Purchase contract building plot - uncertainty has arisen

Hello everyone,

I have reserved a plot of land for quite some time now, and I was actually about 90% sure that I would buy it. However, now that I have finally received a draft of the purchase contract, some unexpected stumbling blocks have come to light.

About the plot itself:
It is a new development area with about 30 plots (almost completely flat), which still needs to be developed, situated on a former barracks site (formerly an airbase of Adolf, then the US Army). The area had already been converted into an industrial and residential area previously and is now to be expanded on the residential side with this new development. Unfortunately, I could only find pictures from the US Army times, but back then it was apparently just a meadow. The plots are being sold through brokers (even before development).

I had to wait quite a long time for the draft purchase contract because the development contract between the municipality and the development company (=seller of the plots) took forever. During that time, I looked at the plot several times and also spoke with a resident who has been living there for 13 years. So far, everything was okay for me.

Now to the stumbling blocks:
I already found some points unfortunate myself but then also had them reviewed by a lawyer.

- The official seller is a company from Liechtenstein. So, I would have only limited access if there were any legal issues, since it is not an EU country. The company must deposit a guarantee of 200,000 with the municipality for the development. The contact person is known locally with a good reputation, which my lawyer confirmed, but the company itself is unknown to him. Apart from that, it does give the impression of a mailbox company :/

- Liability for contaminated sites is expressly excluded. According to my lawyer, this is unusual unless contamination is suspected. According to my broker, the exclusion is common. There is a soil report with soil samples from 2016. However, only 50-100 meters away from my desired plot was tested. There was partly soil contamination detected of Z2 and Z1.1 (if this means anything to anyone, happy to explain). Actually, that doesn’t say much if it wasn’t tested right on my plot, does it? My main concern is not buying contaminated soil. Construction is planned without a basement anyway. Regarding unexploded ordnance, it is probably difficult to secure oneself. During the construction of a bypass in 2016, a panzerfaust grenade was found. So, this cannot be 100% excluded either. The resident I spoke with (about 100 meters away from my plot) had no problems with the building ground/contaminated sites.

- I was assured that development would start at the beginning of 2018 and that in the first phase, where my plot lies, building could begin in mid-2018. However, the contract only vaguely states that development must be fully completed within 30 months. Therefore, I have no contractual assurance that I can actually start building mid-next year. Due to the delay with the development contract, the development was already postponed from mid-2017 to early 2018, so I am not very optimistic that there will be no further delays. This also results in uncertainty in discussions with construction companies regarding the start date.

These are the biggest points, plus a few smaller ones. After consulting with my broker, apparently three plots have already been sold for the area, and he tried to explain the points to me and offered to go through all points again with the notary. However, the broker naturally has a vested interest in a sale, and the notary drafted the contract and probably won’t have any complaints about it anymore.

What do you think? Am I being overcautious or would you advise me to stay away? It gives me somewhat the impression of “take it or leave it” since I have to pay in advance before even a plot is developed, I have no idea whether the soil is clean in any respect, and I have no 100% certainty regarding possible construction start.

Thanks in advance and have a nice day :)

No. Healthy mistrust. In the end, it’s all sold, the development company runs off to the Cayman Islands, development never happens. The 200 thousand is a joke...... you could do the soil survey yourself for 1000,- if necessary and then decide, that would be bearable in my opinion, but Lichtenstein..... that’s a stronghold of bandits. Karsten

Do a soil survey now.

The thing with the development and Lichtenstein – you pay for the land and then piece by piece for the development? That can really only cause you a delay, right?

No no, he is buying an undeveloped plot at the "developed" price with the promise that the development will be done, backed by a 200 thousand guarantee with the municipality for 30 plots. The municipal representatives who make such contracts with Liechtenstein companies should be voted out.

Exactly, the price would be to be paid all in all including the development in advance.

I had already thought about the soil survey, but it only makes sense if that is the last uncertainty.
Why the municipality does it that way I also didn’t understand. Presumably, the person behind it is decisive, as they apparently have a pretty good reputation around here. But in the end, I am now concluding the contract not with them, but with the Lichtenstein company.

I am also surprised that the notary apparently doesn’t see any concerns either; the notary should be particularly alert in such cases, shouldn’t they?

I would love to do it this way because after a long search I finally found a suitable plot of land and have actually already started planning with it. But if something goes wrong, everyone rightly says "your own fault" :(

A soil survey would be sensible, but including chemical analysis. It will cost more than €1000, rather €1300-1500. Especially since it is already clear that LAGA Z1.1 to Z2 are definitely present there. Due to the previous use, there is a bit of a gamble involved (hence also clear why the seller wants to be released from contamination liability, because he cannot know every centimeter of soil either). If heavy machinery has ever left significant oil residues there, that would have been unfortunate (or rather expensive). But: The soil survey could be difficult if the area has not yet been developed, no partition exists, etc., then the geologist could have slight orientation problems :) Paying the purchase price in advance seems unusual to me. It would be important to me that ownership transfer also takes place with payment. However, this cannot reasonably happen before development measures. Payment will only be made once developability is given. Are the plots unusually cheap, i.e., might the mentioned risks already be factored in?