What is a cooling-off period?

Once you have signed the purchase agreement, you have a statutory cooling-off period of three days in which you can withdraw without giving a reason and without penalty. The three days run from the day after you receive the signed contract, and the period always includes at least two working days. You do not have to explain yourself. This right applies to private buyers of a home, not to business purchases. After those three days the agreement is binding, so any structural survey or financing condition needs to be written into the contract itself.