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I want to cancel the sale of my apartment but I have signed the compromise de vente!
I own an apartment in Brussels which I put on sale a few months ago. I have already signed the compromise de vente and the final act will be signed on the 22nd of January. However, I have deeply regreted selling this apartment and I don't know if I can in anyway cancel the sale. The buyer has already taken a loan from the bank and he is not going to accept loosing the apartment. I cannot discuss this with the notaire because she is on holidays and the. buyer is also her client. Could anyone advise me if there is anything I could do? I am desperate!
You're f***ed.
If you're REALLY lucky, then you have a clause in the compromis that allows you to withdraw unilaterally and pay the buyer 10% compensation. Expect significant legal fees on top of this because you've just given the buyer a budget to sue you.
But your best option right now is almost certainly to save yourself the penalty and legal fees and just accept the sale.
Oh - And get yourself a NEW notaire. Belgian law allows the buyer and seller to use the same notaire, but you should never accept this as it's a conflict of interest. The notaire fees are fixed by law, so you won't lose out on this.
"if there is anything I could do?"
If you absolutely have to cancel the deal, as J notes above, it will cost you a minimum of 10% of the deal.
Or just put it down to experience, and never do such a stupid thing ever again.
Penalties for breaking up a sale are usually mentioned on the both the initial offer and the following Compromis de Vente depending at what stage one of the parties decides to pull out from the sale. So maybe is just a question or reading what you signed with your Notaire and the Buyer.
As mentioned above 10% is usually what is applied in these cases (after the CdV is signed).
The property market is actually doing good in Brussels so if you think long terms you might be able to eventually recover your losses. But without specific details about location/sale price/purpose/etc, which only you know, it is really difficult to speculate.
you should be ashamed of yourself
The apartment is sold. The other party will already have gone to considerable effort to complete the sale in good faith and you pulling out will seriously mess up their life.. Do the decent thing and learn from this experience.
You might be able to do it if you live in the apartment and do not have another property. Speak with your notary. Our notary explained to us that there as a result of changes to the legislation, if the property is the residence of the seller, he/she can withdraw from the deal even if they have accepted the offer in writing (which was our case) and in some case even after the compromis. This was 2 years ago.
