Hi Larkswood
Good point thank you must check before i bring it up. Our lady seemed to think as they had separated fee from price tax should be calculated separately.
I have no idea lol so another thing to check.
Thanks
Maybe there is some tax dodging going on by the sellers or avoiding succession with other family members, does sound a bit odd as all their details are normally on the paperwork including names, dates of birth and where born etc.
Hi Shib
Thanks for all responses . Yes on the offer with agent just thr names. On the compromis it does have full names , address , dob, marriages etc.
I only wish to do what you have, highlight any paragraphs unsure of, disagree or wrong etc then hopefully sign.
Will await their response.
Thanks to all for thier imput.
Agree with most here especially Porridgeās points and Stella about the moment youāre feeling railroaded put the brakes on.
It looks like they want a private treaty but when you look at it itās quite binding too.
I would absolutely not sign it. I donāt care what their story is, I would insist on doing it in the normal compromis then acte way and at your own pace. You must receive documents with a lot of extra time for you to review them and possibly go back several times after consideration with questions with and/or without translators (yours or ahem, the translator introduced by these parties( before attending any meeting for signing.
Meeting for info, yes, a notaire may well know something from the seller that they will only mention face to face in their office and you must listen carefully.
If seller or notaire doesnāt like it you are the buyer. Walk away. There is never just one property that will suit you. Be hard, with charm, but hard.
Yes theoretically notaires are supposed to be neutral but they can be very helpful to both buyer and seller. Donāt rely on their neutrality there have been all sorts of situations over the years.
So it stinks and if the notaire is able to tell you whatās going on it will only be face to face and even then there could be more you might not pick up. Be very, very wary. Get yourself in to see them, take your time, on principle even if all sounds OK donāt sign on the spot even if you are taking a few days to consider and make another appointment to sign whrn youāre ready.
Donāt rely on being able to get out of a compromis once signed even for good reason/within delays, thatās not easy.
PS Iām assuming you have done all good things like visiting local mairie to ask about the property any local concerns or developments etc. Ours sent us to the DDE (in another town) who told us the fraud that was about to be perpetrated on us Our notaire, though, was excellent on the āinformalā side on that and the other property we subsequently purchased.
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Hi Karen
Thank you all.good advice. My worry is i am not confident i would pick up on whats not said.
No we havent been to see Mairie as no french, guess we should have gone with our translator ( not too late i suppose ).depending what they respond with.
I do not get the impression this notaire would tell us anything.
May i ask how fraud was going be committed and what is DDE ?.
When we went to our Mairie, I was surprised how informal the procedure was. We just turned up and were told where the relevant office was; we waited a short while and then had our discussion. It might be different in a small village (our town is about 7,000).
I think you said youāre renting at the moment. Do you have any friends who might be able to go with you, to save you the expense of a translator?
Dept that deals with development and future building projects in the region, bit like a powerful county council planning dept in the UK who deal with planning and the environment. French Notaires do not necessarily go searching for stuff like this and if forinstance there is a planned motorway coming through your garden, they may not inform you, in France the onus is very much on the individual to do some investigation as well.
our Mairie has my phone number in their speed-dial and Iām often asked to pop in (on a friendly basis) and help ā¦ not any legal basis, just ensuring both sides know what the other is talking aboutā¦
why not go along to yours and ask their help/show them the draftā¦
EDIT Good grief, if youāve not investigated the property with the Mairieā¦ please do not sign anythingā¦ not yetā¦ as others have saidā¦ it can all go wrong and you could find yourself lumberedā¦
ok then you absolutely must take even more care.
Go to mairie now, get them to show you the property on the map, major roads, any developments planned, are there near neighbours, use your thinking cap. Ideal would be to find out more about all (though neighbours can be tricky to know about ahead and you never know whoās related to who etc). Listen carefully at mairie. You can also mention after a chat what youāve been asked to sign and that it seems unusual to you. Then shut up and lisren.
.
Notaire visit after thst, not before, if you can manage it.
Our original vendor knew very specifically we were buying to convert ideally placed barn to living. Mairie hinted, did not say a lot but advised us to go to DDE for further info as more detail there (or something).
Lady in DDE went tiens tiens tiens I think I remember something, hauled out three monster ledgers covered in dust. She showed us 3 planning applications made by the owning family to convert, at intervals over the past 10 years including recently, that had been refused then said āCāest une fraude!ā. DDE said local plans would not permit conversion in the future either. She was right. After over 20 years development has recently been permitted but only in the other direction on the other side of the village. Still banned at the original property.
Hi
Yes renting only been here 2/3 months so not really any friends. Landlady only speaks a little french.
However our translator very reasonable .
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which department are you in?
Ok thanks for advice. I suppose as its on a fairly main road, opposite side of road is the river not really space for development.Either side and behind are properties so i suppose we assumed no room.for development.
hmmmā¦ floodplain comes to mindā¦ Iām really beginning to twitch with this ā¦
Hi
Oh thats very scary. As i just replied to Stella i suppose very silly but we assumed as neighbours either side and behind , river opposite we assumed probably nothing would be being built.
Logically thats crazy , for all we know there could be planning to widen road etc or demolish houses who knows.
If they come back ( nothing heard so far from agents or notaire ,) then yes i will ask translator to come to Mairie with us.
Thank you all ,lessons being learned
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very good ideaā¦ and possibly make a list of things you want to askā¦ my mind can go a blank at the worst timesā¦ eg at the Docs, and I recall the questions I had meant to ask when OH has driven us halfway homeā¦ 
I presume youāve looked the house up on the Georisques website (https://www.georisques.gouv.fr). If not, it would be worth a quick look. Donāt panic when you see all the risks mentioned - they cover everything!
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Neighbours could have their own plans tooā¦
We were lucky. We only went to the mairie because we wanted to ask who owned the adjacent land. As we were being very English and thinking that as we might want to add windows on the side of the barn overlooking their land, they might object. So my partner was tbinking of contacting them and asking, or even offering to buy some of the land that would be overlooked.
Then the mairie helped us look on the map at the property and sent us to the DDE.
For the prooerty we bought later instead, its mairie helped us see where it was on the map and tried to warn us of some very, very future plans at prefecture level that were relevant. We understood the French and translated it correctly but we missed the full meaning. We found out 14 years later.
This is why Stella is absolutely correct when she says never buy a property without visiting its local mairie and asking about it.
I have looked on there, i dont know if its that i only have my mobile but all i see are the plots / land. I can not see any other info. I know you should be able to see ie any rights way?
