beware berlin

[manicman]

Hi A little advice if anybody can. I recently found a property I liked and payed to the german agency (run by brits in Berlin) the 3000euro securement fee that the agent specified. They said they owned the unit and had bought it at auction and it needed to be a cash purchase. After viewing in Berlin and agreeing to purchase, the balance was payed to agent. this was 3 weeks ago and the German Solicior and Notary are in place. Yesterday I got a e-mail saying that the bank that owned the unit had pulled out as it decidied it wanted to sell as part of a larger group (i.e. part of 15 or 20 units). They have give me the optoin of another unit which is half the size in a slightly more central area at a socalled 7500 euro discount. This property I believe does not have the capital gain potential of the other unit, and to say I'm P***** OFF is an understatement. I have the solicitor viewing the land registry docs tomorrow to find out who actualy owns it as I smell a rat. I'm no mug as everything was done under the guise of research and advice from said Solictor. My costs so far are running at about 1500 euros. I have all e-mails to prove that they said they owned it. WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO DO TO PREVENT BEEN RIPPED OFF BY THESE TYPE OF PEOPLE