After the buyer has chosen the property that suits, the question of further actions arises. As a rule, in order to secure the preliminary agreement of the parties on the price of the property and the terms of the deal, the buyer and the seller sign a preliminary contract of sale (often referred to as an advance agreement).

Sale of real estate is carried out by the parties by means of the Purchase agreement. According to it, the seller undertakes to transfer the ownership of the property to the buyer, and the buyer to accept and pay for it under the conditions agreed by the parties.

The following essential conditions must be indicated in the Agreement, without which it will be considered as not concluded:

• Data allowing to establish definitely the immovable property subject to transfer under the contract, including information about its location on the relevant land plot or as part of other immovable property (Article 554 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).
• The condition of the price of the transferred property (article 555 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).
• The condition of any pledges of the property (if any).
• When selling property - a list of persons entitled to use this property after it is purchased by the buyer. At the same time, it is necessary to indicate the rights on which these persons use the property.
• When selling on credit with a condition of payment by installments - the value of the property, the procedure, terms and amounts of payments (clause 1, article 489 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).
• When using a bank's credit facilities for the purpose of payment - details of the loan agreement, name of the bank, place of entering into the loan agreement.

Based on our experience in legal support of real estate deals, we recommend also specifying the following conditions in the Agreement, which are not essential in the sense of legal terminology, but are important for the parties to the transaction:

• The time of transfer of the property to the buyer on the transfer act.
• An indication of the full capacity of the parties  and the absence of diseases that prevent the conclusion of the Agreement.
• The period during which the parties undertake to submit documents for state registration.
• The list and value of the property that is transferred  to the buyer.
• Other conditions based on the characteristics of a particular deal.

According to Art. 550 of the Civil Code, the contract of sale of real estate must be concluded in writing by drawing up a single document signed by the parties. Failure to comply with this form entails the invalidity of the contract.

At the moment, the list of real estate deals that are subject to notarization is significantly expanded. Namely, the list includes the following transactions:

• on the alienation of shares in the right of common ownership of real estate;
• sale of land share;
• associated with the disposal of immovable property under guardianship, as well as the alienation of immovable property owned by a minor citizen or a citizen who is recognized as partially capable.

That is, if the owners of the object are several persons on the right of common share ownership and / or one of the owners is a minor, the transaction is subject to notarization by virtue of the law.

By virtue of the law, the right of ownership and other real rights to immovables, restrictions of these rights, their occurrence, transfer and termination are subject to state registration in the unified state register.