What your Berlin notary actually needs from you

What the notary actually does in a German property sale

The German notary (Notar) is a neutral officer of the court — not a lawyer acting for either party, and not an agent facilitating the deal. Their role is to:

1. Draft the Kaufvertrag (purchase contract) based on documents and information provided by both parties
2. Read the contract aloud at the signing appointment (required by law) and answer questions from either party
3. Execute the required registrations — removing the existing mortgage (if any), registering the buyer's priority notice (Auflassungsvormerkung), and ultimately registering the ownership transfer in the Grundbuch (land registry)
4. Hold the purchase funds in escrow until all registration conditions are met, then release payment to the seller

The notary does not check that the price is fair, does not advise either party on whether to proceed, and does not carry out a physical inspection of the property. Their function is procedural: to create a legally valid, registered transaction.

The documents your notary needs from you

Most notaries in Berlin send a document checklist to the seller as soon as they are instructed. The typical list:

• Aktueller Grundbuchauszug — current (within 3 months) land registry extract
• Personalausweis or Reisepass — copy of your identity document
• Energieausweis — current energy certificate
• WEG-Verwaltervollmacht or Verwaltungsunterlagen — if the building has a professional manager, their details and the current Wirtschaftsplan
• Teilungserklärung — the declaration of partition defining your unit's boundaries
• Löschungsbewilligung — if there is an existing mortgage, your bank's written confirmation that they will release the lien at closing (this often takes 2–4 weeks to obtain; request it from your bank as early as possible)
• Grundsteuerbescheid — current property tax notice