Buying a home in Peru: what to check before you sign, pre-construction or already built

Why who’s selling to you matters

Buying real estate from just anyone isn’t the same as buying from a real estate provider: someone who habitually sells real estate and intends to stay in the market, whether an individual or a company. If you buy from a private individual selling their one property, only the Civil Code applies. But if you buy from a developer, builder, or promoter, the Consumer Protection Code (Law N.° 29571) also applies — with information duties, mandatory minimum contract content, and complaint channels the Civil Code doesn’t give you.

This guide covers that second situation: buying from a real estate provider, whether a pre-construction unit (not yet built, also called a “future good”) or one that’s already built, new or resale.

The three stages of a purchase, and what to demand at each one

Indecopi organizes the buying process into three stages, and the seller’s obligations differ at each one.

1. Before you sign: advertising and information

Before committing, you’re entitled to ask for, free of charge:

• About the seller: their identification (DNI or RUC for an individual; registry record, legal representatives and RUC for a company), active phone and email contacts, and their track record in the market. For the last one, the seller must tell you about the Ministry of Housing’s Central de Información de Promotores Inmobiliarios and Indecopi’s Mira a Quién le Compras portal, where you can check for sanctions or complaints.
• About the property: description, exclusive and common areas, perimeter measurements, finishes, seismic-resistance condition (if you ask for it), and the plan — which must tell you if any part is merely indicative. If it’s a future good, they must also give you the document proving approval of the urban-development project or the architectural pre-project. If it’s a finished good, they must give you the summary sheet (HR), the urban-property record (PU), proof of no outstanding taxes, and the registry record showing the property’s independent title.
• About the deal: how long the offer is valid, the price with payment terms and installment schedule if applicable, complaint channels, and the conditions for reserving the property (validity, grounds and effects of a possible contract termination, including penalties).

2. At signing: the contract and the payment

The contract must be written in accessible language and contain, at minimum: identification of the parties and their legal addresses, identification of the property and its registry record (or the parent lot’s record if it’s a future good), price, payment terms, delivery timeline and conditions, agreed penalties, dispute-resolution mechanisms, and the seller’s obligation to sign everything needed to complete the transfer.

At signing, the seller must also give you specific documentation: for a lot in an urban-development project, the municipal resolution approving the project plus the subdivision and lot plans; for a future building, the municipal approval and the floor plan; for a finished property, a copy of the registry record and of the utility installation plans.

The formal process goes through a notary (who drafts the public deed containing the minuta) and ends with registration at Sunarp, which protects you against third parties — though, as our guide on arras in a property sale explains, you already own the property from the moment you sign, not from registration.

3. At handover: your right to record your objections

When you receive the property, you have the right to state in writing on the delivery record your approval or your disapproval if something doesn’t match what was agreed. Recording that is the simplest evidence if you need to complain later — though Indecopi clarifies that defects “can be noticed when the consumer receives the property, or afterward,” so you don’t lose that right if you didn’t attend the handover or didn’t write anything down at the time.

If something doesn’t match what was agreed, the seller must fix it — what’s called saneamiento (regularization):

• Physical regularization: defects, deficiencies or conditions that reduce the property’s value or limit its use (for example, a smaller floor area than offered, or common areas that weren’t finished). You can demand a repair, a price reduction, or termination or rescission of the contract, depending on how serious it is.
• Legal regularization: the seller must diligently process, within a reasonable time, the completion compliance, the independent title, and the registry filing of the property.

The warranty isn’t whatever the seller feels like offering

For finishes and components, the parties agree on the warranty term. But for structural defects, Law N.° 30534 sets a legal minimum of 10 years, counted from when the municipality issues the completion and acceptance certificate — and that can’t be bargained down.

The seller must also give you an owner’s manual describing the property’s components, maintenance care, and the risks of misuse.

If the project falls through, you don’t lose your money

A common fear when buying pre-construction: what happens if the project is never finished? Indecopi is explicit: in the sale of pre-construction or existing properties, if the seller fails to deliver for reasons attributable to them, they must refund the full amount of your advance payments at your simple request — without you having to prove additional damages.

Where to complain if something doesn’t match

You have five options, usable in whatever order suits you:

1. Complaints Book (Libro de Reclamaciones) — the provider must respond within a maximum of 15 non-extendable business days.
2. Reclama Virtual (Indecopi) — a free digital tool that calls the parties to a conciliation hearing.
3. Real Estate Client Ombudsman (DCI) — a private, fast, free mechanism, but only for companies that belong to the DCI.
4. Administrative complaint to Indecopi for lack of product/service suitability. If you live in a building and the defect is in a common area, any individual owner can file, without needing the owners’ association or every other owner to join in.
5. Consumer arbitration — voluntary, free, and binding; it’s the only mechanism where you can be awarded damages, as long as you prove the harm.

In an administrative complaint, you must prove the defect (with direct or circumstantial evidence), but it’s the seller who must prove the defect wasn’t their fault. The action to file with Indecopi is time-barred after 2 years from the infraction or from when you learned of it, except for the 10-year structural warranty.

What comes next if you’re financing with a mortgage or a housing subsidy

This guide covers the general buying process. If you’re financing your home with the Crédito Mivivienda or the Bono Familiar Habitacional under Techo Propio, see how the two programs differ. If the developer’s project falls through, see what happens to your money.