Guide · Living abroad

Buying property in Albania as a foreigner or from abroad

Foreign buyers, and Albanians living in Italy, Greece, the UK, Germany, Switzerland or the US, buy homes in Albania without travelling until the keys are ready. It works if you make the same checks as a local buyer and leave the on-site work to professionals you choose yourself.

Written by Galip Sulaj, founder of hyrja.alUpdated 1 October 2026

Skanderbeg Square in central Tirana, with the equestrian statue of Skanderbeg

Can you buy a home in Albania from abroad?

Yes. You can buy a home in Albania without travelling for every step: you see it on a live video call, your own lawyer checks the documents at ASHK, someone you trust signs for you at the notary with a power of attorney, and you pay by bank transfer, never in cash. The home is yours once the contract is registered at ASHK.

The 10 steps at a glance

Search and shortlist from home
View the home on a live video call
Check the documents at ASHK
Hire your own lawyer
Give a special power of attorney
Sign the contracts at the notary
Pay by bank transfer, never in cash
Register the sale at ASHK
Budget for the taxes and costs
After the purchase: tax, bills, renting out

Who can buy: Albanians abroad and foreign citizens

Albanian citizens who live abroad buy exactly like residents, with a valid Albanian passport or identity card. Can foreigners buy property in Albania? Yes: foreign individuals and companies can buy apartments, houses, villas and commercial premises with the same procedure, a contract before a notary and registration at ASHK, and no residence permit is needed to buy. The main limit is land: under Law No. 8337/1998, article 4, foreigners cannot buy agricultural land, forests, meadows or pastures, but they can lease them for up to 99 years. If you do not speak Albanian, the notary translates the whole act at the signing, personally or through an interpreter accepted by the notary and the parties (Law No. 110/2018, article 100).

Sources: Law 8337/1998, art. 4 · Law 110/2018

Read the key questions for foreign buyers

1. Search and shortlist from home

Choose the area first, then the property. Shortlist three to five homes, compare asking prices per square metre in the neighbourhood and test each price with the free valuation tool, which compares similar listings and shows the official reference prices. Save the listings to hear when a price changes.

Use messages on hyrja.al for the questions that usually take a visit: the exact floor, which way the windows face, the state of the building, and whether the apartment has its own ownership certificate.

2. View it on a video call

You do not need to fly in for a first look. When you request a viewing on a listing, choose “Video viewing” and your app (WhatsApp or Viber). At the agreed time (Albanian time) the seller or agent calls you and walks you through the home live. During the call:

Start outside: the street, the entrance, the stairs and the lift
See every room, the views and the ceiling corners, where damp shows
Ask to see the meters and the heating or air conditioning working
Note what you are told and ask for anything important in writing in the chat
Before you pay anything, have someone you trust visit in person

3. Check the documents

Before you agree a price or pay a deposit, get copies of the property documents and have your lawyer or the notary check them. Hyrja never verifies the identity of private owners, so the documents are what protect you.

Ownership certificate from ASHK

Ownership is proven by a recent ownership certificate (certifikatë pronësie) from the State Cadastre Agency (ASHK), with the property card (kartela e pasurisë) and the cadastral map. The seller's name must match, and any co-owners or heirs must all agree to the sale. If the seller acquired the home while married, the law presumes the spouse is a co-owner and the notarial act must state the marital property regime (Law No. 110/2018, article 105), so the spouse's consent is needed too. Check that the area, floor and property number match what you were shown.

Mortgages, seizures and disputes

The property card also shows registered burdens: a mortgage, a seizure or a court dispute. Each must be cleared before or at the signing, as the notary confirms in writing. For a new build, also ask whether the building has its occupancy permit and whether individual certificates have been issued.

If you buy an apartment under construction

An apartment that is not finished has no ownership certificate of its own yet, so you check the project instead. Ask for the building permit and verify it in the national e-Leje system: it must cover your floor and your unit. Sign the contract with the developer before a notary, tie each instalment to a construction stage and pay by bank transfer to the company's account. The apartment can be registered in your name only after the building receives its certificate of use, often months after the keys. The off-plan guide explains each check.

How to buy an off-plan apartment

Sources: Law 111/2018 · Law 110/2018 · Law 107/2014 · e-Leje · AZHT, certificate of use

What Hyrja checks

4. Hire your own lawyer

An independent lawyer in Albania is your eyes and hands when you cannot be there. Choose one yourself, not one suggested by the seller, and agree the fee and the tasks in writing. A lawyer can check the documents at ASHK, review the contracts, sign for you with a power of attorney and follow the registration. An agent is paid to close the sale; your lawyer works only for you.

Find a lawyer or a notary

Browse property lawyers and notaries in the hyrja.al services directory and contact them directly. Choose your own lawyer, not one suggested by the seller.

5. Power of attorney (prokurë)

If you will not be in Albania for the signing, you can give your lawyer or a relative a power of attorney (prokurë) to sign for you. Under the Civil Code, a power of attorney to sign a contract that must be made before a notary, such as a property purchase, must itself be a notarial deed. Make it specific rather than general: the property, the maximum price and exactly what may be signed and paid.

What the power of attorney should say

Under the Civil Code, a power of attorney is special when it covers one or more specific acts with a common purpose (article 71), and one drawn up by an Albanian notary must state its object, validity and term (Law No. 110/2018, article 99). For a purchase, make it special, not general, and have it state:

The property: address, property number and cadastral zone
The maximum price and how it is paid
The acts allowed: signing the preliminary and the final contract, paying, filing at ASHK, collecting the certificate and the keys
An end date

Leave out any power to sell or mortgage your other property, or to borrow in your name. Before an Albanian notary, a special power of attorney costs 3,000 Lek under the official tariff; abroad, the local notary's fee applies.

At a local notary, with an apostille

The usual route is to sign before a notary where you live. Albania is a party to the Hague Apostille Convention, so the document normally needs an apostille from that country's competent office (see the table below), plus a certified translation into Albanian. Requirements differ between countries and change over time, so check them with your lawyer in Albania before you sign.

Where to get the apostille where you live

The apostille confirms the notary's signature and seal so that Albanian authorities accept the document. It is issued in the country where the power of attorney was signed, not by the Albanian consulate:

Who issues the apostille on a power of attorney signed before a notary
Country	Who issues the apostille
United Kingdom	The FCDO Legalisation Office, for documents certified by a UK notary or solicitor (paper or e-Apostille)GOV.UK
United States	The Secretary of State, or the office the state designates, of the state where the notary is commissionedHCCH, United States
Italy	The Procura della Repubblica (public prosecutor's office) at the court of the district where the notary worksHCCH, Italy
Greece	The Court of First Instance (Protodikeio) of the prefecture where the document was issuedmitos.gov.gr
Germany	The president of the Landgericht (regional court), or in some states of the Amtsgericht, for the notary's districtHCCH, Germany
Switzerland	The competent authority of the canton where the notary works; the Federal Chancellery publishes the listHCCH, Switzerland
France	The regional council or interdepartmental chamber of notaries, online at apostille.notaires.frHCCH, France

Italy, Germany and Greece objected to Albania's accession to the convention in 2004 and withdrew their objections in 2011, 2016 and 2018 respectively, according to the treaty depositary. The page of the Albanian embassy in Germany still describes certification at the Landgericht followed by legalisation at the embassy, so ask your lawyer in Albania which form the notary there will accept before you send the document.

Guides for your country: what changes where you live

At an Albanian embassy or consulate: not for a purchase

Albanian embassies and consulates act as notaries only for Albanian citizens who live in their area, and only for simple powers of attorney, such as collecting documents or being represented in some procedures (fee: €20; you apply on e-Albania and sign in person). According to Albania's Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, consuls do not issue general powers of attorney or powers of attorney for contracts that transfer ownership, such as the sale of an apartment: for these the Ministry refers you to the notaries of the country where you live. For a purchase, sign before a local notary and get an apostille, as explained above. The consulate can still help with the translation: for Albanian citizens it translates documents, or certifies a translation made by a local translator, for €10 a page, and according to the Ministry this counts as a translation by a translator registered with a notary in Albania, with no need for notarisation. Ask the consulate that covers where you live what it translates.

Sources: Civil Code, arts. 72, 83, 193 · Civil Code, arts. 71, 72 · Law 110/2018 · Instruction 22/2020 · HCCH, Apostille Convention · Treaty depositary · Albanian MFA, powers of attorney · Albanian MFA, translations · Albanian Embassy in Germany · Albanian Embassy in the UK

6. Sign the contract before a notary

A property sale in Albania is signed as a notarial deed. The notary checks the identities, the ownership documents and any burdens, and reads the contract out before signing. Many purchases start with a preliminary contract, also before a notary, that fixes the price, the deposit, the deadlines and what happens if one side withdraws. If legal Albanian is hard for you, ask for a translation or have your lawyer explain each clause first.

The preliminary contract and the deposit (kapar)

The preliminary contract fixes the price, the deposit, the date of the final contract and what happens if one side withdraws. Under the Civil Code, a buyer who fails to complete through their own fault loses the deposit, and a seller at fault must pay back double (article 602). Pay the deposit only after your lawyer has checked the documents, by bank transfer, never in cash. You can also ask the notary to hold the money in the notary's special bank account and hand it over as the act says (Law No. 110/2018, article 133); the official notary fee for this deposit is 4,000 Lek.

Sources: Civil Code, arts. 72, 83, 193 · Civil Code, arts. 601, 602 · Law 110/2018 · Instruction 22/2020

Find a professional

Notaries

7. Pay by bank transfer

Pay every amount (deposit and balance) by bank transfer to an account in the seller's name, or to the notary's special account if you agreed on it, and keep the proof. A transfer links the payment to the contract; cash does not, and should never be handed to an intermediary.

Check that the account holder is the seller named on the certificate
Put the contract reference in the payment description
If payment details change at the last minute, confirm by phone with your lawyer
Ask the notary how and when the balance reaches the seller

Where the money comes from: have the documents ready

Under the anti-money-laundering law (Law No. 9917/2008, as amended), banks, notaries, lawyers and real estate agents involved in a purchase must identify their clients and, when necessary, check where the money comes from. Gather the proof before the transfer: payslips or tax returns, savings statements, the contract if you sold another property, a loan agreement.

Since 7 October 2025 Albania has been an operational part of SEPA, so a euro transfer from a bank in the SEPA area can go as a SEPA payment, which the Bank of Albania describes as cheaper and faster. If your account is not in euros, compare the exchange rate and the fees before you send.

Sources: Law 110/2018 · Law 9917/2008 · Bank of Albania

8. Registration at ASHK

The sale is complete only once it is registered at ASHK. The notary records the contract in the digital cadastre when it is signed and sends the paper copy to ASHK within 10 days. The registration request, usually filed through the notary, must be made within 30 days, or late interest is added to the fee, and ASHK must handle a regular request within 15 days, 21 calendar days at most (Law No. 111/2018, articles 24, 25 and 29). Your lawyer or representative can follow it up. Ask for the new ownership certificate in your name: it is your proof that the home is yours.

Sources: Law 111/2018 · CM Decision 462/2025

9. Taxes and costs

Under the Civil Code (article 708), unless the parties agree otherwise, the buyer pays the notary (0.23–0.35% of the contract value, depending on the band) and the ASHK fees for registration and the ownership certificate (12,000 Lek, ≈ €130). The seller pays the 15% tax on the capital gain before ASHK registers the sale (Law No. 29/2023, article 17). By law all parties to the notarial act are liable to the notary for its fees, so agree in writing who pays what before the preliminary contract (Law No. 110/2018, article 104). Lawyers, translators and agencies charge on top, at the fee you agree with them.

Worked example: an apartment of €100,000 bought from abroad

The buyer's costs for an apartment of €100,000 bought from abroad (indicative)
Cost	Amount
Notary (0.3% of the price)	€300
Registration at ASHK	5,000 Lek (≈ €54)
Ownership certificate and filing	7,000 Lek (≈ €76)
Official costs	≈ €430 (0.43% of the price)
Agreed with each provider (not in the total)
Your lawyer in Albania	The fee in your written agreement
Power of attorney and apostille where you live	Set by the notary and the apostille office there
Certified translation into Albanian	The translator's fee, plus 200 Lek for the notary's certification
Bank transfer	Your bank's fees and exchange rate
Agency commission	Only if you signed an agreement with an agency, at the fee it states

Official tariffs checked on 1 October 2026. The notary uses the area's official reference price if it is higher than the contract price.

All buying costs, with a calculator and the sources

Sources: Instruction 22/2020 · CM Decision 389/2020 · CM Decision 462/2025 · Law 110/2018 · Law 29/2023, arts. 17, 24 · Law 9/2022

10. After the purchase: property tax, bills and renting out

Keep the new ownership certificate, the contract and the bank receipts together: you will need them when you sell. Then:

Property tax: every owner of a building, foreigners included, owes the annual building tax, which the municipality administers; for a home the rate is 0.05% of the building's value (Law No. 9632/2006, articles 22 and 22/2)
Bills: move the electricity and water contracts into your name and note the meter readings on handover day
The building: ask the administrator how much the monthly building fee (kuota) is and what it covers
Renting out: sign a written contract; rent from property is taxed at 15% (Law No. 29/2023, articles 15 and 24)

If you plan to rent the home out, you can list it on hyrja.al, and the services directory helps you find local professionals.

Sources: Law 9632/2006, art. 22/2 · Law 29/2023, arts. 15, 24

How long does buying from abroad take?

There is no fixed total: most of the time goes on the power of attorney in your country and on gathering the documents. The legal deadlines are at ASHK: a regular request is handled within 15 days, 21 calendar days at most, and the signed contract must be filed for registration within 30 days.

How long each step takes when you buy from abroad
Step	Legal deadline, or what it depends on
Ownership certificate and property card from ASHK	Within 15 days of a regular request, 21 calendar days at most (article 29)
Power of attorney and apostille in your country	Depends on the notary and the apostille office where you live: book both before you fix the signing date
Translation into Albanian	Depends on the translator; the notary in Albania then certifies it
From the preliminary to the final contract	The deadline you agree in the preliminary contract
Filing the sale at ASHK	The notary records it on the day of signing and sends the paper copy within 10 days; the request is due within 30 days, after which late interest applies (articles 24 and 25)
Registration and the new ownership certificate	Within 15 days of the request, 21 calendar days at most (article 29)
An apartment under construction	Only after the building gets its certificate of use, often months after the keys

Deadlines from Law No. 111/2018 on the cadastre, checked on 1 October 2026.

Sources: Law 111/2018

A mortgage from abroad: can you get a loan in Albania?

Yes. Albanian banks lend to Albanians who live and work abroad, against a mortgage on a property in Albania. BKT, for example, offers “Kredia për Emigrant” for buying or building a home, and Union Bank “Kredi për Shtëpi - Emigrantë” (conditions sheet in force from August 2026). Conditions differ from bank to bank and change often, so compare current offers: this guide publishes no interest rates.

What banks usually ask for (from BKT's 2026 list)

Your residence permit and work permit in the country where you live
Payslips and the annual income statement (the list names the busta paga and the CUD for Italy, IKA and form E1 for Greece)
Bank statements and, if you rent where you live, your rental contract
A valuation report on the property, with its ownership certificate, cadastral map and a property card updated within the last three months
For an apartment under construction: the notarised contract with the developer and the building permit

Banks lend only a share of the property's value, set for each product (Union Bank's sheet, for example, says up to 70% of the collateral value), so plan the down payment. BKT also asks for a guarantor, a relative who lives and works in Albania. Add the valuation, the insurance and the notary's mortgage contract to the costs, and read the bank's standardised pre-contract information before you sign.

The banks' own pages (checked on 1 October 2026): BKT · BKT, document list · Union Bank

7 mistakes that cost buyers abroad

Most of the expensive problems come from a few avoidable mistakes:

Paying a deposit before the documents have been checked at ASHK.3. Check the documents
Using the seller's or the agent's lawyer instead of your own.4. Hire your own lawyer
Signing a power of attorney that is too broad, or has no end date.What the power of attorney should say
Paying in cash, or into a personal account that is not the seller's.7. Pay by bank transfer
Buying in a building without a certificate of use on the promise that it is “in process”.If you buy an apartment under construction
Not checking co-owners, heirs and the seller's spouse.Ownership certificate from ASHK
Relying on photos instead of a live viewing.2. View it on a video call

Key questions

Answers to what buyers abroad ask most: land, residence, the tax when you sell, travelling and paying from abroad.

What are the restrictions on land?

Under Law No. 8337/1998, article 4, agricultural land, forests, meadows and pastures cannot pass into the ownership of foreigners; they can only lease them, for up to 99 years. Building land has conditions: under Law No. 7980/1995, article 5, a foreigner who has bought or built a building worth more than three times the value of the land can also buy that land. In May 2026 the government put out for public consultation a draft law on transferring agricultural land to foreigners, but it had not been adopted when this guide was updated, and under the draft it would only apply seven years after Albania joins the EU. If the property includes a garden, a field or an olive grove, ask your lawyer to check the land category at ASHK.

Does buying property give you residency?

Not automatically. Law No. 79/2021 “On foreigners”, article 84, provides for a temporary residence permit for a foreigner who owns immovable property in Albania, or who co-owns at least half of it. The permit is issued by the authority responsible for borders and migration, for up to one year the first time, and it can be renewed every year as long as you remain the owner and meet the criteria. The procedure and documents are set by a Council of Ministers decision. The law does not set a minimum property value, but the permit is neither citizenship nor a work permit. Check the current procedure with the border and migration police or a lawyer before you build your plans on it.

What taxes do you pay when you sell?

When you sell later, you pay the tax on the capital gain: 15% of the difference between the sale price and the purchase price, under Law No. 29/2023 “On income tax”. The sale price is the contract price or the official reference price, whichever is higher. A seller who is a private individual pays it before ASHK registers the transfer, and the same rule applies to foreigners. Keep your purchase contract and proof of the bank payments, because they prove your purchase price. If you are tax resident in another country, the gain may have to be declared there too; ask a tax adviser about the double taxation treaty.

Do I need to come to Albania at least once?

Not necessarily. With a notarial power of attorney, your lawyer or a relative can sign the preliminary and the final contract and follow the registration for you, and you can see the home on a live video call. Many buyers still come once, to see the area or to sign in person, which makes the power of attorney unnecessary. Decide early, because the documents you need differ.

Can I pay from a bank outside Albania?

Yes. A transfer from your bank abroad to the seller's account in Albania, or to the notary's special account, works, and the notarial contract must state how the price is paid (Law No. 110/2018, article 105). Keep every receipt: it proves your purchase price when you sell. Prepare the documents on where the money comes from (step 7), and compare fees and exchange rates before you send.

Sources: Law 8337/1998, art. 4 · Law 7980/1995, art. 5 · Draft law, 2026 consultation · Law 79/2021, art. 84 · Law 29/2023, arts. 17, 24 · Law 110/2018

All the costs of buying, with a calculator

Checklist before you pay

Tick every line before any money leaves your account:

I have seen the property on a live video call, or someone I trust has visited it
I have a recent ASHK certificate, and the seller's name matches it
There is no mortgage, seizure or dispute, or the contract says how it is cleared
My own lawyer has checked the documents and the contract
The notary has given me the current fees and taxes
I pay only by bank transfer, to the seller's own account or the notary's special account
My power of attorney names the property, the maximum price and an end date

Sources

The laws and official pages behind the legal points in this guide, with links checked on 1 October 2026. Laws link to the Official Gazette (qbz.gov.al); since they are amended from time to time, check the current text or ask a lawyer.

The banks' product pages

This guide is general information, not legal or tax advice. Laws, fees and procedures change: confirm the details of your case with a lawyer, the notary and the Albanian consulate.

Useful next steps