The real estate agent is responsible for acquiring the documents pertaining to the apartment or house, e.g. the house manager's certificate and articles of association, and for single family houses, documents such as the extract from the land register and encumbrance documents.
Documents provided by authorities, such as the extract from the land register, are reliable.
Other documents, such as the house manager's certificate, should be checked by the seller to confirm that information such as the square area and repair history of the building are accurate. This is because the seller has liability for all information provided to the buyer, including those on the house manager's certificate. The agent does not routinely need to check the information on the house manager's certificate unless he has reason to doubt their accuracy.
The agent does, however, have a general responsibility for whether the information supplied by the seller or listed in the documents pertaining to the object of sale are correct. This responsibility could apply to, for example, information on the square area of the apartment if the agent's professional ability and assessment of the property indicate that the square area listed on the documents is inaccurate. If this can't be achieved with reasonable effort, the agency must notify the buyer that the information in question could not be confirmed.
Information pertaining to square area may be difficult to confirm, particularly with old apartments and single family houses. A frequently used standard statement is that the square area of the apartment may be different to that stated in the articles of association or that the square area of the single family house has not been re-checked by measuring it.
The agent must provide both parties with all information relevant to the real estate transaction in question.
The agent must, amongst other things, be aware of and give information on significant changes to the zoning of the area. The agent must disclose to the buyer if, for instance, an apartment building is planned for development in a park or green area across from the apartment. The same information is significant to the seller in setting the sales price of the apartment.
The agent does not need to find out answers to questions related to the specific personal wishes of a prospective buyer, such as whether the soil around a single family house is suitable for tomato farming.