Deposit contract (arras)
The agreement before the deed in which buyer and seller reserve the deal by handing over a deposit.
Detailed explanation
The usual form is the penitential deposit of article 1454 of the Civil Code: either side may walk away — the buyer forfeits the deposit, the seller returns twice the amount. The deposit is usually 5% to 10% of the price. In servicer deals the contract also fixes the signing deadline and who bears costs and charges, which is where the expensive details usually sit.
Practical example
On a €90,000 purchase, €9,000 is paid as a deposit with sixty days to complete. If the buyer's financing is not in place in time, those €9,000 are lost.
When it matters
It is the moment a deal stops being a conversation. Anything not written here — charges, deadlines, who pays what — is no longer negotiable afterwards.
At Arkos Investor
We prepare the deposit contract on the deals we support and check the deadlines against the financing in hand, so the signing date is actually reachable.