Question to an expert
I made an offer to purchase a house from the seller, can I withdraw?
By signing an offer to purchase, the potential buyer demonstrates his intention to acquire a property if accepted by the seller, at the prices and conditions contained therein.
This purchase offer is made either at the price initially proposed by the seller, in which case the latter cannot refuse it, or at a lower price, in which case it must be accepted by the seller.
Once the offer has been accepted by the seller, the sales contract is formed and neither the buyer nor the seller can go back on it. This purchase offer is normally followed by the signing of a promise of sale or a compromise (or directly of the deed of sale).
However, in certain cases, the purchaser’s commitment may be suspended. For example, if you make an offer to purchase residential property, you have a ten-day legal right of withdrawal or reflection, which you cannot waive. You will therefore only be definitively bound by your offer ten days after the notification of the promise of sale (or the draft deed of sale if no promise has been signed).
It is therefore only once this period has passed that you will be bound by your offer to purchase and that you expose yourself to penalties in the event of withdrawal, if this is not justified by a condition precedent, by example related to obtaining the loan.