Buying an Apartment in Estonia — Certified Facts & Full Buyer Playbook
Avoid overpaying and hidden defects. Verify actual market values using official Land Board transaction deeds, audit Ehitisregister (EHR) documentation, and calculate exact notary costs before submitting a binding offer.
3 Golden Rules of Buying
6-Step Apartment Purchase Workflow
From bank pre-approval to notarial deed and key handover.
Determine your borrowing ceiling and self-financing quota (standard 10–15%, EIS guarantee enables 10%).
Evaluate transit connections, micro-location sound levels, building year, and structural wall composition.
Benchmark the asking price against the Estiq AVM, which brings comparable prices to sale-price level using Land Board statistics.
Review winter heating bills, apartment association meeting minutes, and Land Register encumbrances.
Order a certified valuation report compliant with Estonian standard EVS 875 for mortgage drawdown.
Execution of the notary deed of sale, mortgage registration, and official handover protocol.
Pre-Purchase Inspection Checklist
8 Key CheckpointsNo time to check it all yourself? We do it for you before you offer.
We check the price, the building association’s finances, the building register and area risks, and tell you what to ask the seller. Written brief within 48 hours. You pay only after we confirm.
Verify Fair Market Price Before Submitting an Offer
Input the property address and size — Estiq AVM will compare it with similar flats in the same building and nearby and show a price with a range.
Check Property Value Free →Purchasing Cost Breakdown (Example on €150,000 Apartment)
Official Estonian notary tariff rates, state duties, and bank mortgage fees.
The example is illustrative and based on the tiered tables of the Notary Fees Act and State Fees Act. Exact amounts for your purchase price and loan amount: open the notary fee calculator →
Ehitisregister (EHR) & Official Document Audit
Ehitisregister (EHR)
Check by building code: whether the apartment building has an occupancy permit, the registered year of construction, number of floors and the official energy certificate. Make sure the actual layout does not differ from the building design.
Open Ehitisregister (EHR) →Land Register (e-Kinnistusraamat)
Check the apartment ownership register entry: whether there are valid prohibition notes, mortgages or personal usage rights. Mortgages are deleted or replaced in favour of the new bank on the closing day via the notary's deposit account.
Open e-Kinnistusraamat →Both are Estonian public state registers — e-Kinnistusraamat is managed by the Centre of Registers and Information Systems (RIK). A single query is free; when logged in with ID-card or Mobile-ID you can also see your own property documents in e-Kinnistusraamat for free.
FAQ
Use Estiq’s free instant valuation (estiq.ee/value): it compares the flat with similar flats in the same building and nearby and brings asking prices to sale-price level using Land Board statistics. Its median error in Tallinn is 9.5%.
Key closing costs include: notary fees (split equally with the seller by common practice), land registry state duty (tiered scale, roughly 0.1–0.2% of the price), and bank mortgage contract setup fees.
In EHR you verify the official occupancy permit (kasutusluba) and ensure the physical interior layout matches registered architectural plans. Non-compliant alterations will block mortgage approval.
Yes. Citizens of the EU, UK, US, and most countries can freely acquire residential apartment ownership in Tallinn and urban centres without special permits.