What is a registered contract?

What a registered contract is

A registered contract is a sale contract that has been entered in the real-estate register — the public record of who owns what land and what stands on it. The transfer of the unit from the developer to the buyer is written into that register, and the buyer's name appears against the unit. From that entry the contract carries a fixed date, and the buyer holds a recorded title rather than a promise.

How it differs from the contract you sign first

The document you sign when you buy is a private contract between you and the developer. It sets out the unit, the price, the down payment, the instalment plan and the delivery date, and it is what binds the two of you. Registration is a separate step: it takes that sale to the registry office for the district where the property stands, which records the transfer in the public register. Before the entry, the buyer holds a right against the developer; after it, the buyer holds a right recorded against the unit itself.

Why the entry matters

• The date is fixed. A registered contract carries a date that cannot be moved.
• It stands against third parties. If the same unit were sold or pledged again, the register shows who holds it.
• It completes the chain of ownership. Every later sale of that unit starts from the entry.
• It is what a bank reads. A mortgage against the unit, and a later buyer's lawyer, both begin with the register.

When registration happens

The transfer is recorded at the registry once the developer's own title to the land is complete and the unit is identified on the approved plans. In an off-plan purchase that falls after the signature contract, at a point the contract names; with a ready unit it can follow the sale closely. The contract is where the timing is written, and where the duty to register sits.

What registration costs

The registry charges a fee for the entry, and the taxes that attach to registering a sale fall due. Their amounts are set by the registry and the tax authority rather than by the developer, and they are paid to the state; the developer's price is a separate figure.

What to check before you sign

Read the developer's title before you commit. Ask which register the transfer will be entered in. Confirm that the contract says who registers the sale, when, and who bears the registry fee. A contract that leaves those points open is the one to question before signing, not after.