A real estate agent initiates the signing phase in their own agency system once the banks have made the necessary preparations and approved the transaction for their part.

The parties to the transaction have 24 hours to sign the authorizations in the DIAS online service at e-service.dias.fi. It is good to make sure in advance that all the parties are able to complete the signatures within this time limit.

If all the authorizations have not been signed within 24 hours, the signature phase expires and the transaction must be interrupted and restarted.

Personal online banking credentials, a mobile certificate or the Hightrust.id application is used to authenticate oneself in the online service. When signing the authorizations, the parties to the transaction do not yet see the attachments to the deed of sale attached by the real estate agent. These will be visible later in Property Transaction System in the signing stage of the deed of sale.

Once the authorizations have been signed, the parties to the transaction will then transfer to the National Land Survey of Finland's Property Transaction Service (KVP), where the deed of sale will be signed.

You can access the Property Transaction Service by entering the address kiinteistoasiat.fi in your browser.

You log in to the service as either a private customer or a business customer (if signing on behalf of the company) with personal online banking credentials or a mobile certificate. The first time you log in, the service asks you to complete your contact details and accept the terms and conditions. When a business customer logs in, the National Land Survey of Finland checks from the Finnish Patent and Registration Office that the signatory has the authority to sign for the company.

Please note that in the Property Transaction Service, the signatures are made in a specific order: first the sellers (and possible authorization givers), then the buyers. Invitations to the Property Transaction Service are sent by the National Land Survey of Finland to each party in turn, to the email addresses specified for the transaction.

Receipt of draft

First, one seller or a representative of the seller company must receive the deed of sale in the Property Transaction Service. If there are several sellers, the real estate agent has appointed one of them as the recipient of the draft.

The recipient of the draft will see the “Saapuva luovutuskirja” (“Incoming deed of transfer”) item on the front page of the Property Transaction Service, which will open a preview view. The draft must be reviewed carefully: it must correspond to the deed of sale provided for review in advance by the real estate agent.

The sender must be Digitaalinen asuntokauppa DIAS Oy. If errors are found in the deed of sale, the signing phase should not be continued, but the seller must contact the real estate agent immediately.

After the seller has reviewed the contents, they receive the deed of sale to the Property Transaction Service selecting “Vastaanota asiakirja” (“Receive document”). The service then directs the seller to the signature phase.

Spousal consent

If spousal consent is required for the completion of the transaction, the spouse must give their consent in the Property Transaction Service after the deed of sale has been received. None of the parties to the transaction may sign the deed of sale before spousal consent has been given. The person giving the consent will also receive a separate invitation in which they will be directed to the Property Transaction Service to give the required consent.

Seller’s signature

After receiving the draft, the seller or the person representing the seller can see the unfinished property matters and the property or facility ID of the property to be sold on the Property Transaction Service's front page. By selecting “Kauppakirja” (“Deed of sale”), the seller can preview the deed of sale and its attachments.

The preview view shows all attachments to the deed of sale and the status of the signatures. By selecting “Siirry allekirjoittamaan” (“Go to sign”), the seller is taken to the signing page and can sign the transaction by selecting “Allekirjoita” (“Sign”).

After signing, the Property Transaction Service confirms that the user’s signature has been registered. However, the deed of sale remains unfinished until it has been signed by all parties to the transaction.

In the buyer’s view, the deed of sale can only be signed after all sellers have signed the deed of sale. After this, the buyer or the representative of the buyer company will see the unfinished property matters on the Property Transaction Service's front page and can select the "Kauppakirja" ("Deed of sale") option.

A preview view opens for the buyer, showing the deed of sale, its attachments and the status of signatures. The buyer must review the information carefully before signing.

Service fee

The buyer must pay the service fee charged by the National Land Survey of Finland before signing. Payment must be made by the last signing buyer or representative of the buyer company. The payment is made in a separate window by selecting “Asiointi- ja lainhuutohakemusmaksu” (“Service fee and application fee”) for a sale of real estate or “Asiointimaksu erityisen oikeuden luovutuksesta” (“Service fee for the transfer of a special right”) for a sale of property leaseholds and clicking “Maksa nyt” (“Pay now”).

The payment is made at one time by a single party, i.e. it cannot be divided into parts. The buyer must also note that the service fee may already have been paid if one of the previous signatories has paid it.

Declaration of the municipality’s right of first refusal and signature

In the Property Transaction Service, the buyer must give a declaration related to the municipality’s right of first refusal by selecting the “Vakuutan” (“I declare”) option. After this, the service returns to the preview of the deed of sale and confirms that the payment has been made successfully.

By selecting “Siirry allekirjoittamaan” (“Go to sign”), the buyer is taken to the signature page and can sign the deed of sale by selecting “Allekirjoita” (“Sign”). The Property Transaction Service confirms that the document has been signed successfully. If the buyer is a company where the signatures of several representatives are required, the deed of sale is shown as incomplete until all signatures have been made.

When all parties to the transaction have signed the deed of sale, the Property Transaction Service shows the signature date and the signed documents, and the service automatically sends the necessary applications for the registration of ownership.

The signed and completed documents are stored in the Property Transaction Service for 12 months. During this period, the parties to the transaction can download the deed of sale and its attachments to their computer.

You can view the completed documents by logging in to Property Transaction Service and selecting “Valmiit asiakirjat” (“Finished documents”) on the front page. You can open and save the desired documents from the list.

All the transaction documents can be downloaded from the DIAS online service for three months after the completion of the transaction.

An application for the registration of title or special right for the transaction signed in the Property Transaction Service is filed automatically as soon as the signing of the deed of sale has been completed. The transfer tax is therefore due on the same business day when the last buyer signed the deed of sale.

DIAS recommends that the last signature be made by 2 p.m. on a business day so that the buyer’s bank has the opportunity to pay the transfer tax on the same day. A transaction signed on the weekend (Saturday-Sunday) postpones the due date of the tax to the first weekday following the weekend.

If the transfer tax is paid only on the banking day following the signing of the deed of sale, late payment interest will accrue on the tax according to the Tax Administration’s policy, which will be added to the amount of the tax to be paid.

In a DIAS real estate transaction, the transfer tax is always paid by the buyer’s bank, and the buyer submits the transfer tax return themselves.