Carla_Pole Posted March 7, 2004 Share Posted March 7, 2004 Dear All,I'm really sorry to be posting this, as this question may already have been answered already on this forum, but we haven't the time to browse through all posts.We have seen a property that we like, and we are hoping to put an offer in, as soon as our surveyor sees the house.The surveyor is due to see the house tomorrow, at noon, but we had an urgent "text" from the agency in france saying "Please call me urgently, we can not allow your surveyor to look at the property without you putting in a formal offer".Is this right? As far as we know, we thought it was OK to have a surveyor in before you make an offer/sign anything? That's the whole point of a survey is it not? When I spoke to this man, he also said that it wouldn't be possible for us to put in a clause in the Compromis de Vente saying we won't buy unless the survey is OK.There is much more background to this story (including unhappy dealings with VEF), but I wouldn't want to bore you all with the details.Many thanks in advance from a confused couple.Carla and Darren Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Camille Posted March 7, 2004 Share Posted March 7, 2004 Honestly, if you happen to be buying in a popular area you can basically bank on surveys being a deal breaker, unless you simply say that you accept all the obvious flaws and your contingency clause is basically only intended to be a disaster clause (e.g, if the fosse is not a resolvable problem - see that place in the sun thread gone wrong thread, unless that was merely a minor money problem -- and you cannot render it habitable). If your vendor cannot agree to that, then you may want to walk away. But otherwise, you should not be banking on typical UK or other customer to use surveys to find various flaws of modest importance and then try to use that in the negotiation to either force the repair or reduce the price. That simply does not exist in the French mindset and will quickly make you an unpopular buyer. I believe it is true you cannot bring surveyors before the compromis is signed (since you put your survey in the clause suspensive). Therefore, you need to examine what are your purposes for the survey (to ID the general state of things for your future reference in maintenance/repair scheduling; to ID anything really significant). Then determine how important it is to you to hinge the sale on that. France is mainly an "as-is" market, so you have to understand that if there weren't all those things to do you'd likely be paying a much higher price. I hope that clarifies it, and you shouldn't be put off from using a survey. It is important to have information about your property, but just be mindful of how you present it and to what degree it is simply for your own purposes and to what degree, if any, it has anything to do with the sale. Good luck!!!Camillewww.maisonquercy.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mazan Posted March 8, 2004 Share Posted March 8, 2004 >The surveyor is due to see >the house tomorrow, at noon, >but we had an urgent >"text" from the agency in >france saying "Please call me >urgently, we can not allow >your surveyor to look at >the property without you putting >in a formal offer". This is rubbish.>When I >spoke to this man, he >also said that it wouldn't >be possible for us to >put in a clause in >the Compromis de Vente saying >we won't buy unless the >survey is OK. This is more rubbish.These people are trying to pull a fast one on you. If they won't do exactly what you want just walk away and buy something else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moulin Posted March 12, 2004 Share Posted March 12, 2004 You do have seven days after signing in which to change your mind.Good luckJan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carla_Pole Posted March 16, 2004 Author Share Posted March 16, 2004 Thanks very much for all your advice..The reason we wanted the survey was just to be sure that there were no major problems like subsidence or something. We also wanted to get a guideline on how much we'd need to spend to get the house habitable. We wouldn't have used the survey for bargaining.As it happens, I got taken into hospital on the Sunday night.. right after I'd posted the original message! and this seemed to soften up our agent, and he agreed to let us have our survey done.. The agency guy is English, by the way, and I feel fairly certain that yes, he's trying to pull a fast one.This story is much more complicated, but we're keeping ourfingers crossed for a positive outcome.Oh, and the survey was fine!! We've now put an offer in!Many thanks again,Carla and Darren Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freyjabear Posted March 17, 2004 Share Posted March 17, 2004 It may be that the seller does not want the house surveyed. This can sometimes happen. It doesn't necessarily mean that there is anything to hide, just that surveyors aren't the norm in France. The compromis can contain anything in the clauses suspensive, as long as it is agreed by both parties. It is after all an agreement between 2 parties. Hope that it all works out for you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iceni Posted May 7, 2004 Share Posted May 7, 2004 and I'm just the same with pastis Johnhttp://www.iceni-it.co.uk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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