No compromis de vente after four months

[Roy]

After a long search for the right property my wife and I made an offer at the start of June that was accepted. Almost four months later we are still waiting to receive the compromis and all the usual documents. The agent says the vendor has financial difficulties and the compromis can't be prepared until a mainlevee has been obtained from the vendor's bank (or apparently the bank could decide to repossess the property and sell it itself).

Our lawyer chases the agent regularly but the agent says the case is an queue at the bank and also that the vendor's case is complicated. We wrote to the French vendor whom we have never met to ask him to try to speed things up. He replied to tell us that he was in hospital indefinitely, was unable to help and his lawyer was handling all his affairs.

We don't understand why the bank's agreement to the sale was not obtained before the agent started marketing the property. We feel we have been misled. Is the best thing we can do now to walk away and buy another property?

Roy

[mint]

To your last question, I would say yes.

Lots of choice out there and you are calling the shots after all.

[woolybanana]

Agreed

[NormanH]

Obviously you are in no way obliged to continue with the purchase.

If you still hanker in your heart of hearts for this particular property it would seem an ideal situation in which to re-negotiate with a much lower offer subject to an immediate signature of the compromis.

[woolybanana]

Norman, they cannot apparently get a signature unless the bank has sorted out its act first which may take sometime.

[Department71]

I might be tempted to keep looking at other properties and keep this on the back burner, you never know the bank might sort this out in a few days

[PaulT]

We made an offer on a house that was accepted. A few weeks later we flew over to sign the Compris. At the Notaires there was us, the agent and the Notaire but no seller. Contact could not be made with the seller so no signing.

We were later told that the seller owed the bank money and they were content all the time she was trying to sell the house to pay the bank their money. However, she did not want to sell the house. No doubt she told the bank we pulled out.

[PaulT]

Oh, as has been said there are plenty of houses out there so start looking again. In our case the house that we have bought we prefer to the failed one.