[stevekemp]

Ouch that does sound like a lot of money!

I do recall that in the two Finnish places I bought my offer also had a penalty clause - if I pulled out for any reason other than "failure to find financing" I had to pay €6,000 or so.

(I wouldn't have made an offer had I not intended to follow-through, but it was still a little scary to imagine having to pay out!)

[ojilles]

In NL that is 10% of the purchase price, and gets hold in escrow. That works out well, the sellers are most likely making a similar commitment buying their new house.