Completing on French property
After your offer on a property in France is accepted, the compromis de vente signed and your deposit paid, the countdown to completion begins. The final steps are completed at the notaire’s office. The buyer and seller are expected to be in attendance, however, if you can’t be there, you can appoint a legal representative with a valid Power of Attorney to sign on your behalf.
Finalizing the contract
The period between signing the initial contract, the compromis de vente, and getting the keys is often between two and three months. It varies from property to property. The final step in the process is the formal signing of the Acte de Vente and the handover of keys.
The Acte de Vente is equivalent to the completion stage of purchasing of a property in the UK or US.
Payment and financial transactions
Ahead of signing the final contract, the Acte de Vente, you must ensure the full funds are present in the notaire’s client account at least three days ahead of the date of signing.
The notaire will see that the account is settled, accept their fee, and land registry fees, if not already included in the notaire’s fees. Then, the notaire will publish the sale with the Land Registrar and deposit the fees with the relevant authorities.
Your estate agent will arrange for the transition of the utilities to your name, read the meters on the day of signing and safeguard the keys.
You will receive an “attestation” of purchase which proves you are now the owner of the property. The actual deeds will be sent to you several months after the purchase.
Payments to complete the property transaction
Note that of the two payable property taxes, Taxe d’Habitation and Taxe Foncière, the former is paid by the owner of the property on 1 January so if you are buying a property at any time after this, you will only be liable to start paying this the following year. The Taxe Foncière is paid around October each year for the following year, and this means you will reimburse the seller from the day you buy the property. The notaire will handle this and give you a final account for your file.
There are several costs that are collectively referred to as notary fees or frais de notaire. These costs include[i]:
- change of ownership fee (frais de mutation)
- charges of mortgage security (frais de garantie)
- land registry fees (droits d’enregistrement)
- fees for various formalities and certain acts
The notaire fees are always paid by the buyer in France.
If buying a new-build property in France, VAT is levied at 20% of the purchase price, but this should have bene included in the price when you agreed to buy. Existing properties over five years are not subject to VAT.
[i] https://www.globalpropertyguide.com/europe/france/buying-guide