What should I check before signing a compromis?

The compromis is binding. Once it's signed, your deposit is committed and your options narrow substantially. Checks before signature are worth real care.

Title and ownership. Is the property titled or melkia? If melkia, is the réquisition procedure already started or will it start after the compromis? Does the seller have clean ownership, or is the property held jointly with siblings, parents, or other heirs whose consent is needed? For melkia properties particularly, multi-owner situations are common and can delay or block the sale. The notaire investigates all of this; insist on seeing the title search conclusions before signing.

Habous status. Confirmed not habous. This is a simple check but a critical one. Any property that turns out to be habous after compromis will need to be unwound, with real friction.

Surface area and boundaries. The stated surface area of the property should match the cadastre (for titled properties) or the géomètre's recent survey (for properties in requisition). Discrepancies between the stated and the actual area are common, especially in older medina buildings where measurements were never formally recorded. These discrepancies need to be resolved before signing, not after.

Encumbrances. Mortgages, servitudes (rights of passage for neighbours, shared wall obligations, water rights), unresolved inheritance claims. All of these need to be named and either cleared before signing or explicitly accepted as part of the deal.

Physical condition. Structural survey by a qualified architect, ideally independent of the seller. Focus on foundations, beams, roof, and any external walls exposed to rain. A cosmetic walkthrough by a property manager is not sufficient for a medina riad — the important problems hide behind surfaces.

Seller's identity and authority. Valid CIN (Moroccan national ID) for Moroccan sellers, or valid passport for foreign sellers. Confirmation that the person signing actually has authority to sell — particularly important for inherited properties where the full set of heirs may need to sign, and for properties owned through a company where the signatory's authority comes from corporate documents.

The notaire handles most of this investigation. Your role is to request the results in writing, read them carefully, and raise questions where anything is unclear. A good notaire welcomes the scrutiny; a bad one treats it as an inconvenience. Which one yours is becomes obvious in this phase.