Notaires offer free auditing service for French properties

Notaires in the south-west of France have set up a new service offering a free ‘mini-audit’ for anyone selling a property.

“With ‘Mon Bilan Immo’, we are offering future sellers the chance to make a secure choice and encourage a smoother sales process, one that is more favourable to the market," said the president of notaires in the Toulouse Chamber of Commerce, Frédéric Giral.

It aims to “make the sale of a property as easy as possible,” he added.

The service will be available in the Ariège, Haute-Garonne, Tarn and Tarn-et-Garonne departments.

The ‘mini-audit’ can be requested from any notaire who works in the area your property is located in, and who is an expert of local services, such as banks, estate agents, etc.

Will provide valuable information to help house sale

The notaires will also help to organise necessary files and documents to sell the property, as well as answer any questions about tax issues and provide updates about new laws that may affect the sale of your property.

Finally, they will also be able to facilitate and help in the sales process.

“The sale of a property can be considerably delayed or even blocked because sellers have not sufficiently anticipated or gathered the supporting documents required for a sale,” said Mr Giral.

“This may involve work that has not been declared, a marital status that has not been updated, a lost title deed or simply a property tax receipt that needs to be retrieved,” he added.

They hope the service will bring confidence to those currently wary of selling a house on the current property market, and hopefully inject more properties up for sale.

If the proposal is a success, it is possible that other notaires across France could adopt similar schemes, but so far it has only been announced in the four departments listed above.

Read more: 12 key Q&As for anyone selling a property in France