O Processo de Compra e Contratos

So you found a villa you like and you want to make an offer. First, read this guide on how to determine a villa’s market value, so you know what price to offer. Your offer price should be based on the current market value of the villa — not the seller’s asking price.

Second, make sure that you’ve read all our guides and have collected the diagnostics reports, checked on the zoning, and done all the other things we recommended.

Once you’re sure you’ve been thorough, and you’re ready to make an offer, here’s how to do it:

Calculate the Price for Your Offer

Here’s a step-by-step guide: how to determine what your initial offer should be.

Remember: All the prices you see advertised have one thing in common: so far, no-one has agreed to pay that price. Don’t believe agents when they say that other people have been interested at high prices.

Agents are usually mandated by their corporate agency not to let buyers submit ‘market value’ offers (in an effort to manipulate market prices and because they could be making steady income off it by facilitating vacation rentals). Expect that agents will lie to discourage you from submitting an offer much lower than asking. Your offer should ideally go directly to the owner (via a sealed letter in their mailbox), or otherwise go through a notaire — one you chose, not one the agent recommended — but know that once the agent gets the offer from the notaire, they may simply not give it to the owner.

Observação: If the seller won’t accept the m² price you think it’s actually worth (and you heard this directly from the seller), then you can wait and keep looking. If it’s overpriced, chances are good that it won’t sell — and eventually they will take a market-value offer privately.

Get the Survey Reports

Há uma série de pesquisas que o vendedor é legalmente obrigado a lhe fornecer (se não o fizer, você poderá processá-lo mais tarde). Eles não são de forma alguma exaustivos, e alguns topógrafos são corruptos e mentirão em benefício do agente ou notário, por isso é importante fazer também a sua própria inspeção (antes você assina o contrato.)

O diagnóstico fornecido pelo vendedor precisa ser recente (aqui estão os detalhes). Aqui está um guia para relatórios de diagnóstico e outro guia. The seller isn’t obliged to fix defects; as the purchaser, you will be expected to pay to fix them. The obligation on the seller is simply to provide the full reports. If he/she does not do so, they remain fully responsible for defects relating to these specific matters. Actually getting them to pay up is another matter…

Make sure to also get the certificado de planejamento urbano, so you’ll have a rough idea of what can be done with the property.

Leia nosso guia de coisas importantes para descobrir for more details about the reports.

Before You Put it in Writing

There are a few things you should do before making your offer. First, visit the local town hall (‘Mairie’) and ask about the property and the neighbors, etc. Find out if any neighboring lots have building permission, and what the natural risks are, check the property’s planning permission history to see if anything was done without permits, etc. Make sure to get a certificado de urbanismo from the Mairie.

Then, contratar um 'Expert de Batiment' certificado pelo CERTIBAT to inspect the villa and point out any areas for concern (like non-obvious structural problems, etc.) Your seller would not have to disclose any structural defects affecting the property that you will take in the condition in which it stands – although he is not entitled to actually hide them. This means that if, after signing a contract, you discover structural or other defects to the property or its services, you are still obliged to complete the purchase at the agreed price and cannot obtain compensation from your seller. It is, therefore, important to commission the inspection antes you sign the contract.

Em seguida, envie um e-mail ao agente para encaminhar ao vendedor, Perguntando o vendedor se eles querem se importar quaisquer problemas não divulgados com a propriedade que não foram visíveis durante a visita, como inundações recorrentes no porão, disputas com vizinhos ou quaisquer outros problemas de terceiros. Certifique-se de receber uma resposta por escrito por e-mail. Será útil ter isso por escrito caso haja quaisquer disputas legais decorrentes de problemas não declarados.

Then, double-check all the other potential issues outlined here (internet connection, radon, zoning, etc.), then once you’re satisfied, submit an official offer via a notaire. To lower the notaire fees, you can specify part of the sale price as a payment for furniture.

Money-saving tip: You can lower your notaire fees (que se baseiam apenas no preço da villa vazia), separando as taxas do agente do preço de venda e pagando-as você mesmo (o notário irá reter o dinheiro e transferi-lo para a agência assim que a venda for concluída). Você também pode separar cerca de 3% (não ultrapasse 2-3% ou arriscará uma auditoria) do total para cozinha, banheiro, luminárias, móveis, etc.

Negociando

A dura verdade é que alguns vendedores simplesmente não levam a sério. Eles listaram sua villa apenas para ver se algum otário pagará muito mais do que vale. Dito isto, é difícil saber quais são sérios e quais não são até que você faça uma oferta.

Para baixar o preço de um imóvel, alguns compradores estratégicos fazem com que amigos visitem o imóvel e façam ofertas abaixo do mercado para comprá-lo. Então, se essas ofertas baixas forem rejeitadas, eles fazem uma oferta próxima do valor de mercado, que o vendedor muitas vezes aceita.

How to Choose a Notaire

A notaire is basically a property lawyer / tax collector who advises their clients, does the paperwork for the deal, and collects the government taxes. Make sure to get your own notaire — do not use the seller’s or your agent’s, and choose wisely. Expect to add roughly 7% to the final price in taxes and fees.

Start hunting for a notaire well before you’ve found your ideal property, as finding a good one can take time. You’ll need to contact several notaires, as some will try to scam / lie / overcharge you. There is very little accountability in this field. Don’t use the one recommended by the agent or seller.

Despite what some dishonest notaires may tell you, the notaires know (and you too, now), that the laws changed as of 2021 and now the new maximum fees are 0.799% and they are allowed to give a 20% discount sobre suas taxas (incluindo a sobretaxa de hipoteca) para imóveis acima de € 100.000 em preço de venda.

Make sure to get a specific breakdown of all the taxes and fees ahead of time. Due to a lack of accountability, many notaires will (illegally!) try to overcharge you. So make sure, if they agree to give you the 20% discount, that their fee (not including the taxes) is not more than 0.6392% of the sale price for the portion over €60,000 (which is 0.799% minus the 20% allowable discount) e que eles não estão cobrando nenhuma taxa extra indevida (como taxas de tradução) — o restante do que você pagará deve ser destinado aos impostos do governo.

Here’s more info about France’s notaires and here’s how much you should budget to give the notaire (put 06 in the department field; note that this calculation does not take into account the 20% fee discount). To calculate what the notaire will / should charge you for their fee, pull up your calculator and put in the sale price, minus €60,000 (the fees for the amount under €60,000 are stupidly complicated), then times (x) that by 0.006392 (for example, the notaire fees on a €2 million property, you’ll need to pay the notaire €12,400 + the fees for the amount under €60,000, which come to €878, for a grand total of €13,278).

Remember: You are nunca obligated to finish a transaction with a particular notaire, and they are not legally allowed to bill you for partial work no matter what they threaten to scare you into keeping them as your notaire (they are only paid upon you fully completing the sale with them). If they are dishonest or try to overcharge, then give them a bad online review to warn others, report them to chambre.alpesmaritimes@notaires.fr, and go to a different notaire.

Recurso Limitado: É importante obter uma segunda opinião e não confiar no seu notiare. Eis o porquê: os notários são uma indústria auto-regulada. Disputas entre notários e compradores chegam a um processo de 'mediação', dirigido pelos notários (se é que se chega a esse ponto, o que acontece com menos de metade das reclamações). Como você pode imaginar, o mediador é escolhido – e leal a – pelos notários. O que é pior é que não há obrigação de o notário participar na mediação muitos não. Esta total falta de responsabilização incentiva os notários a mentir e omitir informações para fechar a venda e receber a comissão.

Por isso, recomendamos que você contrate um advogado imobiliário para verificar eventuais contratos e ajudar a supervisionar a transação. Na França, um advogado imobiliário é normalmente chamado de “advogado no direito immobilier“. Esse tipo de advogado é especializado em leis relativas a transações imobiliárias, uso de terras e outros assuntos relacionados. Eles podem fornecer aconselhamento jurídico, revisar contratos e representá-lo em disputas.

Scam Warning: Hackers have been sending emails from notaires email accounts, with the correct € amount owed, but the hacker’s bank account details, for the deposits. Always verify the bank details by phone if you’re going to pay via wire.

Buying in the Black

This only applies if you’re buying directly from the seller, since agents won’t let you get in touch with sellers directly.

Beware of getting involved in ‘paying on the black’. This is where a seller might want you to pay them part of the price in cash directly in order to conceal part of the price from the notaire. This almost never happens (after all, it’s tax evasion), but it’s worth mentioning. This can help the seller reduce liability to capital gains tax while also reducing a buyer’s notaire fees, however, it is also illegal and can lead to serious problems for you:

• There are practical difficulties in paying the money and few safeguards — your money could easily be stolen.
• The tax authorities may dispute the price if they think it is too low and demand taxes relative to a higher price.
• If the property is a holiday home you are liable to capital gains tax on resale (which is far higher than the tax you pay when you buy). The purchase price upon which the gain is calculated would be lower: so the gain is higher, meaning you’ll pay quite a lot more in the long run.
• If authorities think there has been an attempt to avoid duty, they will impose penalties, which are payable by the buyer.
• It is tax evasion and carries the penalties that come with it.

The Official Offer

Depois de visitar a Mairie para perguntar sobre a propriedade e a área ao redor, e você souber o máximo possível sobre a área e a propriedade, você pode fazer uma oferta oficial (chamada de 'compromis de vente'). Um notário vai ajudar você com isso — mas lembre-se: os interesses do notário não estão alinhados com os seus (porque eles são pagos por comissão, e somente se a venda for concluída).

Make sure not to use the owner’s notaire, as they might advise the owner to wait for a higher offer (since they would make more money), or neglect to show the owner your offer. If you have your own notaire, he/she is more likely to follow up, as it’s the only way he/she will get paid.

We advise that you also personally give a copy of your offer directly to the owner (you can leave it in their mailbox in a sealed envelope with the owner’s surname on it, ask neighbors if they know how to reach the owner, or request the owners contact info from the Mairie) as the notaire will give your offer to the agent, who may just pretend that they showed the seller (yes, it’s illegal, but they still often do it) if their agency has told them not to accept market-value offers.

Include an explanation of the offer price (start with a list of similar villas that have sold nearby with Google Earth screenshots, then the factors that led you to that m² price, and –optionally– the market trajectory).

Do not rely on verbal assurances or imprecise legal drafting.

It’s normal to attach lots of conditions (‘suspensives’) in the contract so you can get out of the sale if needed. Make sure your contract includes all of these clauses that let you back out:

• if the valuation comes back lower than your offer,
• if you fail to get a mortgage,
• if the survey shows that the villa or land size is smaller than _____ (habitable m² of the villa) and ______ (land size),
• if there are adverse planning restrictions or third party rights which might materially affect your enjoyment of the property,
• if there are any adverse easements (‘servitudes’) on the property (the contract should state that there are no easements, according to the seller),
• if there are existing mortgages affecting the property,
• if the results of a structural survey from a qualified surveyor (‘Expert de Batiment’) show any issues,
• if you can’t get the planning permissions you need (to build a pool, or for an extension, etc.),
• if there are claims upon the property by the local authority or the French State.

Many listings show inaccurate building and land sizes, so it’s important to verify both using an independent survey before buying. Make your offer conditional on the results of the surveys you’re going to perform, and negotiate the price down if the listing said it was larger than it actually is.

Conditional clauses concerning ‘sale subject to planning consent’ need careful drafting, not only in relation to the planning conditions that may be imposed, but also to a possible later legal challenge to a planning permission.

If contents are to be included in the sale (the kitchen and bathrooms count in this), an inventory (‘inventaire’) should be attached and a separate price allocated.

It is also possible for a penalty clause to be included in the contract to the benefit of the buyer so that, if the seller withdraws from the sale, they are liable to compensate the buyer. Make sure to also include a clause that states all the funds will not be released to the seller until you have obtained vacant possession.

Aqui estão mais detalhes sobre what to look out for in the official offer contract.

Contract Warnings

Always remember that the notaires work for themselves, not for you. Your notarie wants the sale to go through (so they get paid), and will tailor the contract for that, limiting your rights. It’s advisable to get an independent third-party to look over the contract before you sign.

SCI warning: Since the cooling off period only applies to offers made by a person and not a company, if you want to own the house using a company or a SCI, then you’ll need to make sure that your offer contract states that you can, at a later date, transfer the sale into a SCI / company name.

The Mortgage Clause: Make sure that your offer contract has a clause that lets you pull out if you can’t get a mortgage for the full offer price of the property. For example, your offer might be €1 million, but the bank might appraise the villa at €700,000, and offer you a mortgage only on that. Your contract needs to say that you can pull out if you can’t get a mortgage for €1 million, specifically.

Your real estate agent or notaire might tell you that this clause can get you out of the deal easily, in order to make you feel more confident putting in an official offer. In reality, you cannot simply call your bank and expect a refusal to benefit from this clause. You would have to prove that you have reasonably tried to get a mortgage and got several complete refusals from banks, within the time-frame allotted in the contract.

Even if by some oversight this clause is not included, provided the agreement does not expressly state that the property is being purchased without a mortgage, the law grants a presumption that a mortgage is being obtained. But it’s much safer to make sure this clause is included, and written clearly.

Make sure the clause includes the length of time during which the clause should remain valid and the main details of the mortgage – amount, duration, maximum rate of interest. It is not unusual for the purchaser to be granted 45 days to obtain a mortgage offer, after which the contract can lapse. If you are resident, and with a stable income, this is normally ample time, but it may be all too short for an overseas buyer seeking a French mortgage so if this applies to you try and negotiate a longer period in the contract.

Vice Caché: Um 'vice-caché' é um defeito oculto ou latente num imóvel. A proteção dos compradores está consagrada no artigo 1.641 do Código Civil. O vendedor é obrigado a divulgar todas as informações importantes sobre o imóvel que possam afetar a decisão do comprador ou o preço que pagou pelo imóvel. Se não o fizerem, então é possível que um tribunal ofereça uma solução, tal como uma redução de preço ou a anulação da venda (razão pela qual os notários não querem que você saiba disto, uma vez que perdem o seu comissão se houver anulação).

Not surprisingly, notaires sometimes seek to limit your use of the ‘vice caché’ protection by adding an exclusion clause the in the sale contract that limits the buyers rights once they find a serious hidden problem with the villa. Our advice to all buyers is that if your notaire does this, you consider them untrustworthy and switch notaires. If you don’t want to do that, you should 100% insist on the removal of this clause in the sale contract. The seller may well object to you doing so, but if they do, their motives need to be questioned. You should be muito hesitante em aceitar comprar 'en l'état' (como visto), a menos que você entenda perfeitamente o que está comprando.

Removal of Guarantees: Some notaires will add clauses that limit your rights and remove guarantees. This benefits the notaire (since they only get paid when the sale is completed) by limiting your rights and ability to cancel the transaction. Again, our advice to all buyers is that if your notaire does this, you consider them untrustworthy, leave an appropriate online review, and switch notaires. Always have an independent third-party look over the contract before you sign.

Habitable Surface Verification Clause: Many agents lie about the size of villas to justify inflated prices. We recommend that you add this clause and then get the habitable space measured.

The parties agree that the actual habitable surface of the property — as defined in Article R.111-2 of the French Construction and Housing Code — is a material condition of the buyer’s consent. In the event that a significant discrepancy is found between the actual habitable surface (as measured by an independent professional according to the above definition) and the surface stated in this contract, the purchase price shall be automatically adjusted based on the agreed per-square-meter price. This clause applies in particular if the actual surface is more than 5% smaller than stated. The adjustment may be applied up to six months after the sale.

Verification of Diagnostics: Many owners or agents bribe auditors to lie in the diagnostics, energy reports and appraisals. This practice is rampant on the French Riviera. To protect yourself, you’ll need to add this clause and then get someone independent to perform diagnostics and inspections. Make sure not to tell the owner or agent who is doing it and tell the inspector not to tell the agent what company they’re with or share their contact, otherwise you won’t pay them. Here’s the clause to add to your offer:

This offer is made subject to verification of the accuracy of the diagnostics and the Energy Performance Certificate (DPE). If an independent expert report conducted prior to signing the final deed reveals that the actual energy class is lower than indicated in the provided DPE, or if structural elements of the property (insulation, windows, roof, ventilation, etc.) are materially inconsistent with the diagnostic or the description in the listing, the buyer reserves the right to withdraw from the purchase without penalty or to renegotiate the purchase price based on the corrected energy assessment and the cost of necessary work.

The Deposit

O corretor imobiliário pode pedir que o depósito de 5% a 10% (sugerimos que você aceite apenas 5%) seja pago a ele, mas você deve sempre pagar o depósito ao notário, porque essa é a maneira normal de fazê-lo, e há menos probabilidade de haver problemas na recuperação do seu depósito se a venda não for concretizada.

Be aware, a deposit is only normally recoverable outside the cooling-off period if the sale fails for reasons related to the contract clauses or the seller. Otherwise, the deposit is forfeited. Your deposit will be held by the notaire in ‘escrow’ as part of the purchase proceeds.

It’s not unusual for there to be conflict over the repayment of a deposit, either because the notaire delays in repayment, or because there is some ambiguity as to whether or not the contract condition has been fulfilled. That’s why, if you do sign a conditional contract, you would be well advised to pay only the minimum deposit possible, and to also ensure precise legal drafting of the conditions.

The Cooling-off Period

After the signing of the initial offer and deposit, you’ll have 10 days (including holidays and weekends) to cancel without penalty, and without explanation. After the 10 days, you will lose your deposit if you back out, so use those 10 days wisely.

Se o contrato tiver sido preparado por um notário e ambas as partes assinarem o contrato no cartório do notário, o notário pode servir o aviso de reflexão ao comprador imediatamente após a assinatura do contrato. No entanto, muitos notários servem o aviso de reflexão ao comprador por correio registrado ou por e-mail com um recibo de leitura. O comprador tem 10 dias a partir do dia após o recebimento do aviso para desistir sem motivo.

If you want to withdraw, it requires certain formalities. It must be in writing and sent by registered post or by email with a read receipt to either the estate agent or notaire, depending on what is agreed in the contract. If the buyer has paid a deposit, the notaire must refund it, normally within 21 days of receipt of the notice of withdrawal. The 10-day period is strictly enforceable, so if the buyer tried to pull out 12 days after receiving the notice, the withdrawal could be considered ineffective and the buyer required to proceed with the purchase or lose his or her deposit.

Advantages to Getting a Mortgage

You should always apply for a mortgage, because:

• If the villa is worth more than €1.3 million, it’s the only way to avoid the wealth tax.
• The interest rate on mortgages in France is lower than you can make by investing the money. This means that the smart financial move is to take out a mortgage and keep your money invested.
• It comes with an official valuation / appraisal, that you can use for bargaining power.
• If your money is held in a currency other than euros, it may also save you money. If you choose the maximum LTV (loan-to-value), this allows you to better hedge your exposure to any exchange rate fluctuations as French mortgages have no (or very low) early repayment charges. Instead of converting the full purchase price into euros (at a potentially bad exchange rate), you only have to transfer the deposit and notaire’s fees. This means you can wait until the exchange rate is better and pay back your mortgage then, which can knock thousands of the purchase price.

Using a SCI

An SCI is a fiscally-transparent type of French company that is exclusively used for the ownership and management of property. Many notaires will recommend this, often because they get paid to create them, so figure out for yourself if you want to use one. Here’s an explanation. If you decide to use one, you could also create it online for €99. You can also look into the benefits of having a company own the SCI.

Despite these potential advantages, as a result of legislative and fiscal changes in recent years the arguments for owning a family property through an SCI have become weaker, so you need to consider carefully whether it is really necessary for you to use an SCI. There are plenty of professional advisors who will no doubt tell you it would be worthwhile to set up an SCI, but if they are the same advisors who will earn the fees from setting up the company (including notaires), then you need to weigh that advice carefully.

Keep in mind that if you go the SCI route you’ll need to submit yearly tax returns for the SCI, so the costs are ongoing. The non-filing of returns can result in an annual tax of 3% of the value of the property as well as late interest and fines.

We recommend you ensure all discussions with your advisors are recorded, as sloppy advice is easily given if professionals do not feel they can be held accountable for it!

The Final Signing

About three months after signing the ‘compromis de vente’ the notaire organises the ‘acte de vente définitif’ signing, payment of the final settlement and taxes and exchange of keys. It is usual to split the costs of the annual ‘taxe foncière’ pro-rata at the time of sale. Make sure the notaire provides a draft of the deed prior to the final meeting, so it can be shown to a professional adviser for comment.

Make sure to view the villa on the eve of signing the final ‘acte de vente’, so you can see exactly what you are paying for. It could avoid surprises like radiators, shutters, appliances, or door handles being stripped out. Check that there has been no damage and that it is empty of all the seller’s possessions, except any that you wanted. If something’s not right, ask the notaire to hold back part of the price until the property is as it was when the ‘compromis de vente’ was signed.

Observação: If you notaire overcharged you, was incompetent, or didn’t act in your best interest (as is common), you can start legal proceedings here.

Comprar uma moradia? Leia isto primeiro!

Quando estiver pronto para procurar um imóvel, leia nosso guia completo para comprar imóveis na França. Estes guias explicam como estimar o valor de uma propriedade real valor, como obter o melhor preço e evitar preços excessivos, o que observar, como evitar golpes e muito mais.

Primeiro, para compreender o mercado imobiliário em França, é necessário compreender como o preço por m² é uma farsa gigante. Então, você pode passar para os outros guias:

Nosso guia para onde o mercado está indo inclui: previsões do mercado imobiliário da Riviera Francesa, tendências atuais e históricas de preços no mercado e as razões pelas quais os preços continuarão a cair. Além disso, complementar guia para russos e seu impacto no mercado imobiliário da Riviera Francesa.

Nosso guia para listagens de imóveis inclui: como encontrar moradias para venda, o que procurar, desinformação e avisos, leilões e execuções hipotecárias, compra direta dos vendedores, por que o tempo é tudo e a razão pela qual apenas cerca de metade das vendas de moradias são listadas publicamente.

Nosso guia para golpes e segredos inclui: avisos sobre os truques antiéticos que agentes, notários, vendedores, desenvolvedores e construtores usam para tirar mais dinheiro de você. Esta é uma leitura obrigatória, e o guia do denunciante que aqueles no negócio não querem que você veja.

Nosso guia para corretores de imóveis inclui: as coisas desonestas que os agentes dirão a você, como as agências imobiliárias operam, agentes de compradores e localizadores de imóveis, por que você deve evitar agentes ilegais e não locais e em quem confiar (um aviso importante).

Nosso guia para preços e determinação do valor de mercado de uma villa inclui: por que há tantos preços excessivos, como estimar o valor de mercado de uma villa (quanto vale) e um guia passo a passo para encontrar o preço de oferta.

Nosso guia de coisas importantes para descobrir inclui: relatórios e pesquisas de diagnóstico, sol e microclimas, possíveis problemas com a vista, impostos habitacionais, idade, acesso à Internet e móvel, zonas de perigo (vermelhas), riscos à saúde, questões de privacidade e espaço, problemas próximos, o que você ' na verdade, possuirei adições e estruturas ilegais, por que estão vendendo, como verificar e muito mais.

Nosso guia para coisas a considerar inclui: seu real custos, problemas com a compra de uma villa 'recém-renovada', aprendizagem sobre crimes e invasores locais e perguntas a fazer a si mesmo.

Nosso guia para depois de comprar inclui: armadilhas de seguros, dicas para segundas residências, aluguel de villa, reformas e o que saber sobre contratação de pessoas.

Guia para vendedores: Como definir o preço da sua villa para que ela seja vendida.