PG76

Hi all
I am new to this forum and am hoping for some advice. I am considering buying a very small house (€20 000) and am unsure whether to appoint a solicitor - I have been quoted £1500 - or whether to just rely on the local notaire. Any advice would be greatly received.
Thanks
Pam

EuroTrash

House sales in France are always conducted by a notaire, who is a kind of solicitor. If there's no estate agent involved, the notaire will draw up the contract and deal with the money side of things. The notaire normally acts for both buyer and seller, his role is to ensure that everything is done correctly as per French law. However it is possible for the buyer and seller to use different notaires, in which case the two notaires split the fee between them. I'm not sure what the advantage is, but some people do it.

Now the bad news. As the buyer, you are responsible for paying the notaire's fee in full. On a 20,000€ property this would probably come to between 2,500 and 3,000€. The notaire doesn't pocket all this of course, he will earn maybe 300€ and the rest is made up of disbursements and state taxes and all the various costs involved in conveyancing.

Hope this helps.

cyrian

Hi Pam,
Welcome to the forum.
With respect, you are thinking in British.
This is France and things are different.
As ET said, the notaire is an honest broker who acts to make sure you understand the Acte de Vente (contract) and to collect the correct taxes.
I am wondering why the price is so low - even for France.
If you are going to do it up then please be aware that you may not get your money back.
Does the house have all the necessary certificates?
For example termites have now spread as far north as the middle/north-ish part of France.
Is the house connected to mains water and sewage or does it have a fosse septique which is up to current standards?
Does it have right of access?
Houses do not sell fast in France so take your time and get it right.

EuroTrash

Mine didn't cost much more than that...

PG76

Hi
Thanks for the advice. With regards the price - the house is a 'fixer upper' and we would not be looking at it as an investment. In fact all 5 of the 6 we looked at over 4 days were under 25 000. We are waiting for confirmation from the Marie for the certificate for mains drainage. No offer has been made as yet but would request full info from the agent involved before making one. I think we would be swaying towards just using the notaire rather than including a solicitor fees also. Has anyone else bought 'The French Way'?
Thanks again
Pam

Novocastrian

Almost everyone. The exceptions are usually Brits who simply can't understand that the notaire isn't representing either side of the transaction but just there to make sure that everything's done legally.

dmu

Hi, the concept of solicitor doesn't exist in France, anyway. Was it a British professional who proposed £1500? And for doing what?
As said, the Notaire is the only lawyer competent (in the legal sense) to deal with property conveyancing and he/she is unbiassed, i.e. doesn't work for either party, but ensures that everything's done according to the Law.
They'll check that the Vendor has had all the "Diagnostics" done, so that you'll see exactly what must be done in order to comply with French standards. Bear in mind that the electrics, plumbing, and other work, must be signed off by a registered artisan. Hopefully the house does have mains drainage, otherwise you'll no doubt have to budget for a new septic tank which, in our neck of the woods, costs 10 000,00 €.....
Good luck!

EuroTrash

As Novo says. Why would you not do things the French way, in France?

I'm not sure what you mean by a "solicitor". The two types of lawyer in France are avocats and notaires. Avocats deal with court matters, disputes and criminal proceedings and things, they don't deal with house sales. Notaires know everything there is to know about property law, inheritance and civil issues. If you need any advice or explanation about property and inheritance, the notaire is the one to ask. It sounds as if you already have an immo involved, I assume they speak English if you need any interpreting doing, but if not, I'd suggest an interpreter would be more useful than a spare soliticitor. As dmu says, there would be no role for him.

I don't see how it would be possible to conduct a French property sale the English way, any more than it would be possible to buy a house in Britain the French way. The processes are quite different.

Novocastrian

I have a French relative (by marriage, a son of one of my wife's cousins) who is an Avocat. Since he speaks very good English I always greet him as Maitre Advacado.

Ho ho.

cyrian

Hi Pam,
I think that it would be a good idea to get a local builder to give estimates for the cost of work required.
Older french properties can also cost a lot in heating bills during the winter - even in the South.
Which region are you looking at?
Have a look at this site:

https://www.notaires.fr/en

EuroTrash

I love these little vignettes into the drollerie of the Novo household

scot47

It always comes as a surprise - and a shock - for Anglos when they find that Johnny Foreigner does it differently !

Novocastrian

I am not a Droll.

Just be thankful that I only provide vignettes, The whole tale is much less tolerable.

PG76

Thank you scot47 for your wonderful and helpful reply.� ����

PG76

Thank you to the majority of you who have provided sound advice this far. I'm sure if some of you who have owned a property in France for some time that if you think back, you too may have been confused about all the conflicting information and advice there is out there. Just for information it was a French speaking English solicitor who spun many a yarn about the pitfalls of only relying on the notaire. Years after buying a house people finding that a neighbour then built a property on their land as they had an ancient but never used right of way....etc etc. Touting for business possibly???!!