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Purchase agreement

Thomas van Vugt
Thomas van Vugt
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Legal advice on purchase of real estate

There are always large interests at stake in the purchase and sale of real estate. It is therefore crucial to properly record the agreements reached. There is almost always something special in the sale of real estate. For example, if part of the sold property has been leased or given into use, if major maintenance is to be expected, or, in contrast, if the seller has guaranteed that a certain major investment has already taken place and therefore nothing more is to be expected (such as, for example, new foundations for premises, which is quite common in Amsterdam). Our property lawyers can, together with you, draw up or assess the sales contract in detail. This can prevent costly and time-consuming proceedings.

Penalty clause in Dutch contract

Many complications can arise when purchasing or selling a house. For example, the buyer of an apartment can fail to acquire the financing for the purchase, and is therefore unable to pay the purchase price. For such cases, most sales contracts contain a penalty clause for 10% of the purchase price if the agreement is dissolved. The court can, however, moderate (decrease) such a claimable contractual penalty if the penalty leads to an unacceptable result under the given circumstances.

Purchase agreement of a house

If the buyer is not a professional, the purchase of a house has to take place in writing. Otherwise the agreement is considered not to have been effected. This also means that in fact neither the buyer nor the seller can enforce signing the agreement or compliance with an oral agreement for purchase. Furthermore, the buyer is always entitled to a 3-day cooling-off period. This cooling-off period starts on the next day after the buyer has received the sales contract (also called: ‘the sales contract including resolutive conditions’) that has been signed by all parties. Within those three days of the cooling-off period, the buyer can get out of the purchase without having to state his reasons and without being obliged to pay compensation. In that case, only the costs of the civil-law notary or the estate agent for drawing up the purchase contract can be charged.

Dutch property lawyers

The lawyers at Dutch law firm AMS are very experienced in advising on and litigating in the area of property (real estate) law. Our real estate lawyers in The Netherlands are strongly committed to their clients’ cases, work in a horizontal organization and offer competitive fees. Please contact our law firm for a free meeting without obligation.

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