If you are thinking of buying a house in France, you will need to be just as careful as you would in the UK - if not more so - as in France the process is a little different. The main point to bear in mind is not to be afraid to ask questions. Information is not always offered, but clear questions should be answered in a straightforward way - if they are not, you may want to reconsider your purchase.

Finding a property corresponding to your search in France is your first obstacle! Less than 50% of sales in France are handled by real estate agencies, so in order not to exclude a good portion of the available property offer, you would be advised to engage a reputable property search agency - like Paris Property Finders (www.parispropertyfinders.com) - who will scour all the property sources available in accordance with your brief. (This is already a great plus, since estate agencies in France tend not to be proactive or geared to searching for you - they rather focus on pushing the properties they have. If you don’t find what you are looking for on the first visit, don’t count on the agency to call back!) You don’t need to pay any upfront fee for these search services either. Paris Property Finders only charge you a fee (a percentage of the final purchase price of the property) should you proceed with the purchase of a property that they find for you. Usually the search fee is more than compensated for in the negotiation leverage that such an agency can bring to the transaction with the seller.

Once you have located a property you like, do check it carefully before signing any type of avant-contrat, especially a compromis de vente, unless you include special conditions (clauses suspensives), covering you if planning permission falls through, for example, or if lead or asbestos is found. Although the compromis gives you seven days to think things over, it is considered a serious offer, binding both you and the vendor. This usually requires a 10% deposit of the house price which will only be reimbursed if the stipiulated conditions are not met, so if money is tight and you are not 100% certain you really want the property, do not sign.

Less binding is the promesse de vente, which should prevent gazumping and obliges the vendor to hold the property for you for up to three months from the signature. If you decide to withdraw your offer, you must do so by registered post, lettre recommandée avec accusé de réception, within seven days counting from the day after the receipt of the contract, and you forfeit the deposit. If you are dealing with a private vendor, not an agency, you may be asked to sign a sous-seing privé instead of a promesse or a compromis de vente, but the seven-day cooling off period still holds.

Any document you sign should include:

• The price of the property.
• Its detailed description and size (superficie).

It is at this point also that you need to consider how you will be acquiring the property: either as an individual (personne physique), in co-ownership or as a company - don’t forget that, under French inheritance laws, individuals cannot leave the property to anyone they wish, even if a will has already been established.

Check it out

You will need to check for the usual signs of disrepair, particularly in the older buildings:

• Damp
• The presence of asbestos
• Lead and termites if in an infested zone
• Possible building faults
• Whether the property is on hazardous land (flood risk, subsidence etc)

The vendor is responsible for providing documents giving the all-clear on the above and showing what repairs and alterations have been made to the property. Otherwise the vendor is held liable for any hidden defects- vices cachés. If the clauses suspensives cover these areas and the property is found to be full of asbestos, for instance, you can withdraw your offer and your deposit will be returned. You would also be well advised to make sure the property is what it seems to be, by checking its perimeters and right of way (servitude). The plan cadastral (land register) from the Direction de l’équipement (each département has one) should provide you with an up-to-date detailed map. If you can, check with the mairie too for details of possible local building plans in the neighbourhood that might affect the property’s value, and whether you need planning permission for any renovation you might want to undertake. A chartered surveyor, or expert-géomètre, can be useful in all of these situations - they are even allowed to buy and sell property in some circumstances - and it might be worth investing in their services before buying that charming ruin next to a future motorway, for example. In France, a survey is not compulsory before purchase.

Creating your Dream Home

Most older properties require complete rewiring and replumbing - an experienced and anglo-saxon minded building company, such as Batiloft (www.batiloft.fr), will be willing to visit your prospective property with you to give you perspective on what renovation commitments and costs you could be taking on. They can also give you some insight into the potential of a property and to what extent ambitious plans you might have can be realised.

If you are going to be living elsewhere during the renovation of your property, you would be highly advised to work with a local company that can coordinate and manage the project on your behalf. Language barriers can be a painful obstacle to understanding and achieving the work that you want undertaken. A bilingual speaker can ensure that you understand what you are getting into and that the right message is relayed to local workers and suppliers who more often than not do not speak english! Spacio Creative Living (www.spacio.fr) is a multi-service bilingual company that works in partnership with a range of key experts in the realm of property search, fiscal advice, bank loans, renovation, interior design and rental management. Spacio can offer to take care of the whole - or part - of the property development process and will devise a bespoke programme to meet your own particular needs or circumstances.

Paperwork

You will be asked for a number of official documents when you buy a property, so prepare at the very least:

• Photocopy of your current, valid passport
• Certified copy of your birth certificate (made within the last three months)
• Resident’s card if you have one
• Marriage certificate, livret de famille or PACS contract if applicable

Any documents in English will need to be translated into French by an official translator -traducteur agrée. If everything seems in order, you are satisfied with the state of the property and your financing has been granted, then the final papers to sign will be the deeds of sale, or acte de vente. You will need to have the balance of the property price, notaire’s fees and commission ready. Don’t forget that after this final signature you are immediately responsible for taking out third-party insurance on the property.

Useful links (in French):
• www.paris.notaires.fr
• www.geometre-expert.fr

You can also check with your Agence départementale d’information pour le logement (ADIL or ANIL) that your housing project is valid and legal:

• www.anil.org

Contact Julie McIvor: julie@spacio.fr
Tel: 06 07 90 80 09 (+33 6 07 90 80 09 from abroad)

Julie McIvor is a British citizen living in Paris.