Documents for a property sale: the checklist and how not to lose track of it

Most signings that get postponed aren’t postponed for a legal reason. They’re postponed because a document expired, wasn’t requested in time or is still sitting at some authority. A property sale is the deed with the most paperwork from the most sources — and that’s why it’s the deed where an office’s organisation shows the most.

What the seller brings (the Greek example)

• Title deeds for the property.
• A tax clearance certificate for the transfer — with its validity noted in the file.
• Social security clearance, where required.
• A certificate for the annual property tax (in Greece, ENFIA) for recent years.
• An engineer’s certificate confirming there are no unauthorised building works and, where applicable, any regularisations.
• An energy performance certificate.
• A topographic plan where needed, a cadastral map extract, and a land registry or encumbrances certificate.

What the buyer brings

• Identification and tax number — for both spouses, when they buy together.
• The declaration and proof of payment of transfer tax.
• With a mortgage: the bank, the loan reference and who signs on its behalf — the bank is the third party nobody coordinates unless you do.

Documents that expire are a separate category

Clearances and certificates have a shelf life. A file that treats them as “received ✓” lets you down when the signing is pushed back two weeks: the paper exists, but it’s no longer valid. Note the expiry date next to every document that expires and check the list when the signing date is fixed — not on the morning of the signing.

One file, one view

A property sale has at least four parties waiting on one another: seller, buyer, engineer, bank. If the picture of “what’s missing and from whom” lives on scraps of paper and in your memory, you are the bottleneck. One list per file, with a responsible person and phone number next to every outstanding item, turns the chase into ten minutes’ work each morning.

In NotaryPro, the document checklist lives on the deed’s file: what has arrived, what’s outstanding, when it expires and whom you’re waiting for — so you can see at a glance which deed can be signed this week.

Conclusion

The document checklist isn’t bureaucracy — it’s the deed’s timeline. Create a template list for each type of deed, add expiry dates and responsible parties, and check it at a steady rhythm. A signing that isn’t postponed is the best advertisement a notary’s office can have.