Buying property in France: Two key steps

Purchasing a home in France can be a daunting proposition for people unfamiliar with the country, however in reality the process can be broken down into two steps.

Step 1 is signing a preliminary sales agreement. This can be either a promise to sell (promesse de vente) or a conditional sales agreement (compromis). 

These documents can be prepared by anyone, including the real estate agent or a lawyer, but they are typically best done by a French notaire. 

Notaires are quasi governmental officials with a legal monopoly on real estate transactions and ethically obliged to both the buyer and seller.

Step 2 is signing the acte authentique de vente or final sales agreement, which affects the transfer of title to the buyer. 

This step usually occurs one to three months after Step 1 and must be done by a notaire.

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The role of the notaire

Each party is free to use their own notaire. Doing so does not increase the final cost as the notaires share the fees.

Most of these fees consist of taxes that the notaire remits to the government. 

Despite the theory that the notaire represents both parties, in my experience it is prudent for each party to have their own notaire for the simple reason that two heads usually lead to a better agreement.

The reason for the delay between the two steps is that the notaire needs to get proof from the French administration (Service de la Publicité Foncière) that there are no liens (a legal claim on a piece of property) on the property and proof from the city where the property is located that there are no urban restrictions (Certificat d’urbanisme).

It is possible to skip Step 1 and go directly to Step 2, but that means that neither the seller nor the buyer is protected while waiting for the administration and the city to respond. 

During that waiting period neither the seller nor the buyer knows for certain if the sale will take place. 

The buyer will normally make a deposit into an escrow account at Step 1. 

This will normally be 5% of the purchase price but is negotiable and should be lower if the purchase price is substantial. It should only be paid into the notaire’s account.

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Making a written offer

Real estate agents often like to have some sort of written proof that the potential buyer has agreed to a certain price and will ask the buyer to put the offer in writing. 

The legal status of what the real estate agent calls a written offer is not always clear. 

During the entire process outlined above the French real estate agent will be pushing with varying degrees of pressure to conclude the sale as soon as possible so as to realise their commission. 

One should resist that pressure. It should also be made clear in whatever document is used that the commission is not due until the signing of the final sales agreement. 

The real estate agent’s contract with the client, usually the seller, often does not make that clear.

Article 1583 of the French Civil Code says that a sale takes place when there is agreement on “the price and the thing”. The “thing” is whatever is being purchased. 

Both parties are then legally bound, even though the price has not been paid and the “thing,” i.e. the property, has not been transferred. 

Ronald Sokol is a practising lawyer in Aix-en-Provence www.lexhelp.com. His book on A Young Person’s Guide to Law and Justice, co-authored with his son Daniel, who is a barrister in London, was published on August 28, 2024