House sale legal issues in Languedoc Roussillon, South France

Although the legal procedure for selling a home in Languedoc-Roussillon, south France is the same as for buying a property, there are a couple of important points to be aware of.

One is the issue of chains. You don’t want to get into a property buying/selling chain if you can possibly avoid it. So if your buyer wants to insert a conditional clause (clause suspensive) in the sales contract to the effect that the sale is dependent on him (or her) selling another property, JUST SAY NO. Because if you agree to this (and if the buyer is selling up in the UK, where sales can be pulled out of at any stage before completion), you run the risk of being left high and dry. You won’t be able to cancel the agreement, even if someone else comes along and offers you hard cash. Lots of it. In a similar vein, if a buyer decides they’d like to have an inspection or survey done, it’s arguably better for this to happen before any contacts are signed.

...more to come.