Completion Date Query!

[Rich1972]

Hi everyone.

My first post here :-)

I heard from my French agent on Tuesday. She said that the competion date for signing the final contract on my house in Charente will be on April 23rd. When I signed the compris de vente I was told that completion would be on May 9th, but possibly earlier. The problem is that April 23rd isn't convenient for me and I would prefer to sign in person, in France, at the notary's office on 30th April. I emailed the agent (who is very good) and she said that the 23rd is better as i) the notary is busy and ii) the vendor wants to sign on 23rd.

Do I have any say in this matter at all? In the UK the signing date would be one that is mutually agreed upon. Can I insist on a week's delay from 23rd to the 30th? I don't want to go down the route of getting a procuration (power of attorney) and would prefer to sign in person, but I don't want to annoy the agent, the vendor or the notary!

Many thanks

Rich

[Rose (& Greyman)]

I would have thought if you just told them it was impossible for you to be there on 23rd they would have to oblige.

I don't think a PoA would be possible now anyway - we did that and it was a frantic nightmare as we had to find a local notary to witness it (a lot harder than we imagined - ended up dragging a retired chap from his gardening to do it !) then courier the documents to the notaire. Theoretically possible before next week but very stressful.

I doubt in the current climate they will lose a sale because you can't make the only date they suggest.

EDIT: Welcome and good luck btw !

[Rich1972]

Thanks for the reply! I think I'll email the agent and say 'no way'. I agree that I'm holding most of the cards in the current climate and can't see them backing down over the difference of a week.

I've looked into the procuration and my notaire in France has told me that the document doesn't have to be witnessed by a notary public in this country as the French notary has already met me (when I signed the compris de vente in his office in Charente).  Even so, I'd prefer to sign the final contract in person.

Rich :-)

[mint]

Your request is perfectly reasonable, it's not as though you want to put it off for 6 months, is it?

Anyway, as you live in another country, it's only polite (if nothing else) to give someone more notice.  Certainly, when we signed, the notaire was very aware that we would need notice to sort out pet care, job commitments and so on and we had first choice of a mutually convenient date.

Stick to your guns, Rich!

[P-D de Rouffignac]

Are we talking civil war here or simply the sale of a property. Surely it is possible to reach an amicable compromise with all parties, one being that the buyers could sign ahead of the vendor, who can complete the transaction on a later, preferred date. Pulling out of a sale at this stage would be costly and probably subject to legal sanctions - the vendor committed to sell when the compromis de vente was signed.

P-D de Rouffignac

www.francemediterraneanproperty.com

[Rich1972]

[quote user="P-D de Rouffignac"]

Are we talking civil war here or simply the sale of a property. Surely it is possible to reach an amicable compromise with all parties, one being that the buyers could sign ahead of the vendor, who can complete the transaction on a later, preferred date. Pulling out of a sale at this stage would be costly and probably subject to legal sanctions - the vendor committed to sell when the compromis de vente was signed.

P-D de Rouffignac

www.francemediterraneanproperty.com

[/quote]

Thanks, and I agree. It's easy to let these things get out of proportion! There was no fixed date in the compris de vente, although an approximate date of 9th May was agreed upon verbally. There's no way I can make it for next Wednesday, but I don't see a problem either in agreeing to a week's delay. The only thing bothering me is whether the vendor could scupper the sale. This seems unlikely as i) no fixed date was signed upon by either of the parties and ii) I doubt they'd want to have the aggravation of trying to resell the property. You know what it's like though, being in a different country and miles away from what's going on, you get sort of jittery. A sale in this country and I wouldn't think twice about asking for a short extension to the completion date. I will let you know how I get on. Thanks for all the replies everyone.

Rich