What is the biggest legal mistake property buyers make in Malta?

Dr. Michael LaferlaNotary · Notary, Notarial Council of Malta

ProceduresReviewed: 6 July 2026

The short answer

In Dr. Laferla's experience, the biggest mistake buyers make is entering into a promise of sale without first going to their bank to check they're in a financial position to buy. Signing before your home loan is formally approved is normal — the subject-to-loan clause protects you — but signing without having checked whether you'd qualify at all means committing blind. And while that clause returns your deposit, the notary, architect and professional fees you've already run up are not refunded, which makes it a costly mistake. A quick affordability check with the bank first saves real money.

The mistake: signing before you've spoken to the bank

Asked for the single biggest mistake, Dr. Laferla points not to the searches but to financing: "the biggest mistake that buyers make sometimes is entering into a promise of sale without having gone beforehand to their bank to check whether they can, and are in a financial position to, purchase that property."

It's about order, not approval

This isn't a contradiction of the normal process. You can, and usually do, sign the Konvenju before your home loan is formally approved — and the subject-to-loan clause is there so a refusal doesn't trap you. The mistake is different: it's signing without having gone to the bank at all, with no idea whether you'd qualify. That's committing blind.

Protected isn't the same as free

There's a sting worth understanding. Even where the subject-to-loan clause returns your deposit, the money you've already spent getting there — the notary's fees, your architect's fees, and other professionals' charges — is not reimbursed. Sign blind, fail to secure financing, and you can recover your deposit but still be left out of pocket on the professional costs already run up. That is what makes this mistake an expensive one, not just an inconvenience.

What to do instead

Before you sign, have the conversation with your bank: check your borrowing capacity and get a realistic sense that you can fund the purchase. It turns the subject-to-loan clause into a genuine backstop rather than your only line of defence. Our guide to getting a home loan in Malta walks through the numbers.

The lesson

Due diligence protects you from the property's legal problems. But the discipline that protects you from your own is simpler still: know you can afford it before you commit.

Sources

Dr. Michael Laferla — Yitaku Asks video (the biggest mistake: signing a promise of sale without first checking affordability with the bank)
Central Bank of Malta Directive No. 16 — borrower-based measures (affordability)
Civil Code of Malta, Chapter 16 — Article 1357 (promise of sale; the subject-to-loan condition)
Maltese notarial practice — checking financial position before signing