The initial agreement

Buying a house in France involves two contracts:

• 'Compromis de Vente' – Preliminary Sales Contract
• 'Acte de Vente' – Final Contract

Once the sale price has been agreed upon between vendor and buyer, the 'Compromis de Vente' is drawn up by the estate agent. The contract should be checked by the notaire to ensure that all the property details are accurate.

Who is the notaire and what is his role?

The notaire is unlike most European solicitors/lawyers in that he is not appointed to act on behalf of either party in the transaction but moreover as a public official whose duty is to the State. His function is to ensure that the transaction is carried out both accurately and legally. The responsibilities of the notary are:

• To check and confirm of any charges affecting the property.
• To ascertain details of title and third party rights to the property.
• To ensure that the property conforms to required standards, including identification by land registry references, zoning restrictions and planning.
• To draw up the 'Acte de Vente' or deed of purchase.
• To collect all fees related to the transaction and forward them to the appropriate local or regional authorities.
• To receive funds for the agreed purchase price and deliver them to the seller.

Completion of the purchase

Having signed the initial purchase contract, the buyer will be required to deposit a sum of 10% of the asking price into a 'blocked account' at the notaire's office. The deposit will remain there until such time as completion of the purchase takes place or the transaction is abandoned. The signed document thereafter becomes legally binding in that failure by the buyer to proceed may result in the deposit being forfeited. At this stage the property is taken off the market.

Once the Compromise de Vente has been signed there follows a period of 45 days during which time the buyer is required to put in place the necessary financing for the purchase. A 'clause suspensive' in the Commpromis de Vente will protect the purchaser's interests in the event of the loan application being turned down by the lender. Should this occur, the sale will not proceed and the deposit will be returned. If however the buyer were to break the contract, the deposit will be paid to the vendor as an indemnity – conversely, should the vendor break the contract, the deposit is returned to the purchaser.

At the end of this period, the final contract or Acte de Vente is signed at the notaire's office. The property thereafter passes to the buyer, who must pay the balance of the purchase price to the notaire, who in turn pays the vendor.

Fees

The buyer must pay the legal fees and registration taxes, which include land registry charges and stamp duty. As a rough guideline, the buyer should expect to pay approximately 10% of the purchase price in the form of additional fees.

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