French notaires expand their online help
One of the first and most accurate sources of information on the property market is the Notaires de France website notaires.fr which carries useful statistics on sales prices and legal advice on the stages of a property purchase.
While the vast bulk of the site is obviously in French, large parts have also been translated into English, with sections on housing and tax, family life, inheritance, business and community life.
This is found on the notaires.fr/en site and the information includes a list of notaires offering free consultations over a cup of coffee on the first Saturday of the month in the Conseil du Coin. Unfortunately, relatively few notaires take part and you may not find one in your area.
The French site has also been updated and rebuilt with much more information since the 2015 Macron law opened up the profession.
It has several new sections that are modern and interactive. One, at notaviz.notaires.fr, gives help with starting various legal procedures such as property sales but also marriage regimes, starting a business and owning property abroad.
Anyone looking to rent out property without using a rental agent can get help with the site bailmyself.notaires.fr that has a three-stage process with an interactive questionnaire (in French) that prepares a rental contract or bail.
Inheritance can be a tricky situation in France but the monnotaire-masuccession.notaires.fr site has free tools to help estimate fees and decide on legal heirs, and a way to find a notaire directly.
Notaires have up-to-date property prices at immobilier.notaires.frwith a section in English and statistics at immobilier.statistiques.notaires.fr.
Elsewhere, those with a complaint can go to mediateur-notariat.notaires.fr for information.
