Citeste articolul in romana → Ce sa verifici cand cumperi un apartament vechi
Before you make an offer on an old apartment, check three things: the papers, the building and the flat itself. Every finding goes into one of three boxes: a cost to subtract from the price, something to negotiate, or a reason to walk away. Most problems in old flats are known costs. A few aren't, and those are the ones this list is for.
In short
Read the land book extract before the viewing: owner, mortgages, disputes, and now the building's seismic risk class (part III).
Ask for the association's certificate early. If the seller has debts, the sale can still go ahead, but only if you agree to take them over (Law 196/2018, art. 33).
Check the building, not just the flat: year built, seismic status, the roof or terrace, the risers and the repair fund.
At the viewing, look where problems hide: the electrical panel, the pipes under the sink, window corners, the ceiling under the bathroom above.
Compare the flat with its cadastral plan. Walls that aren't where the plan says are the most expensive surprise.
Walk away from: a building with RsI or an old U1–U3 seismic category and no funded strengthening, removed structural walls without papers, and a price that only works if nothing goes wrong.
What papers should you check before making an offer?
Six documents, most of which you can see before you sign anything. Ask for them as soon as you're serious.
Land book extract (extras de carte funciara). You can get one for information online from ANCPI for any property. Check:
the owner, and that every co-owner will sign;
mortgages and seizures (ipoteci, sechestre);
disputes noted against the property;
the seismic risk class, which is now noted in part III for the whole building once an expertise has been sent to the land registry (Law 212/2022, art. 3^1).
Cadastral plan. It shows the flat's layout as registered. Compare it with what you see at the viewing (see "signs of removed walls" below).
The association's certificate (adeverinta de la asociatia de proprietari). It shows whether the seller is up to date with the maintenance charges. It's valid for 30 days, and the association has to issue it within 3 working days (Law 196/2018, art. 33 alin. (2) and (8)).
Energy performance certificate (certificat de performanta energetica). The seller has to hand it over at the sale (Law 196/2018, art. 33 alin. (5); Law 372/2005). Its rating tells you roughly how well the flat holds heat.
Permits for visible alterations. If walls were moved, the balcony was closed or merged, or the kitchen or bathroom was relocated, ask for the permit or notification behind it.
Utility bills, paid up to date. The notary will ask for them, and they show what running the flat really costs.
At the notary, the seller also brings the title documents, a local tax certificate, the land book extract for authentication and, if there's a mortgage, the bank's consent (notaries' union, UNNPR).
What should you know about the seller's debts?
Unpaid maintenance charges and utility bills can become yours. Read the association's certificate before you agree a price.
The notary can authenticate the sale only if the seller shows the association's certificate, with any debts listed (Law 196/2018, art. 33 alin. (2) lit. a)).
If there are debts, the sale can still go through, but only if the buyer expressly agrees to take over all of them, both to the association and to the utility providers (art. 33 alin. (2) lit. b)).
A sale authenticated without these conditions can be annulled (art. 33 alin. (4)).
What to do: ask for the certificate before the preliminary contract (antecontract), and agree in writing that debts are paid from the price or by the seller before the sale.
What should you check about the building?
A good flat in a building with problems is still a problem. Five checks.
Year built and seismic status. Buildings designed before the 1978 seismic code are the ones to look at most carefully.
Check the city's official list and part III of the land book.
Avoid buildings still listed under the old U1–U3 categories.
"Fara risc seismic" in a listing usually means "never assessed".
The roof or terrace. Ask when it was last waterproofed. Look at the top-floor stairwell ceiling for stains.
The stairwell and the basement. Cracks, damp, rusty stains, the state of the entrance and the basement tell you how the building has been looked after.
The risers (coloanele). Ask whether the shared water and drain pipes have been replaced, and when.
The association's money and plans.
Repair fund: the association has to keep one (Law 196/2018, art. 71 alin. (2)).
Planned works: ask what's planned (terrace, risers, insulation, lift) and what each flat will pay.
Arrears: ask whether many owners are in arrears. A building where the association can't collect money doesn't get repaired.
A note on age: build quality varied in every period, including the 1990s and 2000s. The year tells you which rules a building was designed to, not how well it was built. Check the building's condition whatever its year.
Seen a flat you like and not sure what you're looking at? Book a free 45-minute Office Hours session, send us the listing, the photos and whatever papers you have, and we'll help you read what you saw, what to check next, and what to ask before you make an offer.
What should you check at the viewing?
Ten things, each with how to check it and what a bad result means. Take a torch and your phone's camera.
The electrical panel. Open it.
Bad: old fuses instead of circuit breakers, no RCD (protectie diferentiala), signs of burning.
What it means: the wiring is original or close to it. Budget for a full rewire.
The wiring. Look behind a loose socket or switch plate, or ask the seller.
Bad: aluminium wires, which look silver-grey; no earth wire; extension leads everywhere.
What it means: a full rewire.
The pipes. Look under the kitchen sink, behind the toilet and in the bathroom access panel.
Bad: old grey steel pipes with rust at the joints, or patched leaks.
What it means: new pipes up to the risers.
Water pressure. Open the shower and a tap at the same time, and flush the toilet.
Bad: weak flow, especially on upper floors, or rusty water.
What it means: old pipes, sometimes a building problem you can't fix alone.
Heating. Ask whether the flat is on district heating or has its own boiler, and look at the radiators.
Bad: radiators removed or cut off without papers; an old boiler with no inspection record.
What it means: heating work, sometimes paperwork to sort out first.
Windows. Look at the corners and the reveals around them.
Bad: black mould, condensation marks, failed seals, original timber frames.
What it means: new windows, and possibly a ventilation problem.
Damp. Look where it hides:
the corners of outside walls, behind furniture and in wardrobes;
around windows;
the ceiling in a top-floor flat;
the bathroom and kitchen ceiling, under the flat above.
Fresh paint in just one corner is a question to ask.
What it means: the cause can be condensation, a leaking terrace or a pipe. Only an on-site check tells which, and the cost depends on the cause.
Signs of removed walls. Compare the flat with the cadastral plan.
Look for: a beam or step in the ceiling where a wall used to be, rooms that don't match the plan, a kitchen opened to the living room.
What it means: in a panel bloc, walls are often structural. A removed wall without a permit and an expertise is the most serious finding on this list.
Floors and ceilings. Walk across each room.
Bad: slopes you can feel, soft spots, cracks that run diagonally from the corners of doors and windows.
What it means: sometimes just old screed, sometimes something structural. Ask an engineer if the cracks look recent or wide.
Light, noise and smell. Visit at different times of day if you can.
Bad: rooms that never get sun, constant noise from the street or a shop below, a smell of damp or drains.
What it means: some of these no renovation can fix. Decide whether you can live with them.
What's different on the top floor and the ground floor?
The top floor brings the terrace into your life. The ground floor brings the basement and the street.
Top floor:
The terrace above is common property. Repairing it is the association's job (Law 196/2018, art. 63 alin. (1)), paid from the repair fund.
Ask: when the terrace was last waterproofed, whether there are leaks now, and whether a repair is planned and funded.
Look: at the ceilings, especially at the corners and near the outside walls.
Ground floor:
Damp from the basement or the ground, visible at the base of the walls.
Shops or offices next door or below: noise, smells, opening hours, and whether they've altered the structure (see "Red lines").
Security and privacy: bars on the windows, how close the street or the entrance is.
Insurance, either way: the mandatory home policy (PAD) covers earthquakes, landslides and floods, not leaks from pipes or neighbours. Only an optional home policy covers those.
What should you ask the seller and the administrator?
Ask the same questions to both. Where the answers don't match, look closer.
To the seller:
When were the electrics and pipes last replaced, by whom, and is there any paperwork?
Has anything been changed that touched walls, the balcony or the bathroom position? Is there a permit or notification?
Have there been leaks, from above or to the flat below? Was it repaired, and how?
Why are you selling, and how long has the flat been on the market?
To the administrator:
Are the seller's charges up to date? (Ask for the certificate.)
Has the building had a seismic expertise? When, and which class?
When were the terrace, the risers and the lift last repaired? What's planned, and what will each flat pay?
How much is in the repair fund, and are many owners in arrears?
What does each finding mean for your offer?
Every finding is a cost to subtract, a point to negotiate, or a reason to walk away.
Old electrical panel, aluminium wiring: large cost (full rewire). Subtract from the price.
Old steel pipes, weak pressure: medium to large cost (new pipes up to the risers). Subtract.
Original or failed windows: medium cost. Subtract.
Condensation and mould at window corners: small to medium cost (ventilation, windows, refinishing), once the cause is confirmed. Negotiate.
Top-floor ceiling stains, terrace not repaired: small cost for you if the association repairs and funds it; large if not. Ask the association, then negotiate.
Seller's debts to the association or utilities: the exact amount. Have it paid before the sale, or deduct it.
Major works voted but not yet paid (terrace, risers, insulation): your share. Negotiate.
Closed balcony without approval: regularisable at any time, with fees and an expertise (Law 169/2026, art. 301 alin. (2)). Negotiate, or ask the seller to regularise.
Walls removed, bathroom moved, balcony merged, without papers: unknown cost. Most such works can be regularised only if the request is filed by 25 August 2027, at ten times the normal fees (art. 301 alin. (7)–(8)). Walk away, or make the offer conditional on an expertise and a legal opinion.
RsII seismic class: depends on the strengthening plans. Read the full expertise before deciding.
RsI, or an old U1–U3 category, with no funded strengthening: walk away.
Cost sizes are relative. Large means a significant share of a renovation budget; small means a single trade.
When should you walk away?
Five red lines. Any one of them is enough.
Seismic: an RsI class or an old U1–U3 category, with no strengthening funded and scheduled.
Structure: structural walls removed or cut without a permit and an expertise, or a ground-floor shop that has opened up the structure below you.
Movement: cracks that are fresh, wide, have moved, or keep reopening after being filled. Stable old cracks at the corners of openings are common; changing ones aren't.
Legal: disputes on the land book, owners who won't all sign, or works that can't be regularised.
The numbers: add the price and a realistic renovation, then add 20–30%. If the deal no longer makes sense, it didn't make sense to begin with.
And if it's a house?
The same three checks apply, plus four things a flat doesn't have.
The roof: water that has got in through a roof covering has usually damaged the timber beneath it. A re-covering often turns into a roof repair.
The foundations and the walls at ground level: rising damp, cracks that run through the base of the walls, sections of the house that have settled differently.
The site: where rainwater goes, retaining walls, trees close to the house, the slope.
Outbuildings and extensions: check that they're on the land book and have permits. Garages, summer kitchens and extensions built without papers have their own rules and deadlines.
The checklist
Copy this list to your phone before the viewing.
Papers
Land book extract: owner, mortgages, disputes, seismic class (part III)
Cadastral plan, compared with the flat
Association certificate: charges paid, any debts
Energy performance certificate
Permits for any altered walls, balcony or bathroom
Recent utility bills, paid
Building
Year built; on the seismic risk list? Rs class or old U category?
Terrace or roof: last waterproofed when? Leaks?
Stairwell and basement: cracks, damp, upkeep
Risers: replaced when?
Repair fund, planned works, owners in arrears
Flat
Electrical panel: breakers and RCD, or old fuses?
Wiring: copper or aluminium? Earth wire?
Pipes under the sink and behind the toilet
Water pressure and colour
Heating: district or boiler; radiators intact?
Windows: seals, corners, condensation
Damp: outside-wall corners, around windows, ceiling under the flat above
Walls compared with the plan; signs of removed walls
Floors and ceilings: slopes, diagonal cracks
Light, noise, smell
Questions
To the seller: works done, permits, leaks
To the administrator: charges, expertise, planned works, repair fund
Have the flat looked at before you make the offer
In a free, 45-minute Office Hours call, an architect goes through the flat with you: what the papers and photos show, which findings are costs and which are red lines, what to check on site, and how it all changes your offer and your renovation plan.
Bring: the listing, your photos from the viewing (the panel, under the sink, window corners, ceilings), the land book extract and the cadastral plan if you have them, and any papers from the seller or the association.
No pitch, no obligation. Pick a time below; it shows in your local time.
Renovating in Romania: all articles
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