If the seller is married or divorced it is likely that the spouse's consent will be required for the sale. Even if the property was not acquired in marriage you still have to be careful because the spouse may claim that he/she had contributed to the improvements of the property and thus acquired rights in it. Armenia does not recognize common law marriages. However, relying solely on public records may not be sufficient as the marriage could be contracted in a foreign country.

If the seller inherited the property or received it as a gift you need to find out if there are other family members who are likely to contest the will or the gift. It is possible that an heir will appear after the sale and claim rights in the property. Note that if there are children involved, the transaction will need to be approved the guardianship authority (head of the local community). The latter is required by law to ensure that the sale is in the best interests of the child.

You need to be attentive if the seller's behavior seems strange. Under Armenian law people with mental disability may be declared incapable by a court order, while those addicted to drugs, alcohol or even gambling may be limited in their capacity. Agreements with such people can be easily contested and invalidated by their guardians or other interested parties. You may want to check the court records or ask for a certificate confirming the seller is not registered with mental institutions.

If it turns out that the seller is in a difficult financial situation and sells the property below market value it is possible that he will be declared bankrupt shortly after the sale and the bankruptcy trustee may challenge the sale in court within a 3-year period of time. Thus, if you buy property at a discounted price make sure that the likelihood of bankruptcy is low.

Prior to signing the sale agreement the government will issue a free title certificate confirming that the property is not mortgaged, arrested or otherwise encumbered with third party rights. However, it is still recommended that you find out if the seller is involved in any litigation that may affect the property.

Even if there are no encumbrances and pending disputes the property's history needs to be checked to make sure there had been no suspicious activities in the past. For example, a number of transfers over a short period of time can be a sign of potential problems. The statute of limitations in Armenia normally does not exceed 10 years but even older transactions can be scrutinized. Particular attention must be paid to acquisition of property by donations, inheritance or privatization.

Under Armenian law property tax liabilities are assumed by the new owner. If the seller did not pay taxes over a long period of time it is possible that substantial penalties have accumulated. Therefore, it is wise to ask for a certificate confirming the absence of tax liabilities. By law the new owner does not assume any unpaid utility bills. However, in practice it may be difficult to sign new contracts in your name with the utility companies if the old owner failed to pay the bills. To save time and nerves it is recommended that you ask for statements confirming the full payment of all utility bills.

While certain sales do not require notarization you should still consider having the contract executed before a notary public. A notary is personally liable for malpractice and has the incentives to do all the necessary checks, such as ensuring all consents are in place, powers of attorney are valid and not revoked, the seller is in sound mind etc. Notarizing the agreement will show your good faith if any dispute arises in the future.

The common practice in Armenia is for the seller to make the payment in cash at the time of signing the sales agreement at the notary's office. However, this practice is not advisable because carrying bags full of dollar bills is not very safe, and the seller may want to take the money to the bank to check if the notes are fake (the ratio of fake dollar bills in Armenia is relatively high). More importantly, it is not recommended to pay the full amount before your title is officially registered.  These problems may be avoided by using an escrow account or an equivalent tool. The drawbacks of using an escrow account are the additional bank charges in the range of 0.1-0.3% of the money deposited and the costs of converting the money into local currency (the law requires the payments to be done in Armenian drams but the seller normally expect to get paid in US dollars).