Contract of sale

When you buy a house or an apartment, the agreements between you and the vendor have to be put in writing. The provisional purchase contract contains the conditions subsequent, the deposit or bank guarantee amount, what is included in the house and what is not, and the date of transfer of ownership.

The purchase contract
The contract of sale is also called a ‘provisional purchase contract’. After signing the contract of sale you have three days to reconsider whether you wish to indeed go ahead with the purchase, without having to give any reason. After these three days the contract of sale is final, unless you invoke the conditions subsequent.

Conditions subsequent
A number of conditions subsequent may apply. One condition subsequent that is almost always included in the contract of sale is that the purchase is ‘subject to being granted a mortgage’. If you are not successful in obtaining a mortgage, the purchase will not go ahead. An additional condition may be that the purchase is ‘subject to obtaining national mortgage guarantee’.

Waiting until your own house has sold
Another condition subsequent may be that the purchase is ‘subject to a building survey’. One condition subsequent we see increasingly more often of late is that the purchase is subject ‘to your own house being sold’. However, not all vendors agree with this latter condition.

Deposit or bank guarantee
Quite often, a vendor requires a 10% deposit of the purchase price as security. You must transfer this deposit into the protected, designated Notaris Houtepen account. You will receive the same interest rate on the deposit from civil-law notary Houtepen as he receives from his bank. Alternatively, the vendor may request a bank guarantee for the 10%. At the end of the process, after signing the deed of transfer of title, the deposit will be returned to you with interest or will be used as part-payment for the purchase price.

Land Registry Office (Kadaster)
If you wish, Notaris Houtepen will register your contract of sale with the Land Registry Office. This means that the vendor cannot sell the house to anyone else. This registration also protects you from attachment of the house, among other things. Do you want more information about the registration of the contract of sale or about aspects you have to bear in mind when signing a contract of sale? Do contact us. We will be happy to explain this to you.