How do I buy property in Lebanon from abroad, step by step?

Also asked as: “Buy a house in Lebanon from abroad” · “Buying property in Lebanon as an expat” · “Can I buy land in Lebanon without travelling?” · “Steps to buy an apartment in Lebanon from overseas”

Pin down the property on paper#

The Land Registry is kept by property, not by owner. Each plot has its own real folio under its number, and the owner's title deed is a copy of that folio^[15]. To request a plot's record, you give governorate, district, real estate zone, property number, section and block^[5,8]. The section and block are needed only where they apply. In a building divided into units, each flat gets its own number added to the plot number, with its own folio^[16].

The extract describes the plot and lists:

• the owners and the share each holds;
• mortgages and seizures;
• other charges;
• pending court actions^[7,8].

Every charge on the folio passes to you unless it is cleared before you buy^[10]. Ownership is written in shares out of 2,400 shares^[8,17,18], which is the whole property. A seller holding fewer shares owns an undivided part, not a marked-out piece^[15,18,19].

You do not need the seller's cooperation to see the record. The law-firm site Legalmondo says certificates are public and anyone may request one without showing an interest. It also says no certificate is issued while a lien or a registration on the plot is still being processed^[8]. Legalmondo said in June 2025 that the official certificate is issued only in person at the competent office, for USD 5. It put an unofficial online information form at USD 4. Here is how to check a title deed line by line.

See where it is on the ground#

Where the boundaries on the cadastral plan differ from those on the ground, the plan prevails^[15,17]. So the plan tells you what you are buying, whatever the seller points to on a site visit. The Cadastre oversees the sworn surveyors it treats as affiliates^[20]. Our sources do not say how to order a cadastral plan or what a survey costs. Ask the registry office for the plot, or a sworn surveyor, for a plan with the plot number marked, and compare it with the land you are shown. More in plot surveys and cadastral maps.

On land that has not been finally surveyed, the extract does not show the area^[7,8]. A special procedure of provisional delimitation and publication applies there before any new inscription^[15]. Kallas Law Firm also advises checking the municipal master plan, because planning rules limit what you can do with a plot^[19]. Our sources do not name the office that gives a plot's zoning, so start by asking the municipality where the plot lies. For what an area is like to live in, our sources hold no neutral, dated data by neighbourhood. Start with Ahla Beit's area pages and visit if you can.

The power of attorney#

You sign in person at a Lebanese embassy or consulate. Or you sign before a notary where you live, then have it authenticated locally and legalised by the Lebanese mission^[1,2,3,4]. An apostille does not replace this, because Lebanon is not a member of the Apostille Convention^[21]. Missions ask for the property number and location, plus a copy of the deed or a Land Registry extract^[1,3,22], and for each party's full names, parents' names, date of birth and registry number^[4,22]. The full routes and fees are in giving a power of attorney from abroad.

Kallas Law Firm says an agent who registers a right at the Land Registry must produce a POA no more than 5 years old^[23,24]. That rule applies to the person you name. Our sources do not say what wording a POA to buy needs, so ask the notary in Lebanon before you sign anything abroad.

Who to name is your call. JSK Real Estate, a Lebanese agency, says the POA can go to a local lawyer or a trusted person^[25]. None of our sources compares the two or describes buying through a relative living in Lebanon. If you change your mind, missions also revoke POAs: Dubai charges AED 276 per signature, and the Netherlands takes requests by email^[3,26]. Neither says how a revocation reaches the notary or the registry, so tell them yourself through a lawyer.

If the seller acts through an agent#

Forged POAs have been used to try to sell or mortgage property in Lebanon, including the property of an owner living abroad^[11,27,28]. If the seller will not sign in person, ask for a copy of the agent's POA and have your lawyer or the notary check it. Kallas says a general POA is not enough to sell: a sale needs an express special mandate to sell^[24]. An ordinary POA used for registration must also be no more than 5 years old^[23,24]. Kallas says courts exempt a truly irrevocable POA from that limit.

Kallas also says the owner can revoke an ordinary POA whenever he wishes^[23,24]. We found no public register of revocations, so a copy that looks valid may already have been cancelled. If a seller offers you an irrevocable POA instead of a deed, Kallas says that is not a sale. You get a personal right, and ownership passes only on inscription^[24].

Paying from abroad#

Lebanese commercial banks were still not writing home mortgages as of autumn 2026, according to trade and news reports^[29,30]. JSK Real Estate, a broker, says 2025 purchases were paid in full in cash or by bank transfer, mostly in USD^[25,31]. Banque de l'Habitat lends up to USD 100,000 (minimum USD 20,000)^[32,33] to residents and expatriates^[32,33,34] who have held Lebanese citizenship for at least 10 years. The home must be the family's own residence; a rental or holiday home does not qualify. It can be 150 m² at most. BDH pays the seller only after the property is registered in the borrower's name.

Remittance apps are built for small sums. As of October 2026, Taptap Send's limit to a Whish wallet is USD 5,000 per transfer and USD 5,000 per month^[35]. Notaries and brokers must apply anti-money-laundering due diligence to property sales^[14]. That includes identifying you and keeping records.

We found no source on escrow, on who should hold the money between the deed and registration, or on a typical overall timeline. The law is clearer on one point. Kallas Law Firm says that until the sale is inscribed you hold only a personal right against the seller. The property stays exposed to any sale, mortgage or seizure entered before your inscription^[10]. In a 2026 case in Halat, the buyer learned the deed was forged only when he tried to register, after he had paid^[36]. Ask a Lebanese lawyer how to tie each payment to a step you can verify on an official extract. See how to spot a fake owner or forged deed.