Title deed of an apartment to be purchased, subsequent residence visa

Hi there.

Answers to your questions are below:

All properties in Bahrain have a title deed.

I think the person you are buying this apartment from has not registered the property in his name - in other words he is just flipping the property, meaning buying and selling without registering it. He must be having the title deed, but in the name of the previous owner. He is not telling you the whole truth. The main reason people dont register properties is to save on the registration fees.

The only reason why a property owner will not have the title deed is if there is a mortgage on the property and the lender has custody of the title deed. Since he says there is no mortgage, then he definitely has the title deed. Either that or he is not truthful about the mortgage.

What i think will happen is as follows: the current owner will bring the title deed when you do the sale and purchase agreement and give it to you at that time. As far as you are concerned, if you do buy this property, you should register it at the Survey and Land Registration Bureau (SLRB).  When you register, you pay the registration fees of 2%. There is a discount of 15% of registration fees if you register within 2 months of purchase. The registration process is straightforward and takes about 1 hour. The title deed is ready for collection in about 3 to 4 weeks thereafter. You DO NOT need to pay this twice. You only pay these fees once. If the current owner tries to get you to pay twice, then he is simply trying to get you to pay for the registration fees he was supoosed to pay in the first place. He careful of him, if he tries this.

Please note, the sale and purchase agreement is valid only for one year. Make sure the current owner has a valid sale and purchase agreement. Meaning it is less than one year old. Because if he does not have a valid sale and purchase agreement, then he cannot legally sell the property. If his sale and pruchase agreement is more than 1 year old, he may try to still sell the property to you. Make sure you check this matter and even bring it to the attention of the lawyers at the SLRB if in doubt.

As far as residency processing is concerned, the sale and purchase agreement is enough to start the process.

Trust the above answers your questions. Let me know if you have any follow up queries. Good luck!