Jun 232015
 

Our clients tell us, they worried less about the early stages of finding a suitable French Property For Sale and that it was the later stages that caused most concern.  What seems to have caused the most concern for many French Property buyers was the sequence of events once an offer was accepted on a French Property.  We have taken this on-board and detailed some useful information regarding those next steps…..

Once the buyer has chosen their French Property and the offer been made & accepted, the agent will contact the notary involved to arrange for the first contract to be drawn up.  One or two notaries can be involved but it is common for the same notary to be used.

The Notary

Notaries are public officers in France, appointed by the Minister of Justice. As such they are invested with a delegation of public power. The use of a notary is required to conclude a marriage contract, conduct real estate sales (due to the Land Registry), make a will and find a property transfer after death, etc. The rules of ethics applicable to the notary mean they can act alone to represent two parties in a single act, such as the seller and the buyer of a property. However, either party may request their own notary, without increasing the cost of the operation: in fact, the notarial fee is essentially based on the act.  Therefore if two notaries are involved in the implementation of a sale or a mortgage loan, the fee is the same as if there had been one notary and will simply be divided between them.

In Part 2. we shall cover what happens after the agent has contacted the Notary and the drawing-up of The compromis de vente or sous seing privé.

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