Buying in France from abroad
A listed property is judged by comparison: other listings, time on the market, a history of price cuts. On a confidential property none of that exists, and it is the real counterpart of off-market access. This dossier gives the replacement method, which holds without a single listing.
By Jean Mascla, founder of Home Select Updated · 6 min read
On a publicly listed property, the price is judged by comparison: other listings, a time on market, a history of reductions. On a confidential property, none of that exists, and that is the real trade-off of off-market access.
Since 2019 the tax administration has published, as open data, the property value declarations database, fed by notarised deeds and updated twice a year. For each transfer for value it gives the address, the date, the price, the floor area and the type of property. It is the only public source that says what was paid.
On a property with no listing, it is read at three successive scales. The building first: a unit sold eighteen months ago on the same staircase is the strongest comparable that exists. The street next, over three years, setting aside floor areas far from the one that interests you. The district last, for the trend, never for the point.
Two limits apply and they should be known. The database covers neither Alsace-Moselle nor Mayotte, which fall under a separate land registration regime. And it ignores the property’s condition: two flats at the same address can differ by thirty per cent depending on floor level, aspect and works.
A price per square metre drawn from the database is an average. It is corrected, and each correction should rest on a document rather than an impression.
The quarterly indexes of the notaries and of the national statistics institute say which way the market is going, not what a property is worth. They serve one precise and useful purpose: updating an old comparable. A unit sold twenty months earlier in the same building remains the best starting point, provided it is placed within the segment’s movement since that date.
They also answer a frequent seller’s argument, that of a price fixed on the memory of a higher market. A public series puts a figure against a conviction, and that is all it is asked to do.
Beaulieu-sur-Mer, Côte d’Azur
Two third parties value without being party to the transaction, and their opinion arrives before signature.
The lender first. A bank financing an acquisition has the property valued, and it lends on the basis of its own valuation. A costing below the agreed price forces you to fill the gap with a larger deposit or to renegotiate; either way, the information is free and it arrives in time. It is often the only quantified counterweight a buyer has on a property with no comparable, and one more reason to have processed financing before the first viewing.
The property valuer next, for atypical properties: a townhouse, an open floor, a prestige property, an address with no series of comparable sales. They give a reasoned opinion of value, with their method and comparables, which can be used in a negotiation. On a standard flat in a building that has seen several recent sales, the expense is not justified.
It changes neither the seller’s obligations nor the statutory deadlines. The technical survey file, the co-ownership documents and the ten days of withdrawal apply identically, as our page on the deadlines from offer to deed recalls. Nor does it excuse checking that the property really is off-market, which our checklist for spotting a fake off-market sets out: a property listed elsewhere for six months has, for its part, every comparable in the world.
Home Select searches and negotiates for the buyer, and for the buyer alone. Your property finder checks the property, the building’s documents and the calendar before you commit, and flags what deserves a question to the notaire or a clause in the offer.
Around the purchase, we introduce the partners used to buyers who live abroad: bilingual notaire, mortgage broker, lawyer, sworn translator. Each acts under their own responsibility; we keep the calendar, from the offer to the handing over of the keys.
The property value declarations database, published as open data by the tax administration since 2019 and updated twice a year, from notarised deeds. It gives the address, the date, the price, the floor area and the type of property for each transfer for value. It covers neither Alsace-Moselle nor Mayotte, which fall under a separate land registration regime, and it says nothing about the property’s condition.
The bank lends on the basis of its own valuation, not the seller’s: the gap then has to be filled by a larger deposit, or the price renegotiated. It is valuable information, obtained free and before the deed, and it is often the only quantified counterweight a buyer has on a property with no public comparable. The mortgage condition precedent protects a buyer who fails to obtain financing.
On an atypical property, a prestige property or one whose price attaches to no series, yes: a property valuer gives a reasoned opinion of value, with their method and comparables, which can be used in a negotiation and before a bank. On a standard flat in a building where several units have sold recently, the property value database is usually enough.
A price per square metre drawn from the database is an average. It is corrected, and each correction should rest on a document rather than an impression.
The quarterly indexes of the notaries and of the national statistics institute say which way the market is going, not what a property is worth. They serve one precise and useful purpose: updating an old comparable. A unit sold twenty months earlier in the same building remains the best starting point, provided it is placed within the segment’s movement since that date.
It changes neither the seller’s obligations nor the statutory deadlines. The technical survey file, the co-ownership documents and the ten days of withdrawal apply identically, as our page on the deadlines from offer to deed recalls. Nor does it excuse checking that the property really is off-market, which our checklist for spotting a fake off-market sets out: a property listed elsewhere for six months has, for its part, every comparable in the world.
Further reading
From the Home Select magazine
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