage in the National Land Survey of Finland property exchange service (in Finnish).

When you buy real estate, report and pay the asset transfer tax at the time of purchase. Pay the tax and submit the asset transfer tax return no later than when you apply for a title to the property.

In the future, you will have to pay a real estate tax on your property.

If the sale of real estate concerns the sale of your dwelling, you do not have to pay any taxes if:

• you have owned the dwelling for at least two years

and

• either you, your spouse or your minor child has lived in the dwelling for a continuous period of at least two years.

However, you must ensure that information on the sale is visible in your next tax return.

If these conditions are not met, you must pay tax if you gain a profit from the sale of the property. Sales profit is called capital gain. 

If, on the other hand, you make a loss in the transaction, you can deduct the loss from your other capital gains or income.