Yes, there is that posssibility. But then again, it isn’t a fuss about nothing if the seller becomes afeared that a potential buyer, the one that didn’t immediately walk away on account of the issue, shows every sign of doing so if Mr Blasé maintains the blasé attitude.
As with the house I have now, at some stage reality has to make an appearance to get a sale over the line.
Or one just walks away…
I suppose it depends if the asking price already reflects the fosse situation.
If the property is being advertised as having a non conforme fosse one would imagine it has been priced accordingly, and the seller would not expect buyers to express an interest if that is an issue for them.
But as always it will depend on how keen they are to sell.
Yes. My cunning plan is based on “[quote=“Sandcastle, post:20, topic:50589”]
seller does not see it as a major issue, … he will just see a foreigner making a ridiculous amount of fuss over nothing. [/quote]”
and thus not being factored in.
If you say so.
I would expect the price of any property to reflects the condition as per the diagnostics and description. That is the point of the diagnostics is it not. Anything vétuste (sorry cannot think of English word) or non conforme would normally result in a lower price than a similar property with a clean bill of health.
If I were the seller and a possible buyer especially a foreigner started making a fuss over this, I would not think Oh gosh this man clearly knows more about fosses than me and my family and my neighbors who have lived with fosses all our lives, this must be a bigger problem than any of us ever knew. I would think Here is a buyer using it as an excuse to try and beat the price down. That is all I am saying.
But good luck with it, nothing ventured as they say.
Hi. We have the same issue. We’ve found a nice house just down the road from our son and his family and have told the agent we will be prepared to make an offer that reflects the fact that the septic tank has to be replaced within a year (SPANC visited in 2023 and said the current owners had to replace it). Also they have a builders quote to replace some rain water drainage to stop the cellar being damp at a cost of 6,700€. The agent has said the owners will accept a reduction for the builders quote but no more for the septic tank. He said 95% of French homes have bad drainage but don’t bother with updating it but accept an annual fine of around 40€ (not sure where he got this figure from!)
Any Buyer will be promising to do the necessary to the Fosse, it will be part of the Agreement and should thus be factored into whatever monies are being bandied about.
Perhaps the Seller feels the price is already correct and does not want to drop further…
but for any Purchaser to presume they can make a Promise which they do not intend to keep… that is not a good idea. Any Purchaser should ensure they have sufficient funds to do the necessary Fosse work.
Does the price includes installation?
Yes it did, and it also even included the landscaping to smooth out the impact of the major excavation on the lawn,.and reseeding it.
Perhaps he meant 95 per cent of homes that are not on mains drainage.
More than 80 per cent of homes are connected to public drainage.
This is what we do. We bought our bungalow 3 years ago, both the agent and the Notaire explained about the fee. The fosse is in excellent condition but simply too small for the size of house. So we are not causing any contamination but we are obliged to have the fosse emptied every 6 years
Some communes are turning up the fines, 750euro in some for 2024.
I’m not surprised. If we were 20 years younger I doubt we would have taken the risk but this house really was our last chance of moving to France. We were getting too old and decrepit to keep on looking and it has worked out very well! Any increase in fines is not going to make a significant difference for our remaining years But I’m not suggesting others should follow our example
You have to do what the government decries you do if it’s not up to specs make sure you own enough land to comply ie sink a way on your property