A contract for a house that had to disappear

The first draft of the contract looked fine until we started checking the dates carefully.

In one place it said that the house had to be removed by the end of May.

In another, it said that the final payment could be made in June, but no later than three days before transport.

It was impossible to meet both conditions at once.

The seller noticed the contradiction. We corrected the deadlines and separately agreed on a 500-euro penalty for delayed removal.

We also decided to attach the original producer documents and technical description to the contract.

The wording “modular house” was not enough.

Both parties had to understand the object in the same way: the structure, terrace, kitchen, sanitary equipment, heating, appliances and built-in elements.

Several points also had to be separated, although in a normal transaction they often happen almost at the same time:

— ownership transferred after full payment;

— physical handover took place by handover act;

— keys were handed over only after the full amount had arrived;

— transport was fully organised and paid for by the buyer;

— the risk of damage had to be connected to the moment of physical handover.

In the end, the contract became a sales agreement, payment instruction and evacuation plan for the house all at once.

The transaction closed in June.

I represented the seller at the handover. We signed the act, listed the items that remained inside and handed over four keys to the buyer.

After that, the house was dismantled into modules and taken away from the plot.

For me, this was the first transaction where, after the sale, the object literally disappeared from its former address.

It seemed the story was over.

But the client came back.

This time, we had to sell land. I thought that after a house that had to be moved, a plot would definitely be easier.

I was wrong.