A Zwangsversteigerung is a forced sale run by the Amtsgericht under the ZVG. Ownership passes by Zuschlag (§ 90 ZVG) — a sovereign act, not a contract — which is why the usual purchase machinery, and its usual costs, mostly falls away. For a group buying at the margin this is the route with the best headline arithmetic and the worst cash-timing profile.
Why the Nebenkosten look different
- No Makler, because there is no broker. No notarial Kaufvertrag, because there is no Kaufvertrag: the Zuschlag replaces it. Two of the three lines in grunderwerbsteuer-baugemeinschaft’s cost stack disappear.
- Grunderwerbsteuer is still due. The Zuschlag is an acquisition under § 1 Abs. 1 Nr. 4 GrEStG; the base is the Meistgebot. Sachsen 5.5 %, Bayern 3.5 %, BB/NW/SL/SH 6.5 % — the rates are in grunderwerbsteuer-baugemeinschaft.
- Court costs (Zuschlagsgebühr, Zuschlagsbeschluss, Grundbuchberichtigung) are computed against the Meistgebot under the GKG/GNotKG and are materially below a notary’s purchase package.
The cash trap, which is the real gate
A creditor or the court may demand a Sicherheitsleistung of 10 % of the Verkehrswert (§ 68 ff. ZVG) — available at the hearing, as a Bundesbank-confirmed cheque, a bank guarantee or a prior transfer to the court. Not a mortgage commitment, not a letter: cleared funds. A group whose equity is fully committed to the Nebenkosten cannot bid at all, so this route needs more free cash on the day than an ordinary purchase, while needing less in total. Plan the two separately.
What you are buying blind
- No right of interior viewing. The Verkehrswertgutachten in the court file is often the only information, and the surveyor may not have got inside either. This is the strongest case in the corpus for bausachverstaendiger-kaufpruefung, run on the file rather than the building.
- No warranty for defects. §§ 434 ff. BGB do not apply to a Zuschlag; there is no seller to claim against.
- Rights may survive. Whether a registered right or a tenancy is extinguished depends on its Rangklasse relative to the pursuing creditor (§§ 44, 52 ZVG). A sitting tenancy normally continues — the buyer steps in under § 566 BGB — which for a group intending to move in is the difference between a home and a landlord relationship they did not plan for. Read the geringstes Gebot in the Terminsbestimmung: it tells you what stays.
Open question (not a fact): the 10 % figure and when security is demanded rather than merely permitted vary between courts in practice. Confirm against the specific Amtsgericht’s Terminsbestimmung before treating the deposit as a known number.
Related
- grunderwerbsteuer-baugemeinschaft — the tax that does not go away, and its per-Land rates
- bausachverstaendiger-kaufpruefung — surveying what you cannot enter
- gbr-baugemeinschaft — who bids, and who is liable for the bid
- erbbaurecht — an Erbbaurecht can itself be auctioned, at its own Verkehrswert