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Living in Brittany, Part 2
After viewing the pile we went back to the estate agents office in order to discuss the nitty gritty of buying property in France, and to put in an offer. Having discussed almost everything that could be discussed and having told the boss man we would pay cash (ie that the purchase price would be available in full on the day of conclusion), Monsieur Page who spoke very good English, told us that, in this case, we should make an offer of 80 percent of the purchase price. He subsequently phoned the owners who accepted our offer there and then. Yes, and now you start to contemplate whether you should have made a much lower offer!!! Be that as it may, Monsieur Page went on to say that it would be advisable, just in case of a mortgage taken out after all, to put a special clause into the preliminary contract, namely that should a mortgage be refused, we would not have to buy, and that the 10 percent of the purchase price paid immediately after the offer had been accepted, would have to be returned by the owner. Please bear that in mind when you consider buying a property here in France it is the ONLY way out of this kind of contract once you have put in an offer which has been accepted. You have, of course, a cooling off period of seven days. It is also a fact that, here in France, once an offer has been accepted and the 10 percent paid, this contract becomes legally binding for both parties, thus the above mentioned clause as the only way out (sorry to harp on about that but it is a very important issue, buying and selling property in France is so very different to things done in the UK).
Now, having gone in at the deep end, so to speak, we had to find enough money to lay down those 10 percent. Talk about scraping the barrel! As we had set out without any intention of buying more than the obligatory wine, cigarettes and cheese (you will be pleased to know that we have stopped smoking about a year ago) we were definitely stretched for cash and hisself had the wrong cheque book on him. On top of everything else, it was a Sunday and the banks closed, of course. But we managed somehow by emptying all pockets, using all cash cards at our disposal and swiping the UK account of its contents using the above mentioned cheque book. It is also one of these things one has to be aware of that these 10 percent must be paid on the spot, once the offer has been accepted. The actual day of purchase and signing the contract will have to be stipulated at the same time, the earliest normally 2 months after, the latest four months after the day of acceptance of your offer. Also, on the actual day of purchase, you must name your heirs, it is a legal requirement. Some of the legal mumble jumble has changed in the last years, I cant honestly say that I am the right person to lay down the law in this manner consult your estate agent and/or your notaire public. Noteworthy is also the fact that surveys as done in the UK are unknown here.
Having done all the preliminaries, we continued our sight-seeing through Morlaix, walked across the Viaduct, had a look in at the local museum, took the train back to Roscoff, had one of the cheapest meals available at a very good fish restaurant there and boarded the ferry back to Plymouth.
Believe you me, it must have been one of the dryest ferry crossings ever, as well as one of the lightest as we were unable to purchase any fags, never mind the booze!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
To be continued
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