Buying an apartment in a building under construction from a developer in 2021: step-by-step instructions

Purchasing housing in a new building has many advantages. A person receives an apartment that has never been sold, in which no one has lived before, one might say, a blank page. A new apartment does not have a history of owners, and therefore no documentary history, which eliminates the possibility of legal disputes with previous owners. Experienced, proven developers build strong houses, with apartments with convenient layouts, and landscaped areas. In addition, such housing can cost less than apartments on the secondary market if you buy it while it is still being built.

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How to pay for an apartment in a new building?
How to accept an apartment from the developer and sign the acceptance certificate?

But this only applies to some of the multi-storey buildings being built in the country. There are many small and large companies on the Russian market that build houses with violations and do not think about the presence of adjacent territory, even if this is provided for by law. For example, there is this option: a person buys a home, and then finds out that the house has problems with connecting communications. Or the house has built such thin partitions between apartments that even the slightest noise from the neighbors can be heard.

Of course, all this can be foreseen and we can find exactly the kind of housing that will suit the owners one hundred percent. Next, we will provide step-by-step instructions for purchasing an apartment in a new building, following which will allow you to avoid many unnecessary mistakes in this process.

Legislation

Before you buy an apartment in a new building, you need to study the features of such a purchase. They are regulated by several laws:

Federal Law of December 30, 2004 No. 214 “On participation in shared construction...”. The procedure for settlements, conclusion and termination of the contract, and the deadline for transferring the property to the shareholders by the developer are indicated here.
Federal Law No. 177-FZ dated December 23, 2003 “On insurance of deposits in Russian banks.” The amount of the insured amount transferred to the escrow account under the DDU is 10,000,000 rubles. If the bank goes bankrupt, the funds will be returned in full.
Art. 860.7 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation “Escrow account agreement”. Determines the procedure for opening an escrow account and obligations under it.

Important! DDUs are now concluded in the same way as before. But the calculation procedure has changed. If until mid-2021, during the transitional stage, developers could take money from shareholders through escrow or directly, but now payments are made only through special accounts. They open for each kindergarten. The bank acts as a third party, and its participation minimizes risks for shareholders. They can be sure that their money will not go anywhere, and even if the developer goes bankrupt or freezes construction, they will be returned the entire amount.

What is an escrow account?

Escrow is a special account opened in a bank for settlements under DDU when purchasing housing in a building under construction. The investor transfers money there, but the developer receives it only after the house is put into operation. For construction, he finds money from his own budget or attracts funds from outside: for example, takes out a loan.

When paying through escrow, the risks for the shareholder are reduced to a minimum. If the construction company does not comply with the terms of the agreement and delays the deadlines, it can terminate the contract and then get the money back from the bank.

Is it possible to buy an apartment without an escrow account?

The main purpose of introducing escrow accounts for settlements on real estate transactions was the safety of equity holders. But reliable construction companies can still accept money from them directly; they just need to meet a few requirements:

The first contractual agreement was concluded until July 1, 2019.
The house is at least 30% complete, more than 10% of the apartments have been sold.
The company can confirm the degree of readiness with a conclusion.
The shares sold by the company will be checked in Rosreestr along with the project declaration and registered agreements.
If the developer has received the right to work without an escrow account, he is obliged to transfer money to the fund for the protection of shareholders. In the future, compensation is paid from there if the company does not fulfill its obligations under the DDU. The contribution is 1.2% of the cost of housing.

Important! In some cases, the requirements for the minimum degree of readiness are reduced. For example, 6% is enough if the company is systemically important, builds more than 4,000,000 apartments, and there are social facilities on the site. 15% is enough if entire microdistricts are being built up according to territory development programs, schools, clinics and kindergartens are being built.

How to buy an apartment in installments from a developer or an individual?

Is it possible and how to buy an apartment with a mortgage from a relative?

Using social programs when applying for a mortgage

Financial institutions can offer especially attractive mortgage rates only to those buyers who meet the criteria for preferential housing loans. There are not many such programs in Russia:

For families with children, Cabinet Resolution No. 1711. Available to parents raising two or more children, the youngest of whom was born no earlier than January 1, 2021. The down payment on the mortgage can be repaid using a maternity capital certificate. The loan rate cannot exceed 6%. State support in the form of additional interest payments at rates exceeding 6% will last from 3 to 8 years (depending on the number of children). You can get a mortgage until 2022. Housing should not be more expensive than 6 million rubles if the apartment is purchased in the regions, and 12 million rubles if the property is located in Moscow, St. Petersburg or the same regions.
Military mortgage, law No. 117-FZ. Available to contract military personnel participating in the savings program (NIS) for at least 3 years. In fact, the mechanism works as a phased repayment of a loan for the purchase of housing at the expense of the Ministry of Defense. Only those who served in the army for less than 10 years and were dismissed for their own reasons or due to failure to fulfill the terms of the contract will have to return money to the budget. Those who have given 20 years of service to their homeland will not have to pay anything even after dismissal.
Far Eastern benefit program. Distributed in the territory of Buryatia, Transbaikalia, Amur, Khabarovsk, Magadan and Sakhalin regions, as well as Kamchatka, Primorye, the Republic of Sakha and Kamchatka. Young families (even those without children) can get a loan at a rate of 2% per annum.

Ways to buy an apartment in a new building

As a standard, all transactions with new buildings are carried out according to the DDU. But some developers offer people to buy apartments in installments.

In general, there are several ways to buy an apartment in a new building:

According to DDU. It is concluded at any stage of construction before the house is put into operation.
Under an agreement of assignment of rights of claim, when one shareholder sells the right to claim an apartment that has not yet been built from a construction company. Shareholders are being replaced.
Preliminary installment purchase agreement. The riskiest option for the buyer, which is often used by developers to avoid concluding a DDU and paying through escrow accounts. An initial payment is required, the remaining amount is paid by the buyer in several payments. After full payment, the main DCT is drawn up and registered with Rosreestr.
Purchase of a new building with the inclusion of secondary housing. An unfavorable option for the buyer: the resale property will be valued at the minimum cost, and it will be offset against the price of the new building. Usually, two DCTs are drawn up: one by one the company buys a secondary home, and the second one is used to sell a new apartment. But there may be a different scheme of the deal.

Legal advice: it is better not to experiment and buy an apartment using a regular DDU with payment through escrow. The developer may offer discounts on installment plans, but in this case the seller’s money will not be insured. If problems arise, it will be difficult to get them back.

Underwater rocks

When purchasing an apartment in a new building, anyone may encounter certain problems. Many of them arise due to negligence or due to a person’s legal illiteracy, but there are problems of a different nature that even a professional lawyer cannot predict.

Main risks:

drawing up an agreement that does not specify the developer’s obligations;
drawing up a contract for an apartment that has already been sold to other people;
freezing house construction;
long, drawn-out construction of a house;
low quality of housing;
discrepancy between the layout and footage of the apartment;
lack of landscaped territory.

Buying an apartment from a developer: procedure

The scheme for buying an apartment in a new building for cash looks like this:

Developer check. This is the most important stage.
Conclusion of the DDU.
Opening an escrow account. The bank is chosen by the developer. Typically, an account is opened with the bank that issued the construction loan to the company.
Registration of preschool education in Rosreestr. An application from the developer and shareholder will be required. Everything is filled on the spot. You can contact the registrar directly or submit documents through the MFC.
Payment according to DDU.

After this, you need to wait until construction is completed and accept the apartment, then register ownership.

Contents and sample agreement

When purchasing a new apartment, developers provide the DDU themselves; they already have developed samples.

What information should be reflected in the contract:

Name and address of the organization, position of the person authorized to make the conclusion, details of the power of attorney, TIN, OGRN,
Full name, passport details, date of birth of the shareholder.
Construction permit details.
The deadline for transferring the object to the shareholder.
Conditional apartment number for the duration of construction.
Information about the apartment: area, number of rooms, floor, house address.
Rights and obligations of the developer.
Rights and obligations of the shareholder.
The developer is responsible for violating construction deadlines, and the shareholder is responsible for failing to meet payment deadlines.
Payment order.
Dispute resolution.

The developer will need the signature of an authorized person and a seal, while the shareholder will only need a signature. The agreement is drawn up in three copies: one remains with the parties to the transaction, the third is transferred to Rosreestr.

Sample share participation agreement

Agreement on shared participation in housing construction (ddu)

Documentation

To conclude a DDU and register with Rosreestr you will need:

Shareholder's passport.
Power of attorney from the developer's representative, passport.
Constituent documents.
Extract from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities.
A document confirming the ownership or lease of the land participant by the developer.
Project declaration with all changes.
Construction permit.
DDU.
Plan of an apartment building under construction.
Developer liability insurance contract.
Certificate from the bank about opening an escrow account.

Expenses

The fee for opening and servicing the escrow is paid by the developer according to the tariff. On average this is 0.5-0.7% per year.

The state duty is 350 rubles. The parties independently determine who will pay for it.

Important! You can issue a power of attorney to a company employee, and he himself will submit all documents for registration. This is paid additionally, on average 20,000-30,000 rubles.

Legal advice

To exclude such phenomena, lawyers advise concluding all transactions only with the help of a notary. Yes, this is a certain waste, but it allows you to avoid more significant problems.

General tips:

There is no need to rush into choosing a developer and purchasing an apartment. Today, the real estate market, although not stable, is not chaotic. People are often afraid that prices will soon rise significantly, but, as a rule, the growth process rarely occurs in large leaps, and the rise is often followed by periods of falling prices. It is best to carefully assess your strengths and capabilities, choose an area, decide on a developer, and carefully check it for reliability.
Checking the developer is not a matter of one day. The absence of negative information on the Internet does not mean that the developer’s reputation should be credible. Perhaps this is a young or shell company that is not going to comply with all legal requirements. Even if the company’s documents are in order, there is indirect evidence of its reliability, the company should be abandoned if it offers to conclude a preliminary agreement for equity participation , that is, it violates federal law.
Do not redevelop the premises before receiving the deed of ownership, so as not to correct them later according to the requirements of the BTI. By the way, measurements of premises by BTI specialists can lead to conflicts with the developer. Let's say a person paid for an apartment with an area of 70 square meters. And experts will count another five meters. In this case, you will have to pay extra to the developer. It is quite possible that people will not be able to pay immediately, since they did not expect these costs, and some people may even refer to the fact that they did not agree on the “extra” meters. Of course, all this will lead to litigation with the developer.

You can purchase an apartment in a new building with a mortgage. To do this, you should contact the bank, where they will select a convenient option for the client. Such a purchase also requires caution and follows a special pattern.

How to buy an apartment in a building under construction with a mortgage?

The algorithm for buying an apartment in a new building with a mortgage is slightly different:

The buyer finds the developer, checks the documents and clarifies the terms of the transaction with him.
A bank is selected and a mortgage application is submitted.
After the application is approved by the bank, the DDU is concluded and registered with Rosreestr.
A mortgage agreement is concluded with the bank, then the money is transferred to the escrow account.

Legal advice: to increase your chance of getting your mortgage approved, you should take a closer look at the bank’s partner developers. Before executing a mortgage agreement, the lender carefully checks the construction companies, and he will have more confidence in the partner.

Contents and sample agreement

A DDU with a mortgage contains almost the same information as without it. But it must indicate the procedure for settlement with the developer and the details of the lender.

Sample DDU with mortgage

Documentation

To apply for a mortgage for a new building you will need:

Borrower's passport.
Help 2-NDFL.
A certified copy of the work record.
DDU.

Note! If maternity capital is used, a certificate and a certificate of the balance of funds on it from the Pension Fund are submitted to the bank. To confirm the down payment, you will need a payment order and a bank account statement.

What documents will be required

To apply for a mortgage, you will need the following list of basic documents:

photocopy of passport;
a photocopy of the taxpayer identification number, as well as a tax registration certificate;
photocopy of documents on existing education;
a photocopy of the child’s birth certificate (if available);
certificate of income (the minimum required period of work in the organization is established by each bank individually);
a photocopy of the insurance certificate of state pension insurance;
photocopy of a military ID (if the borrower is of military age);
photocopy of marriage (or divorce) certificate;
a photocopy of the work record book certified by the employer.

At the time of providing photocopies of the above list of documents, the borrower must simultaneously provide their originals.

The borrower needs to pay special attention to the income certificate: the size of the loan issued by the bank, as well as the terms of the loan, directly depends on this document. In this case, it is best to indicate all available sources of income.

Also, in addition to the main package of documents for purchasing an apartment, the bank may require:

registration certificate;
a photocopy of the passports of the closest relatives of the person taking out the mortgage;
a photocopy of the pension certificate, as well as a certificate of the amount of pension received by elderly relatives;
providing information on the availability of own property (vehicles, securities, real estate);
provision of bank account statements for the last six months;
certificate issued by drug treatment and psychoneurological dispensaries.

In addition, the bank will necessarily request information about the presence of a positive credit history of the person making the loan. At the same time, he can also check all completed transactions for payment of utility services.

If several borrowers or guarantors are involved in the process of concluding a mortgage transaction, the bank will necessarily request an identical package of documents from these persons.

After the bank approves the submitted application, the borrower is given a certain time to find an apartment to purchase. As a rule, this is given for 1 month, but you can ask the bank to extend the period for a short period of time.

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Further, when the bank approves the housing found by the borrower, the bank performs the following operations:

assessment of the housing chosen by the borrower;
insurance of residential real estate and also the ability to work and health of the buyer.

After this, the bank enters into a loan agreement with the borrower, who undertakes to pay the missing amount for the apartment. Next, the entire signed package of documents is submitted for state registration.

How to register property rights?

Registration of ownership is possible only upon completion of construction, when the developer already has permission to commission and a technical passport.

How it all looks step by step:

The company receives all the documents, and a protocol for the distribution of space is drawn up.
The shareholder accepts the apartment and signs the transfer deed.
Documents for registration are submitted through Rosreestr or to the MFC.
As a result, the owner receives an extract from the Unified State Register.

Documentation

To register property rights you will need:

Application (filled out on site).
DDU.
Transfer deed.
Mortgage agreement and mortgage, if the apartment was purchased with a mortgage.
Technical passport.

State duty

For registration, the buyer pays a fee of 2,000 rubles.

Property location

Location of the house: the house is located “on the outskirts” or in an elite quarter. The presence of a nearby transport interchange plays an important role.
The quality of construction of the facility: project, year of construction, quality of building materials, etc.
Availability of parking space, concierge, elevator, storage room.
Characteristics of the living space: kitchen area, type of bathroom, ceiling height, number of rooms, presence of loggias or balconies, floor.

If apartments are sold with renovations from the developer, then their price is higher than the cost of a similar apartment without finishing. Pay due attention to the appearance of the surrounding area. If green spaces are visible from the window, then the cost of such an apartment is much higher. Accordingly, if the windows overlook garbage cans, then the cost is significantly reduced.

What to look for when buying a new building?

Most often, people are interested in what questions to ask the developer when buying an apartment. First of all, you need to ask if he has a construction permit and design documentation, then read the documents.

It is also recommended to clarify:

How developed is the infrastructure, how are things going with transport links?
Are there any plans to build new facilities nearby?
Are there agreements with energy companies and other companies providing services?
Does the developer work with mortgage investors if a mortgage is planned?
What materials is the house built from?

Legal advice: the developer can answer anything. It is better to check all the information yourself by requesting documents and familiarizing yourself with the infrastructure of the area.

How to check the developer?

First you need to check the documents of the construction company:

Charter
Extract from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities.
Certificate of registration with the Federal Tax Service.
Construction permit.
Project declaration.
New building insurance contract.

It would be a good idea to check information about the developer using several services.

For example, on the website of the Russian Ministry of Construction you can find out the number of houses sold by a company, its registration data, information about the manager, email address and telephone number of the reception desk. If the developer is not registered anywhere, information about him will not be there. This should alert you, it is better to refuse the deal. There is a possibility that this is a scammer.

Another verification option is the FSSP database of enforcement proceedings. If a construction company has debts, they will be reflected there. The presence of debt negatively affects the reputation; such a transaction must be treated with caution: there is a possibility that the developer will soon go bankrupt.

Note: you can check the construction company by reviews. It is better to ask them from those who have already bought apartments there. Ideally, these will be relatives or acquaintances. On the Internet there is a chance to run into custom reviews.

A lawyer's answers to questions about buying a home in a building under construction

Is it possible to buy an apartment in a building under construction and then sell it after the price increases?

Yes, this is often practiced. But it is not the apartment that is being sold, but the right to claim it under the assignment agreement.

Is my husband's consent required to purchase an apartment in a building under construction?

Yes, consent is provided in simple written form, because General money is used for purchases. It is usually required by the bank.

Is it possible to register a private trust for two shareholders?

Yes, this is not prohibited by law. The contract specifies their details, as well as the procedure for distributing financial obligations to the developer.

I am in one city, I want to buy housing in a new building in another. How to do it?

You can issue a notarized power of attorney for another person. He will deal with the procedure and negotiate with the developer independently, but on behalf of the principal.

The father was a shareholder and died before the house was put into operation. I am the heir. Can I become a member of the DDU instead of him?

Yes. Within 6 months from the date of death, you need to enter into an inheritance, obtain a certificate from a notary, and then come to the developer and conclude an additional agreement to the DDU.