buying a property

[mimi]

I recenntly put an offer on a property of the full asking price and assumed that the buyer was legally obliged to sell the property to me. The seller is selling her property through a notaire not an estate agent. Th e notaire said that he was having difficulty contacvting the seller to tell her of our offer. When he finally contacted her (1 week after we put our offer in) she said she had already promised the property to some-one else Do you think thats legally acceptable or have we got a case to say that she should sell the property to us. Please advice

[LEO]

Hi mimi,

I do not know what to think but, I know what I would do next!

WALK AWAY.

[cooperlola]

Seconded Leo.  She's clearly not trustworthy.  "Can't be contacted," indeed!  Can you imagine the problems you'd have through the selling process if that's the way it started, even if you had any legal standing?  Buying property is stressful enough anyway; look around for somewhere else....

[jamesg]

Maybe the seller is an honorable person who doesn't believe in gazumping.

[cooperlola]

True, James, but then why wasn't the notaire informed if she had already accepted an offer and he was acting as her agent?  If it had been me, I'd have told my agent immediately if I'd withdrawn a property from the market, wouldn't you?  It still sounds a little suspicious to me. 

[AnOther]

It is my understanding that by placing a property on the market you do commit to selling if offered the asking price.

There could be any number of perfectly innocent reasons why the vendor couldn't be contacted but if, for whatever reason, your offer failed to reach them before one from someone else I don't think there is much you can practically do about it.

Remember, if they have accepted an offer from someone else (full price or otherwise) then they will be committed to that and there will be significant penalties for pulling out to sell to you so unless you've got the stomach to make a real issue out of it by getting Advocats involved etc. and end up buying from a vendor who you have seriously fallen out with from the outset then I think you have little option but to put it down to experience and walk away. 

[PaulT]

Mimi

The property was not near Mirepoix in the Airege by any chance?

Paul

[mint]

What if the property is not a house but something else?  Say, you see a car advertised for x amount and you went to the garage and found no such offer.  Does the garage have to sell you the car as advertised?  I know that there is no contract as such because your offer to buy has not been accepted by the garage.

I am only using this example as an analogy.  If your vendors have not formally accepted your offer to buy, then I don't think that there is anything you can do about it.

Llwncelyn, do you know anything about this?

[Nick Trollope]

Just like the UK, the law pertaining to house and everything else are different.

Essentially (here), if you offer the asking price for a property, the vendor is legally obliged to accept it - you cannot be gazumped. In teory at least, you could oblige the Notaire to sell you the house. Of course, if they received/accepted another offer before yours came to their notice, you are out of luck.

In practical terms, it really isn't worth persuing.

As far as cars & everything else is concerned, I suspect that French law is pretty much as the UK - offres, invitations to treat, etc etc.