Buyer pulls out after the compromis: what can you do as a seller?

A sale that looked done suddenly stalls. The buyer pulls out after the compromis and you are left with questions: is that allowed, have you lost the deposit, and is your home back on the market? In Belgium, a signed compromis is a full sale agreement. That works in your favour, but only if you take the right steps in the right order.

A compromis is a sale, not a letter of intent

Many sellers think the sale is only final at the notary. In reality, a sale in Belgium comes about as soon as buyer and seller agree on the property and the price. The compromis records that agreement. The notarial deed that follows carries out the sale and makes it enforceable against third parties, but it does not close the deal after the fact.

A second point often surprises sellers: Belgium has no general statutory cooling-off period for someone buying a home from a private seller. A buyer who regrets signing the next day cannot fall back on a withdrawal period. What does apply is set out in your compromis itself. Take the document out and read the conditions and deadlines it contains, because they determine your position more than the general rule does.

The fact that a compromis is binding does not mean a buyer can never step back. It means stepping back has a price, unless the contract provides a valid way out.

The suspensive condition is the only clean way out

Most compromis agreements contain a suspensive condition for the financing. The purchase only becomes definitive if the buyer obtains a mortgage within an agreed period. If that fails, the sale lapses without anyone being at fault and without compensation. You get your property back, the buyer gets the deposit back.

So the question is rarely whether the buyer may pull out, but whether the condition is rightly invoked. Pay attention to three points in your compromis. First the deadline: a condition that has expired can no longer be invoked by the buyer. Second the description of the credit, because a condition is sometimes limited to a certain amount or a certain interest rate. Third the evidence: many compromis agreements require a written refusal from one or more banks, delivered within the deadline.

A buyer who proves nothing, or who only submits the application after the deadline has passed, is in a weak legal position. So always request the documents in writing before you concede anything.

Pulling out without a valid condition: the penalty clause

If the buyer withdraws while no condition applies, the buyer is in default. Almost every Belgian compromis provides a penalty clause for this, in practice often ten percent of the sale price. That percentage is not in the law, it is in your contract. So check what was actually agreed in your case before you name an amount.

As a seller you then have two routes. You can demand performance of the sale, forcing the buyer through the court to sign the deed and pay the price. Or you can have the sale dissolved and claim the compensation, after which you may sell the property again. Which route yields most depends on the market, on the solvency of the buyer and on how much time you are willing to lose. Both routes run through the court in principle if the buyer does not cooperate voluntarily, and that is exactly why an amicable settlement often turns out faster and cheaper.

Let your notary assess the strength of your file before you choose. The notary knows the exact wording of your compromis and can judge what a court would reasonably make of it.

What to do in the first few days

First get the withdrawal in writing. Ask the buyer to confirm the decision and the reasons in writing, with the supporting documents attached. A phone conversation will not help you later.

Then inform your notary immediately and, if you have one, your estate agent. They send a registered notice of default if needed, giving the buyer a final period to meet the obligations. That step is often necessary before you can rely on the penalty clause.

Important: the deposit is usually not yours as long as the matter is unresolved. It is normally blocked in the third-party account of the notary or the estate agent and is only released with an agreement between both parties or with a court decision. So do not assume you can simply keep it, and certainly do not count on it for the purchase of your next home. At this stage, also do not sign anything that cancels the sale without anything in return, because that gives up your claim to compensation.

Putting your home back on the market

Once it is legally settled that the sale will not go ahead, speed counts. A home that was listed as sold for a few weeks and then reappears raises questions with prospective buyers. Be open about it: let people know that the financing of the previous buyer did not come through and that there is nothing wrong with the property. That explanation is credible and the situation is common.

Check straight away whether your asking price still holds. The market may have moved between the first listing and today, and a free valuation of your home gives you a current benchmark before you list again. Are your certificates still valid? The energy performance certificate and the soil certificate each have their own validity period, and an expired document delays the next sale all over again.

If you feel the file was followed up too lightly the first time, this is the natural moment to compare estate agents instead of automatically continuing with the same party.

Prevention starts with screening the buyer

A buyer who pulls out is usually not a buyer acting in bad faith. It is a buyer who never had enough financing. That can largely be headed off in advance. Before you accept an offer, ask for an agreement in principle from the bank, and have the suspensive condition drafted tightly: a concrete amount, a short deadline, and a clear duty of proof with a written refusal.

That is also where a good estate agent earns the fee. The agent checks the financial capacity of candidates before you lose time, and drafts the compromis so that you are not left empty-handed weeks later. ImmoMakelaarVergelijker.be helps you with that: you compare up to three licensed estate agents in your region free of charge and without obligation, so you can choose who will follow up your file most firmly. A sale that holds the first time ultimately costs you less than the biggest promise at the start.