The 47 steps of buying property in France

A home used a few weeks a year is not chosen like a home you will live in: a caretaker, easy upkeep, security and access matter more. The use also drives how you buy, the insurance, the local taxes and what happens to the home while you are away. Written in one sentence, it stops you viewing homes that will not serve your life.

• Write in one sentence who the home is for, how many weeks a year, and for how many years.
• Note what would rule a home out for that use: a home empty in winter does not need what a lived-in home needs.
• Think ahead: a pied-à-terre today may become your home, or your children’s.

Start from what you can spend in total, then take off the costs to find your maximum price. For an existing home, so-called notary costs come to around 7 to 8% of the price, mostly taxes; for a new build, around 2 to 3%. Even a light refresh quickly runs into tens of thousands of euros: keep a margin, and have it confirmed by a tradesman or an architect as soon as a home appeals to you.

• Work out your maximum price from the total spend, never the other way round.
• Keep a margin for the unexpected: works, furniture, bank costs.
• Estimate your notary costs département by département with the Home Select calculator.

Estimate your notary costs

From the search to the keys, a purchase from abroad often takes six to twelve months. Allow about three months between the preliminary contract and the deed: they include the ten-day cooling-off period and the loan condition, usually 45 to 60 days. One well-prepared trip can be enough for the decisive viewings, and the signing can be done remotely, with a power of attorney. Note now the periods when you will be in France: the timeline is built around them.

• Set aside a few days in France for the decisive viewings, on a single trip.
• Allow about three months between the preliminary contract and the deed before setting a moving-in date.
• Prepare the power of attorney early, so you can sign even if you cannot come.

In your own name, the home is yours alone. As an unmarried couple, joint ownership applies by default; a tontine clause or an SCI (a French property company) can protect the survivor. An SCI makes passing on and shared management easier, but it has a cost and does not suit every nationality. Married abroad, your marital regime matters too: the notary will ask for it.

• Decide in whose name the home will be bought before writing the offer.
• Married outside France? Have your marriage certificate ready and, if there is one, your marriage contract.
• Get advice on both sides of the border before setting up an SCI.

Foreign marital regime and civil statusThe family property company

An owner living outside France is taxed in France on the property: property tax every year, council tax on a second home, which many cities increase, and real estate wealth tax if net French property assets exceed €1.3m. On resale, the gain is taxed in France, with allowances that grow with the length of ownership. Tax treaties prevent paying twice, provided you declare on both sides.

• Ask for the property tax amount before the offer: it is on the seller’s tax notice.
• Check whether the city increases council tax on second homes.
• Review your position with a tax adviser if you declare in two countries.

Estimate a capital gainReading your tax treaty

A ski resort lives in winter, a seaside town in summer: a pied-à-terre is also chosen for the season you will be there. Look at the real journey from home, door to door, life in the area out of season, and the projects that may change the street: a tramway, building works, a pedestrian street. Prices vary widely from one area to the next: compare them on actual sales, not on listings.

• Measure the door-to-door journey from home, airport or station included.
• Spend an evening and a morning in the area, out of season if possible.
• Compare actual sale prices area by area, not listing prices.

The best briefs fit in five essential criteria, not twenty. The rest becomes a wish list, which decides between two homes without ruling out a good one. Note your firm no’s too, ground floor, overlooked, noise, heavy works: they sort faster than wishes.

• Limit yourself to five essential criteria.
• Note your firm no’s: they rule out faster than your wishes.
• Rank your wishes: they decide between two homes without ruling out a good one.

An estate agent is instructed and paid by the seller; a buyer’s agent is instructed and paid by the buyer, and has no property to sell off. Home Select never takes a sale mandate: no conflict of interest. Fees are 2.5% incl. VAT of the net seller price with the Exclusive offer, minimum €10,000 incl. VAT, or 1.5% incl. VAT with the Confidential offer, reserved for projects of €2m and above, plus 10% of the negotiated reduction in both cases: Home Select is also paid on what you save. Nothing is due before the deed is signed.

• Ask who the professional works for: the seller or you.
• Have the fees set out in writing, and when they are due.
• Check that the mandate has a limited term and can be ended at any time.

See the feesSee the method

The 35% rule applies to everyone: it is the maximum share of your income spent on loans, insurance included. A buyer living abroad often has to put down 20 to 30% of the price, sometimes more depending on the currency of their income. Foreign-currency income, bonuses and self-employed income are read cautiously: an early review avoids discovering the limit at the time of the offer.

• Gather three months of payslips and your last two tax notices.
• List your current loans, anywhere in the world: the bank will see them.
• Have your capacity confirmed before making an offer.

A non-resident’s borrowing capacity

Few French banks lend to non-residents, and each has its rules: accepted countries, income currency, deposit, borrower insurance. A broker knows which ones say yes and negotiates the rate, the insurance and the early repayment terms; in principle they are paid only if the loan goes through. In France, the rate is usually fixed for the whole term.

• Ask for a financing certificate before making an offer.
• Compare the total cost of the loan, insurance included, not just the rate.
• Check early repayment penalties if you think you may sell.

The non-resident mortgage

A bank that lends to you will almost always want the account with them. Without a loan, a French account is still useful for service charge, energy and tax direct debits. The documents asked for are close to a loan’s: identity, address, income, origin of funds. US citizens, subject to FATCA reporting, are often turned down: better to aim straight away for a bank that accepts them.

• Start opening it during the search: it often takes several weeks.
• Have your passport, a recent proof of address, proof of income and your foreign tax number ready.
• US citizen? Aim for a bank used to FATCA reporting.

Opening a French bank account

On these amounts, banks often take a much wider exchange margin than a specialist, who works close to the market rate. A forward contract fixes today the rate for the day of the deed: a fall in your currency no longer affects you. The funds then go from an account in your name to the notary’s account, never through a third party.

• Open an account with a currency specialist during the search.
• Consider locking in the rate once the preliminary contract is signed.
• Never transfer from a third party’s account: the notary would refuse the funds.

Transferring currencyLocking in your exchange rate

Expect a valid identity document, a recent birth certificate, your marriage or civil partnership certificate, your latest payslips, your tax notices and your bank statements. The notary is required to check the origin of funds: savings, sale of a property, gift or inheritance, every sum must be traceable. Foreign documents may have to be translated by a sworn translator, and sometimes apostilled.

• Keep proof of the path of every sum up to the account that will pay.
• Order a recent birth certificate: the notary often wants it less than three months old.
• Have foreign documents translated early, without waiting for the signing.

Proving the source of funds

The most sought-after homes sometimes go before they are published: discreet owners, estates, sales between professionals. They circulate in networks of agents, notaries and building managers. Home Select is present there every day: 15% of the homes bought by its clients were found off-market, and 25% above €2m.

• Set up broad alerts rather than overly precise ones: listings are often poorly filled in.
• Tell local agencies what you are looking for, budget and timing included.
• Act fast: a good home at the right price goes within days.

The off-marketWhere off-market properties come from

A listing is read with suspicion: no Carrez floor area, no energy rating, the floor left out, a wide-angle photo. One call to the agent is often enough to rule a home out: service charges, voted works, reason for the sale, offers already received. This prior sorting divides the number of viewings.

• Insist on the Carrez floor area and the energy rating before any viewing.
• Ask why the home is for sale, and since when.
• Be wary of a low price with no explanation.

Sales recorded by the tax authorities are public: they give the price actually paid, the address and the size. An apartment is compared within the same building or street, with a comparable floor, condition and outdoor space. A gap with the market is either justified or negotiated.

• Compare with the price per square metre of recent sales in the same street.
• Adjust the comparison for floor, condition and outdoor space.
• Note how long the home has been on sale: time works for you.

Valuing a property with no comparable

The local planning scheme says what can be built around; the risk report flags flooding, clay shrinkage or airport noise. A building’s condition shows in its façade, its roof and its common areas. A building project opposite can take away the view that made the price.

• Check the risk report for the address before viewing.
• See what the planning scheme allows on the neighbouring plots.
• Walk down the street at the time you will be there most often.

A shortlist that is too long wears you out and makes you miss the right home; too short, it forces you to start again. Rank the shortlisted homes against your essential criteria, then your wishes. A home that ticks every box but needs heavy works deserves an estimate before the viewing.

• Keep three to five homes at most for one trip.
• Rank them on your essential criteria, then on your wishes.
• Rule a home out as soon as an essential criterion is missing.

A useful video is shot without editing: from the street to the door, then room by room, windows open, cupboards and common areas included. The questions that matter are asked during the viewing: service charges, works, heating, neighbours. A good pre-viewing is often enough to rule a home out, or to decide to come.

• Ask for a continuous, unedited video, from the street to every room.
• Have the windows opened to hear the street.
• Note your questions during the video, not after.

Two viewings per half-day leave time to go back to a home at another hour. Plan a second viewing of the home you like most, with a technical eye if works are expected. Keep some leeway to sign an offer on the spot: a good home will not wait for your next trip.

• Plan two viewings per half-day at most.
• Keep time for a second viewing of your favourite.
• Come with your financing certificate: you will be able to make an offer on the spot.

Look first at what is expensive to fix: roof, façade, windows, heating, wiring, signs of damp. Listen to the building: neighbours, lift, street. Score each home on the same checklist, right after the viewing: by the third, memories blur.

• Score each home on the same checklist, right after the viewing.
• Look first at what is expensive: roof, windows, heating, wiring.
• Go back to your favourite at another time of day.

The energy performance certificate rates the home from A to G: a poor grade signals works and weighs on the value. In a co-ownership building, the last three general meeting minutes reveal voted or upcoming works, arrears and disputes; the pre-sale statement gives the service charges and the works fund. Before the offer, also check easements, any tenant already in place and the planning rules. Works voted before the preliminary contract are in principle paid by the seller: have it written down in black and white.

• Ask for the last three general meeting minutes before the offer.
• Look at the energy grade, and what it would take to improve it.
• Have it specified who pays for works already voted.

Checking the co-ownership before buying

In France, a pre-purchase inspection is not customary: it is up to the buyer to ask for one. An independent building surveyor visits the home and hands over a written report, structure, damp, roof, services, with an order of cost for repairs. For a renovation, an architect or a contractor draws up an itemised quote. Allow one to two weeks: ask as soon as the home makes the shortlist.

• Have the works costed by a professional before setting your price.
• Ask for a written report, with an order of cost per item.
• Use the estimate to negotiate, with the document in hand.

The renovation budget

The target price starts from comparable sales, adjusted for condition, floor, outdoor space and estimated works. The limit is set in cold blood, in writing: it is what protects you from a crush during the negotiation. Time on the market, the seller’s urgency and the presence of other buyers tell you which margin is realistic.

• Write down your ceiling price before making the offer, and stick to it.
• Back every argument with a fact: a comparable sale, a quote, a survey.
• Ask how long the home has been on sale, and whether there are other offers.

A written and accepted offer amounts to agreement on the home and the price: it must therefore be precise. State the loan condition, with its amount, term and maximum rate, how long the offer is valid, a few days most often, and the furniture included. No payment can be asked of you at this stage. A complete, financed offer stands up better than a higher but fragile one.

• Spell out the loan condition: amount, term and maximum rate.
• Limit the offer’s validity to a few days.
• Pay nothing with the offer: the law forbids it.

A negotiation is won on facts: comparable sales, works quotes, defects found in the surveys, time on the market. The terms count as much as the price: a signing date that suits the seller, or an offer without a loan condition, can be worth several points. Always keep one argument for the last answer.

• Let a third party negotiate: they keep a cool head, and you keep time to think.
• Negotiate the date, the furniture and the works too, not just the price.
• Never reveal your ceiling price.

Negotiating from abroad

A written acceptance, dated and signed by all the sellers, closes the negotiation. The notaries then need both parties’ documents and the property’s documents: the readier the file, the faster the preliminary contract is signed, often within two to three weeks. Every day gained reduces the risk of a change of heart.

• Have the acceptance signed by all the sellers, not just one of them.
• Send your documents to the notaries on the day of the agreement.
• Set the date of the preliminary contract as soon as the offer is accepted.

From offer to deed: the timeline

In France, the sale is signed before a notary, a public officer: they check the title, the planning position, the mortgages and the origin of funds, and collect the taxes. The seller often has their own; the buyer can choose another, who defends the buyer’s interests, at no extra cost. A notary who speaks your language and knows your law makes the power of attorney, the marital regime and the estate easier.

• Choose your notary as soon as the agreement is reached, before the preliminary contract is drafted.
• Ask whether they are used to buyers from your country.
• Have the draft preliminary contract sent to you several days before the signing.

A notary who speaks your language

The loan condition must repeat the amount, term and rate of your financing, with a realistic deadline to obtain the bank’s offer. Other conditions can be added: planning permission, sale of another property, no troublesome easement. Check the deadline for the deed, the penalties provided for and the list of furniture sold with the home.

• Check that the loan condition matches your financing exactly.
• Have the conditions specific to your project added.
• Go through the list of appendices: surveys, building rules, minutes.

Remote electronic signing is now common for the preliminary contract. A power of attorney can also be signed before a notary in your country, with an apostille under the conventions, or received remotely by a French notary, by video call. Allow a few days to a few weeks depending on the country: prepare it as soon as the agreement is reached.

• Ask the notary which form of power of attorney they accept.
• Check whether your country issues the apostille, and how long it takes.
• Prepare the power of attorney as soon as the agreement is reached, not the day before the signing.

Signing without coming to France

The deposit is placed in the notary’s escrow account, never with the seller, and is deducted from the price on the day of the deed. If the loan is refused or another condition precedent fails, it is returned to you. If you withdraw for a reason the preliminary contract does not provide for, after the cooling-off period, the seller may keep it.

• Negotiate a deposit closer to 5% than to 10%.
• Confirm the notary’s bank details by phone, on a number you found yourself.
• Transfer from an account in your name.

The notary’s escrow

The ten-day cooling-off period protects the buyer of a home: it runs from the day after the signed preliminary contract is handed over or notified. You can withdraw by registered letter or electronically, without justification, and the deposit is returned to you. After this period, only the conditions precedent let you withdraw without losing the deposit.

• Note the end date of the period as soon as you sign.
• Use these ten days to chase the bank and the broker.
• Reread calmly the appendices you did not have time to read.

The loan condition sets a deadline, often 45 to 60 days: submit your applications in the days after the preliminary contract, as the clock is already running. Borrower insurance must be chosen and accepted before the bank issues its offer; it can be taken out elsewhere than at the bank, often for less. The offer stays valid for thirty days, and the law imposes ten days of reflection: you can accept it only from the eleventh day after receiving it.

• Submit your loan applications within a week of the preliminary contract.
• Warn the notary at the slightest delay from the bank.
• Compare the bank’s insurance with an outside policy.

The town has two months to exercise its pre-emption right: it is rare, but the sale waits for its answer. The notary obtains the mortgage search, the planning documents and the managing agent’s final statement, which settles the service charges and sums due. One missing document can push back the deed: regular follow-up avoids last-minute surprises.

• Ask the notary for the list of documents still awaited.
• Fix the deed date early around your travel.
• Answer every request quickly: every day counts.

The pre-emption right

The insurance must be in force from the day of the deed: the lender requires it when there is a loan, and the law requires every owner in a co-ownership building to hold liability insurance. Comprehensive home insurance also covers water damage, fire, theft and your belongings. The cover must match the home’s real use, lived in, empty part of the year or let: declare it, as policies sometimes limit cover when a home stays empty for a long time.

• Declare your real use: main home, second home, long absences.
• Have the policy start on the day of the deed.
• Check the cover for theft and water damage while you are away.

Insuring a property from abroad

Nothing should change between the preliminary contract and the deed, but damage can happen: water damage, appliances taken away, bulky items left behind. Check the heating, the hot water, the shutters, the keys and the fobs. A discrepancy found before the deed is settled before signing; afterwards, it becomes a dispute.

• Visit the home two or three days before the deed.
• Test the heating, hot water, shutters and appliances sold.
• Report any discrepancy to the notary before the signing.

The statement details the price, the buying costs, the share of property tax refunded to the seller, any loan costs and the exact balance to transfer. The draft deed repeats the terms of the preliminary contract: every difference must have a reason. Ask for these documents at least a week before: a deed reread the day before is a deed badly reread.

• Ask for the draft deed and the statement a week before the signing.
• Compare the deed with the preliminary contract, clause by clause.
• Check the exact amount to transfer, to the cent.

The notary signs only once the funds have arrived and been identified: allow several working days for a transfer from abroad. The money must come from an account in your name, with the proof of origin already sent. Be wary of any email that changes the bank details: call the notary’s office on a number you found yourself.

• Transfer the balance a week before the deed if your funds come from abroad.
• Confirm the notary’s details by phone before any transfer.
• Keep proof of the transfer and of the origin of funds.

Thwarting transfer fraud

The deed is signed at the notary’s, remotely when the notary offers it, or by a clerk holding your power of attorney; Home Select’s fees are due only at that point. The notary then registers the sale with the land registry and gives you a certificate of ownership. Keep it, with the final completion statement and the documents handed over: manuals, meter readings.

• Read the meters with the seller at the handover of the keys.
• Collect fobs, codes, manuals and the maintenance log.
• Keep the certificate of ownership: insurers and suppliers will ask for it.

The title deed after signing

Works that affect the common parts or the outside appearance need the approval of the building’s general meeting; a façade or an extension, a declaration at the town hall. Compare at least two detailed, itemised quotes, and check the contractors’ ten-year liability insurance. A weekly photo report is enough to follow a site from afar.

• Check the approvals needed before signing a quote.
• Insist on each contractor’s ten-year liability insurance certificate.
• Ask for a photo report every week.

Following works from abroad

Deliveries need someone on site, often over wide time slots. An international move is planned two to three months ahead, with an inventory and, outside the European Union, customs formalities. An interior designer can design, order and have everything installed, for a turnkey arrival.

• Plan an international move two to three months ahead.
• Group deliveries over a few days, with someone on site.
• Keep the invoices: they matter for the insurance.

Moving to France

Read the meters with the seller on the day of the deed and send the readings to the suppliers. Fibre installation can require a technician’s visit several weeks after ordering. For a home often empty, think of frost-protection heating and an alarm.

• Order internet as soon as the deed date is known.
• Read the meters with the seller at the handover of the keys.
• For a home often empty, plan frost-protection heating.

Internet at the property

Water damage discovered after three months costs far more than damage seen the same day. Regular visits, airing and heating checks protect the home, and your insurance. Arrange for someone who can let in a tradesman, an assessor or a delivery, with a spare set of keys and codes.

• Leave a spare set of keys with someone reachable.
• Plan a check visit at least once a month.
• Organise the opening and closing of each season.

The Home Select concierge serviceThe inspection visit with a photo report

Since 2023, every owner declares on the tax website who occupies the home, then reports each change before 1 July. Property tax is due from whoever owns the home on 1 January; council tax is still due on a second home, and many cities increase it. An owner living abroad who receives income in France declares it in France every year.

• Create your account on the tax website as soon as the deed is signed.
• Declare the occupation of the home, then any change before 1 July.
• Pay property tax by direct debit from your French account.

The occupancy declarationLocal taxes

Europeans and the Swiss move freely. Other nationalities count their days: 90 days in any 180-day period in the Schengen area, with or without a visa depending on the passport. Beyond 183 days a year in France, or if your household settles there, you may become a French tax resident.

• Keep count of your days in the Schengen area.
• Apply for a long-stay visa before leaving if you want to stay more than 90 days.
• Check how your stays affect your tax residence.

Closing and reopening the house each season

The building’s general meeting votes the budget and the works every year: you can vote by post, by video call when the managing agent offers it, or give a proxy. Boiler servicing is yearly, and so is flue sweeping. Major building works are often announced years in advance: read every set of minutes.

• Vote at every general meeting, by post if need be.
• Have the boiler and flues serviced every year.
• Set money aside for building works already announced.

The general meeting from abroad

French law reserves part of the estate for the children. For an international estate, the applicable law is in principle that of your last habitual residence, but a will can choose the law of your nationality. Inheritance tax on a home located in France is due in France, subject to the treaties: a gift of the bare ownership or an SCI can lighten the bill. On resale, the gain is taxed in France, with allowances that grow with the length of ownership: it is exempt from income tax after 22 years, and from social charges after 30 years.

• Write a will that takes the home in France into account.
• Ask which law will apply to your estate.
• Look into a gift of the bare ownership with a notary.

Succession and transfer