Conveyancing works differently in every country, and any article claiming a universal sequence is describing one jurisdiction and hoping. What does travel is the list of things that lose people money when nobody checks them. This is that list.
Each item below names a market where we have documented the problem, because an abstract warning is easy to nod at and hard to act on.
1. Establish who actually holds title, and on what document
"Title" is not one thing. In Thailand the difference between a Chanote and a lesser land document determines whether the plot can be transferred at all — we set out the Thai title deed hierarchy in detail. In Maharashtra the Satbara extract (7/12) is the record that shows ownership, tenancy and encumbrance in one place, and buyers who skip it discover the tenancy afterwards.
Ask for the register entry itself, dated recently, not a copy the seller supplies. Read who is named on it. Confirm that every named owner is selling.
2. Check the register for what is attached to the property
Mortgages, liens, unpaid tax, rights of way, inheritance claims and tenancies follow the property, not the seller. In much of southern Europe and Latin America, unpaid utility and community charges transfer with the title too.
This is the single check most often delegated to the agent and most often worth paying a lawyer to do independently.
3. Establish that the building was legally built
A structure can be physically present, occupied, photographed and marketed and still lack the permission that makes it legal. Extensions, pools and converted outbuildings are the usual offenders. Regularisation may be possible, may be expensive, and may be impossible.
Where the ownership structure itself is the thing being built — as with the three legal structures available to foreign developers in Bali — the same question applies to the company as to the concrete: was it constituted properly, and does it still comply?
4. Confirm you are permitted to own it before you commit
In 35 of the 65 markets we cover, a foreign buyer faces a licence, a required structure, a designated zone or an outright bar. Several of those permissions are granted routinely, which is precisely why they get treated as a formality and left until after a deposit has moved. See foreign-ownership rules across 65 markets for where your market sits.
5. Confirm you are permitted to let it
Ownership and letting are separate permissions, and the second is tightening far faster than the first. A licence that exists today may not be transferable to you on sale, and in several European cities new ones are no longer being issued. If the investment case depends on letting income, this check is not secondary to the purchase — it is the purchase. Our guide to short-term rental rules by market covers where the regime is moving.
6. Establish the boundaries and what comes with them
Survey plans and physical reality diverge, particularly on rural and coastal land. Costa Rica's maritime zone — the first 200 metres from the high-tide line — is concession land rather than freehold, and is sold to foreign buyers as though the distinction were administrative. In Panama the difference between titled land and "rights of possession" is the difference between an asset and a claim.
7. Read the contract for what happens when it goes wrong
Deposit forfeiture, completion delay, failure to obtain permission, defects discovered after handover: the clauses covering these are where a purchase is actually protected or not. We set out the clauses worth insisting on separately, and the legal aspects specific to a stand-alone villa where there is no developer guarantee behind you.
8. Know your own tax position before you sign
Reporting obligations attach to the buyer in their home country regardless of what the seller's jurisdiction requires, and the penalties for missing them are routinely larger than the tax. Declaration rules for UK, US and Australian buyers covers what has to be reported and when.
Where the listings actually live
One assumption causes more wasted time than any other, and it is held most firmly by the best-prepared buyers.
In the United States and Canada, the Multiple Listing Service means essentially every property is in one shared pool, with agreed rules for agents co-operating and splitting commission. A buyer can work with one agent and see everything.
Most of the world does not work this way. In much of Europe, Asia, the Caribbean and Latin America there is no true MLS. Listings are fragmented across agencies, the same house appears on several portals at different prices, some of the best stock never appears publicly at all, and agents do not reliably share. Two consequences follow, and both cost money:
- You will need to work with several agents to see what is available, which means repeating your brief and being disciplined about which agent introduced which property — because commission disputes over introductions are common and unpleasant.
- An asking price is a position, not a fact. With no shared record of what actually sold, comparable evidence is far weaker than buyers from MLS markets expect. Our guide to judging value from a distance deals with how to price without it.
Where a national register of sold prices does exist — and it does in several countries — find it before you rely on any agent's view of the market. It is the closest thing to an MLS you will get.
Who the agent actually works for
In most markets the agent is paid by the seller, from the sale proceeds, on completion. That is not a scandal; it is the structure. But it means the person showing you the house has a financial interest in you buying it, at the highest price, today.
Note the two exceptions worth seeking out. A buyer's agent (or chasseur, personal shopper, buyer's broker depending on the market) is retained and paid by you, and searches on your behalf across agencies. In an opaque, fragmented market that fee frequently pays for itself, both in access to stock and in negotiation. The other is a fixed-fee adviser who does not take commission at all.
Whoever you work with, ask four questions early:
- Who pays you, and how much? A straight answer is a good sign. Evasion is informative.
- Are you licensed or registered, and where can I check? Many markets maintain a public register of estate agents. Some markets require no licence at all, which is itself worth knowing.
- Do you have any interest in this property? Agents sometimes sell their own stock, or their developer employer's, while presenting as a broker.
- Can I speak to two buyers you have acted for in the last year? Reluctance here tells you what you need.
And one rule that admits no exception: never use the lawyer the agent or developer recommends. Not because the recommendation is necessarily bad, but because you cannot tell, and this is the single relationship in the transaction that must be unambiguously yours. Find your own, ideally before you find the house.
The one rule underneath all eight
Instruct a lawyer who is paid by you, is not connected to the agent or the developer, and is qualified in the country where the property sits. Every check above is one they perform routinely and you cannot perform at all from another country.
The fee is a rounding error against the purchase and is the only part of this process where spending less reliably costs more. Nothing here is legal advice, and procedure varies by jurisdiction — use it to know what to ask, not as a substitute for asking.