When handing over your sold property several things become important at the same time: the actual condition, the inventory handed over, the accesses and the transactions still to be settled. Prepare them together so that after the appointment both parties know the same status. The following procedure is an editorial recommendation for Austria. The prerequisites and legal effects of your handover appointment arise from the specific transaction and will be clarified with the contracting party.
Check the agreed appointment with its prerequisites
Read the agreements that are relevant for handover, use and settlement and ask in good time if anything is unclear. Which prerequisites must be met, who confirms their status and who will participate? A mere message “The money should already be there” is not a suitable basis for your own assessment of a legally important procedural step.
The actual handover of the keys and the transfer of ownership are separate processes. § 431 ABGB provides for the registration of the acquisition transaction for the transfer of immovable property. [ABGB-431] This article does not derive from that either a general date for the handover or a specific purchase price due date. Adopt the professionally clarified procedure of your contract.
Prepare the inventory before the joint walkthrough
Compare the agreed scope of sale with what actually remains on site. Assemble movable items, built-in fittings, ancillary rooms and available documents clearly. Where there are deviations or outstanding works, they are specified concretely and not concealed by a general “as inspected”.
Also check whether all intended areas are accessible and readable meters can be found. Label keys according to access and function without placing sensitive access information publicly. If a key is missing or its purpose is unknown, note exactly that. An unclear handful of keys is not a comprehensible inventory list.
Record together, room by room, what is handed over
Start with the property, date, actual time and the persons present. Then go through the agreed rooms and ancillary areas. Note recognisable deviations from the condition relevant for the handover with location and description. Photos can supplement the joint findings if their capture and use are clarified; they do not replace a technical diagnosis.
Our recommendation: Separate in the protocol findings, differing opinions and agreements already reached. “A discoloration is visible on the wall in the cellar” is something different to “cause permanently remedied”. If the parties assess a matter differently, the difference is recorded and the further course agreed. The handover appointment is not an occasion to hastily explain an unknown cause yourself.
Assign keys, meters and documents individually
- Keys and other accesses – Record together: function, quantity, actual stock handed over; typical open question: Which access is associated with an unknown key?
- Consumption meters – Record together: medium, meter number, reading date and displayed reading including unit; typical open question: Is this the associated meter or an intermediate meter?
- Operating and property documents – Record together: title or attachment and the version actually handed over; typical open question: Which file or which original will be submitted later?
- Items sold with the property – Record together: specific description and existing stock; typical open question: Does the actual stock deviate from the agreement?
- Outstanding matters – Record together: factual situation, responsible person and next step; typical open question: Is a technical or contractual decision required?
Do not estimate an inaccessible meter reading unnoticed. State why it is missing and how a suitable reading should be carried out. A number without a clearly assigned meter can be unusable for later settlement.
Document obligations do not begin only at the handover
The energy performance certificate is an example of an earlier step: the basic rule of § 4 EAVG requires for recorded sales presentation in good time before the declaration of intent to contract and delivery within 14 days after conclusion of the contract. [EAVG-4] A key appointment that takes place later does not simply extend this deadline. Check beforehand what has been completed and which appropriate version was handed over; exceptions and older certificates are categorised separately.
Explain the existing operating manuals and contact persons at the joint appointment, insofar as you know them reliably. Unknown maintenance statuses remain open. For digital devices, access rights, accounts and ongoing services are clarified appropriately; merely writing passwords on a scrap of paper is not a complete handover plan.
Separate meter reading and billing
The protocol records an actual state. Which party bears which costs, which cut-off date applies and which contract with a supplier or service provider continues must each be clarified separately. A recorded meter reading does not automatically result in the re-registration of all contracts.
Draw up a short residual list: expected bill, affected period, existing basis, responsible contact person and next checkpoint. Use clearly marked estimates for your own planning, without treating them already as a joint final settlement.
A fictional handover with two open points
In a fictitious house handover, condition and key inventory correspond to the prepared lists. However, a water meter is not accessible on that day; an older maintenance invoice is available only as an incomplete copy. Both points are recorded separately, with an agreed organisational next step.
The parties receive the same protocol version and the associated annexes. A subsequent exchange of a page would otherwise create two different documentations. Later additions are therefore dated clearly and coordinated appropriately. You should have general waivers, confirmations of completion or new payment arrangements professionally classified before signing. In the end there remains a verifiable handover with clearly named outstanding tasks.