Mizit
2016-11-03 21:44:29
- #1
Basically, I agree with ypgs: You can talk about everything (you probably just shouldn't do it thoughtlessly, we really want the house and nothing has been signed yet...) and the seller is not a scoundrel to us because he wants to see the money promptly.
We have not explicitly asked why he wants a down payment. I suspect two relatively unspectacular reasons here: The seller is downsizing, meaning he has bought another property that also needs work, and I think anyone can use some cash. He will only get the money for the house later, when the handover takes place, but he will incur costs for his new property beforehand. On the other hand, I suspect the seller might possibly think, even without a specific reason!, that after signing the notary contract "something could happen", that we might somehow want to back out of the deal later, that we might not pay afterwards, etc. The financing is settled beforehand and, if I understood correctly, this is also communicated by the bank to the notary, and I assume that signing the notary contract legally binds the house purchase for both parties so that no one can back out of it – we really want the house after all. But maybe there are very fundamental considerations by the seller that a down payment makes the matter "safer" and that you have what you already have.
There is also nothing concrete speaking against it for us. We wouldn't have to finance the down payment.
The escrow account at the notary is also quite expensive, right? And if he wants the money now and not in months, that wouldn't really make much sense for the seller either?
I am just wondering how it would be, for example, if completely unexpected things were to happen after signing the purchase contract until the handover. Let's say the seller suddenly throws wild demolition parties there, or damages occur to the house that weren't present before, or the condition of the house at the time of handover does not correspond to the contractually agreed conditions. Then you have trouble on your hands, which I assume can all somehow be resolved as long as no money has yet been transferred. But if there are already 35,000 euros, you might no longer be in the best position if there are disagreements.
We have not explicitly asked why he wants a down payment. I suspect two relatively unspectacular reasons here: The seller is downsizing, meaning he has bought another property that also needs work, and I think anyone can use some cash. He will only get the money for the house later, when the handover takes place, but he will incur costs for his new property beforehand. On the other hand, I suspect the seller might possibly think, even without a specific reason!, that after signing the notary contract "something could happen", that we might somehow want to back out of the deal later, that we might not pay afterwards, etc. The financing is settled beforehand and, if I understood correctly, this is also communicated by the bank to the notary, and I assume that signing the notary contract legally binds the house purchase for both parties so that no one can back out of it – we really want the house after all. But maybe there are very fundamental considerations by the seller that a down payment makes the matter "safer" and that you have what you already have.
There is also nothing concrete speaking against it for us. We wouldn't have to finance the down payment.
The escrow account at the notary is also quite expensive, right? And if he wants the money now and not in months, that wouldn't really make much sense for the seller either?
I am just wondering how it would be, for example, if completely unexpected things were to happen after signing the purchase contract until the handover. Let's say the seller suddenly throws wild demolition parties there, or damages occur to the house that weren't present before, or the condition of the house at the time of handover does not correspond to the contractually agreed conditions. Then you have trouble on your hands, which I assume can all somehow be resolved as long as no money has yet been transferred. But if there are already 35,000 euros, you might no longer be in the best position if there are disagreements.