Help-un petit probleme?

[Monika]

What do you think? I think this is quite a big problem:
We have been waiting for our compromis de vente for weeks, at last I plucked up courage and rang the owner, he told me there was a small problem, about 10 years ago he rebuilt a small stone lean to. Unfortunately he was a bit too enthusiastic and built it slightly into the neighbours field!! The notaire now has contacted the old man who the field belongs to in view of buying a meter of land and to have the plot re-measured and registered by the geometre. Has anybody experienced something similar, how long will this take, day, weeks or years?

[Teamedup]

If I were you, I would just be pleased that this has been spotted and that the vendor is getting it sorted out now. It could take months, more likely months than weeks I would imagine.

You didn't need to be buying somewhere and having your neighbour attacking you about this did you. So if I were you I would sit back and let the vendor sort it out.

[Camille]

Nevertheless, is there not some reason they cannot draw up and complete the compromis de vente with the inclusion of a clause to address this matter (including a cap on the price for the additional land, assuming you are taking that on and not the vendor)? (And if your proposed purchase does not already require approval of the SAFER, then such clause would need to address that any applicable SAFER approvals must be obtained for the purchase of the parcel from the neighbor who may well be on land that the SAFER must approve for purchase). I applaud the efforts and apparent forthrightness of the vendor/notaire to get things underway, but all the same, you're sitting 'round with no assurance that subject to this being sorted out he is agreeing to sell to you (surely there is a reasonably fixed or estimable value by square meter for plot land, and worse case you could tack on an extra 10% or whatever you're comfortable with, as the contingency price for it?).

As for the timeframe, it could take some months and be sure to be on top of the notaire. It sounds like you have a good one, but mine, or rather the vendor's (early on I got my own notaire, who was also French) was fully incompetent or rather borderline criminally negligent or wilfully disruptive if that is indeed an appropriate concept for notaires. He outright failed to submit the survey to the SAFER (this is after failing to timely deliver signed compromis de vente to me and to the vendor, failing to send the compromis to my bank which is a whole other off-topic story, and a host of other failings -- I had to personally go to his office and get copies and deliver it to the vendor) and then he had the nerve to lie about it to the French vendor, as well as to my notaire. The French vendor then got really upset with my team (for delaying the sale, I think it took 6-7 months to complete and that was with constant intervention) but then after getting the real story the French vendor felt very bad, apologized profusely to my agent and my notaire (and as I understand, much as it was not his style to be confrontational, gave his own notaire the "what for" and told him he'd never have his business again). I probably could have sought disciplinary action, but it's doubtful it would have got anywhere from a legal standpoint (there was a part of me that would be satisfied merely to have him disbarred so to speak). But more importantly at the end of the day I would only have made an enemy in a small enough area so there was no reason to rock the boat (as an outsider pointing blame at an insider). I think it was ample enough that an insider (French no less, and from one of the established local generations who owned a great deal of property) was very unhappy with the services and was in a position to exert (or not) other more subtle but no less useful consequences. In any case, I have a fabulous relationship with the vendor, my agent and notaire were top notch, and all worked out in the end. But it shows diligence is important.
Good luck to you and, above all, patience! If this is truly your dream property, the rewards will be worth all the trouble you take to cover your bases.

Camille
www.maisonquercy.com

[Teamedup]

It used to be just about the same price in France as the Home Office used to run the service here. However, the Foreign Office took it over and the prices shot up.......

Well this is what the consular services at the Embassy told me and they too have to pay these inflated prices.

[Mr C]

Our land is leased out to a farmer, on a ten year lease, which expires next year.

Our contract shows this as a clause, which vendor, buyer, farmer and notaire have signed off.  Everyone is happy that the land will become ours on the date specified, even though I have paid for it now.

If there is any further problem, the notaire will be on our side, as it's all signed off that way.

It held our purchase up by one day, while the estate agent visited the various people to get it all in writing.

 

Good luck!

[Monika]

It was really strange to read my very old posting and I think it would be useful to tell you what happened in the end:

We withdrew from buying the property and decided to convert our barn opposite. A young French couple bought the house in question and  to overcome the problem the Notaire set some money aside (I think it was about 3000 Euros) to safeguard eventual expenses in sorting out the problem of landownership. In the mean time the land and delapitated farm has been bought by English people who generously let our neighbour have the land in exchange for water and using their washing machine. So it was a happy end!