Selling a house

You may suddenly find someone on your doorstep making an offer on your house or other real estate. In most cases, however, you will decide to sell your house after careful consideration.
It is important that before you accept an offer or put something up for sale, you know what obligations you have as a seller. For instance, you have to deliver free of all kinds of obligations unless you have clearly stated what obligations there are when making the offer. You must also inform a prospective buyer of any defects known to you that are not immediately apparent. If you know that your mortgage debt is higher than the expected purchase price (the house is "under water"), then as a seller you bear the risk that the bank will not cooperate with a sale. Due to a death or divorce, others than yourself may have to cooperate in the delivery. The consequences are on you as the seller if these other(s) do not do so or do not do so in time.
In some cases, the transfer may be subject to approval, e.g. from a landlord or owners' association.

If a property is bought by an individual, the purchase agreement must be in writing. After everything has been recorded and signed in writing, the buyer still has three days for reflection. When selling another property, such as a garage or commercial premises, the verbal agreement is just as valid as a written one.

We can draft the purchase agreement for you. Because of our extensive knowledge of the law surrounding real estate and the related tax issues, we can advise you on the conclusion of the sale. We normally keep the interests of both the seller and the buyer in mind. If required, we can act as party advisor, i.e. in the interests of only one of the parties.

For more information on guiding and drawing up a purchase agreement, please contact us. We will be happy to advise you.