There are 3 main stages.
Once you have found the property and you can get the
mortgage you want, an agreement
is negotiated between you and the seller. This initial
contract is called a sous-seing privé
if drawn up by an estate agent or a compromis
de vente if prepared by a notaire
(sollicitor), who acts as an independent official. It
is legally binding and you pay a deposit
of 2.5% to 10% of the purchase price into a special
account held by the notaire [This amount will be
deducted to the amount paid to the solicitor. If at
the end of the day you don't want to buy the property,
you will loose that amount. On the other hand, if you
are not successful in getting a mortgage, you will get
a refund].
Check the document carefully before signing. French
law provides for the inclusion of a number of suspensive
clauses, which allow the buyer to pull out without financial
penalty if a problem is discovered.
[A seven-day cooling-off period was introduced in
which a buyer can pull out even after signing the final
contract, albeit with the loss of the standard deposit]
Surveys are unusual in France. It's more usual for
the bank to take an hypothèque
(warranty) on the accommodation itself and you are free
to ask artisans the conditions of the roof (for a house)
or walls and so on. However there is nothing to stop
you having a proper survey done. Also, considering making
checks at the mairie (town-hall)
for any planned development in the area. But
make sure you do all these things before signing thr
sous-seing privé or compromis de vente (or promesse
d'achat).
In the second stage, there generally follows
a period of 6 to 8 weeks in which
checks are carried out by the independent notaire
to establish whether there are any charges on the property,
any adverse planning restriction, any-third party rights
of way, or any claim on the property by the local authority.
Documentation is now prepared, and the buyers secures
finance for the purchase (the ability
to secure a mortgage is a mandatory suspensive clause).
The final stage is the contract: the
acte de vente is signed at the notaire's office.
You may pay the balance of the purchase price to the
notaire who passes it to the seller: You must provide
a copy of your birth and marriage certificates. The
buyer also pays the legal and registration fees (though
not the estate agent fees) which are around 7% of the
purchase price.
It is now time to get to know you neighbours (quite
a decent thing to do and the French way!) and register
to the town-hall, if not already done.
http:///ar.pap.fr
is the well-known website for De Particulier
à Particuliers, the number one real-estate group
in France which also publish a series of booklet. The
site is both in French and English.
You can also visit the website A
Vendre:
http://www.minitelorama.com/index_neuf.htm
Mortgage
When you want to buy accommodation, you will need
to contact a financial company (or several) for the
mortgage. The mortgage cannot exceed
33% (or 38%) of your monthly net wage (e.g. 1830
€/month borrow 603 € to 695 €. You must remove all current
credits (such as car credit, etc). The best mortgages
are often provided by broker agencies (agences de courtage);
you can consult CAFPI (http://www.cafpi.fr)
but they don't offer a full guarantee on the mortgage
in case you cannot afford the payment anymore (up to
75% usually instead of 100% guaranteed from a bank).
If you want to simulate a mortgage, you can consult
http://www.laposte.fr
The average duration of a mortgage
is between 10 and 15 years. You can find a lot
of information at: http://www.cil-leaders.fr/ocil.
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