The 48 hours after a promising viewing in Luxembourg

An accepted offer here leads directly to a binding contract. That makes the window between a good second viewing and an offer the most consequential two days of the whole purchase, and most buyers spend it deciding how they feel.

Why the window is short and the stakes are high

In Luxembourg an accepted offer leads to a compromis de vente. Buyers arriving from markets with a statutory cooling-off period consistently underestimate what that means: the compromis is a binding contract, and the notarial deed that follows executes an agreement already made rather than being the moment of decision.

So everything you intend to verify has to be verified before signature. Afterwards you are negotiating an exit rather than exercising a right, and the principal protection remaining is the financing condition, which only helps if it was properly drafted in the first place.

Hour one to six: read the documents you already asked for

If you attended the second viewing without the paperwork, that is the first thing to correct. Four documents:

• Minutes of the last three general assemblies. Read them properly rather than skimming a summary. Works voted and not yet called for are existing liabilities. Works discussed and postponed are liabilities with a date attached. Disputes tell you what the co-ownership is like to belong to.
• Reconciled charges for two completed years, not the monthly provision, which is an estimate.
• The acte de base and règlement de copropriété, which set the millièmes, define what is private and what is common, and impose the restrictions binding every owner. A terrace shown on a plan may be a right of exclusive enjoyment over common property rather than a private part.
• The energy passport, which is now a financing variable as well as a running-cost indicator.

Day one: convert the works into a range per trade

A single global renovation figure cannot be interrogated. Ask for indicative pricing per trade: electrical, plumbing, heating, ventilation, joinery, tiling, flooring, decoration. That structure shows where the uncertainty sits, and the uncertainty is almost always in services rather than surfaces.

Where the property is dated, get one professional through the door before the offer. An hour of an architect's or contractor's time is trivial against the size of the decision and converts guesswork into a range you can defend.

Separate what is yours from what is the building's. Under the amended law of 16 May 1975 the structure, roof, facade, staircases and collective equipment are common parts. Those are not a renovation you can price; they are a future call for funds whose timing other owners decide.

Day one, afternoon: put the specific property to the bank

A general pre-approval is not an answer on this apartment. Give the bank the price, the energy class, the works estimate and your loan-to-value position, and ask for a written indication.

Under CSSF Regulation 20-08 of 3 December 2020 the general loan-to-value principle is 80%, with first-time buyers of a principal residence able to reach 100% of the price, other principal-residence purchases generally capped at 90%, and buy-to-let at 80%. The commonly cited 40% debt-service ratio is banking practice rather than a legal rule, and a stress test is applied on top.

Two points that change the answer. Acquisition costs are normally excluded from the financing and must come from your own funds. And where the property is classed F to H, lenders generally expect the works to be integrated into the financing plan rather than deferred, which means the renovation and the purchase are assessed as one project.

Day two: settle the Bëllegen Akt position

The credit is €40,000 per buyer and €80,000 for a couple acquiring together, permanent since July 2025, applied by the notary at the deed against duties of 7% with no separate application. A minimum of €100 in duty remains payable in all cases.

Three things to confirm before the offer. Whether each buyer is eligible and how much of their personal, lifelong allowance remains, since a buyer who used €25,000 on an earlier purchase has €15,000 left. Whether you will occupy the property as your principal residence from entry into possession or within two years, which is the condition. And whether the deed will record a joint acquisition en indivision, which is required to combine two credits; where only one partner is named, only that person's credit applies.

Day two: build the day-one cash figure

Four numbers, kept separate rather than blended: the deposit required by your loan-to-value ceiling; the acquisition costs, calculated with your actual credit position rather than a generic 7%; the works budget, ideally with a contingency weighted towards services; and a reserve for the first two years, sized against the building's known liabilities rather than a rule of thumb.

That last line is the one most commonly deleted when the arithmetic gets tight, and it is the one that protects you when the assembly votes a call for funds in year one.

Making the offer

Present it on price alone and keep your reasoning separate. A quotation from a named trade or a line in the assembly minutes is an argument; an impression that the building looks tired is not, and sellers here have heard it.

Then ensure the financing condition in the compromis is drafted by the notary with a realistic deadline, a stated amount and a stated rate. It is the mechanism that protects you if the lending does not come through, and a vague clause protects nobody.

Three questions we are asked

Is 48 hours enough? It is enough if the documents were requested after the first viewing. It is not enough to start from nothing, which is the argument for asking early rather than at the point of interest.

Can I make an offer subject to a survey? Conditions can be negotiated into the compromis, and what is acceptable depends on the seller and the market. Discuss it with the notary before offering rather than trying to insert it afterwards.

What if another buyer moves faster? Occasionally you will lose a property to someone who did less work. That is a better outcome than winning one on incomplete information, given that the contract you sign is binding.

The questions to put to the syndic in writing

Ask through the seller or the notary, and ask for written answers. A well-run syndic can respond in a single email, and the speed of the reply is itself information, since you will be dealing with them for as long as you own the lot.

• The current balance of the fonds de travaux, and the annual contribution attaching to this lot.
• The building's thermal insulation class and the energy reference surface used to calculate the minimum contribution.
• Any works voted and not yet called for.
• Total arrears across the co-ownership and any recovery action in progress.
• When the roof, facade, lift and heating plant were last renewed.
• Whether any technical study or energy audit is under way.

Those six answers give you a liability picture no viewing can produce, and they are the difference between an offer based on the apartment and an offer based on the purchase.