Land register entry: how long it takes

Moe Afonso · 2026-10-14

The notary appointment was weeks ago. You have transferred the purchase price and paid the property transfer tax. The flat is let, and the first rent payment has already arrived. The only thing still missing is a letter from the land registry.

This is normal. There are several steps between signing and registration, and some of them depend on you. For property investors, this raises a practical question: who is actually the landlord while you are not yet in the land register?

01Why you only become the owner upon registration

For ownership of a property to change hands, the law requires two things: agreement on the transfer, known as the Auflassung, and entry in the land register (§§ 873, 925 BGB). You declare the Auflassung before the notary. Registration follows later.

To prevent the seller from selling the flat a second time or encumbering it in the meantime, the notary arranges for a priority notice securing the transfer of ownership to be registered shortly after the appointment (§ 883 BGB). It acts like a reserved place in the land register. Subsequent dispositions by the seller are ineffective against you, and the protection also holds if the seller becomes insolvent (§ 106 InsO).

02The route to the land register in five steps

Registration as the owner is the final step. Before that, the notary must ensure that the prerequisites are met. Each one can take time.

Two of these steps are in your hands: paying the purchase price on time and paying the property transfer tax promptly. Leaving the tax assessment untouched for four weeks extends the wait by precisely those four weeks.

03Example: a realistic timetable

The total time required depends primarily on how quickly the authorities and banks work. There is no official average figure. The following timetable is therefore an example with disclosed assumptions, not a figure based on experience.

Take Tobias. He is buying a tenanted flat, with his notary appointment on 2 March. The payment period in the contract is two weeks from the notice that payment is due. The name is fictional, and the timescales are assumptions.

In this example, the process takes just over three and a half months. The actual registration of the transfer takes four weeks; the rest is taken up by the preparations. Tobias himself controls around three of those weeks through how quickly he pays the purchase price and the tax.

04The notification of registration

Once the land registry has made an entry, it notifies the parties involved. This letter is called the notification of registration (Eintragungsbekanntmachung). It is sent to the notary who submitted the application, to you as the applicant and to everyone whose rights are affected by the entry, including your bank as the holder of the land charge (§ 55 GBO).

When buying a flat with financing, you will usually receive several notifications: for the priority notice, for your bank’s land charge and, finally, for registration of the transfer of ownership.

The notification is an information notice, not a formal administrative decision. You do not need to sign anything. Nevertheless, you should check it immediately. If a name is incorrect or a cancellation is missing, contact the notary. The notary is responsible for implementing the transaction and will clarify the matter with the land registry.

05What registration costs

Land registry fees are governed by the Court and Notary Costs Act (Gerichts- und Notarkostengesetz) and are not subject to VAT. For a purchase price of €200,000 and a land charge of €160,000, the costs are as follows:

Under the usual contractual arrangements, the seller bears the cost of cancelling old land charges. The purchase costs calculator works out all the additional purchase costs for your circumstances.

What will your purchase cost on top of the purchase price? Enter the purchase price, federal state and land charge.

06What applies to landlords while they wait

With a tenanted flat, the date you enter the land register is not the only one that matters. Different issues have their own relevant dates.

The second row surprises many people. Until registration, the seller remains the landlord in legal terms. During this period, you can only issue a rent increase or a notice terminating the tenancy if the purchase contract authorises you to do so. Have this covered in the contract if you want to act before the transfer is registered. After possession has transferred, notify the tenant in writing of the account into which they should pay in future.

For the speculative holding period, by contrast, it is the earlier date that counts. The ten years begin with the notary appointment, not registration. Read more in the guide to the speculative holding period for property.

07Risks and limitations

• Long processing times. Some land registries take months. Legally, you are protected by the priority notice; in practice, you cannot act as the owner during this period, for example when arranging follow-on financing or reselling the property.
• Errors in the entry. Rare, but possible. Check every notification immediately and report errors to the notary.
• Payment without notice that it is due. If you pay beforehand, your payment is unsecured. Only pay once the notary notifies you that payment is due.
• The flat as an investment. From the transfer of possession, you bear the usual risks: a void period if the tenant moves out, higher interest rates after the fixed-rate period ends, and maintenance. Waiting for land register entry does not change any of this.

08Further reading

• The notary appointment when buying a flat
• The property purchase process
• Notary fees when buying property
• Land register in the glossary
• Priority notice securing the transfer of ownership in the glossary
• Tax clearance certificate in the glossary

09Sources

All sources accessed on 14 October 2026.

• § 873 BGB, § 925 BGB (acquisition of ownership), § 883 BGB (priority notice), § 566 BGB (sale does not terminate a tenancy)
• § 55 GBO (notification of entries)
• § 15 GrEStG (payment due date), § 22 GrEStG (tax clearance certificate)
• § 8 WEG, § 12 WEG (restrictions on disposal)
• § 106 InsO (priority notice in insolvency)
• § 9a EStDV (year of acquisition), § 23 EStG (private disposals)
• § 34 GNotKG and Annex 2 (fee table B)
• Schwäbisch Hall, guide to land register entry (updated 13 October 2025): https://www.schwaebisch-hall.de/baufinanzierung/kosten/grundbucheintrag.html
• Example calculation and timetable: own assumptions, as at 14 October 2026

Note: This guide provides general information and is not a substitute for legal or tax advice. All figures are example calculations with disclosed assumptions, as at 14 October 2026.