House purchase
Jun 26th 2024 | 3:13 am
#16
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Sep 2019
Posts: 755
Re: House purchase
Very wise-builders of all nationalities tend to disappear if their clients are not there but in my experience when French builders do arrive they do tend to crack on.
Ask neighbours/locals for tradespeople that they consider to be good and reliable
Ask neighbours/locals for tradespeople that they consider to be good and reliable
Jun 27th 2024 | 5:33 am
#17
Forum Regular
Joined: May 2012
Posts: 145
From: France
Re: House purchase
A very important point is made in LVC's last sentence. In my 23 years of experience here you have two hurdles. The first is getting a trades person to actually turn up to estimate the work and the second is getting them to start (and finish) the job once the devis has been agreed..
Jun 27th 2024 | 7:41 pm
#18
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 9,021
From: Alsace
Re: House purchase
A very important point is made in LVC's last sentence. In my 23 years of experience here you have two hurdles. The first is getting a trades person to actually turn up to estimate the work and the second is getting them to start (and finish) the job once the devis has been agreed..
Jun 28th 2024 | 3:59 pm
#19
Thread Starter
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 2,496
From: In the middle of the continent
Re: House purchase
Ok, the reliability and availability of trades person is something we have not thought of. This is obviously a massive problem especially if we are not yet living in France. Thanks for pointing this out.
Jun 4th 2025 | 7:10 pm
#20
Thread Starter
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 2,496
From: In the middle of the continent
Re: House purchase
Dear all
After overcoming our romantic attachment to beautiful old French stone houses, we have now settled on a newer house built in 2012 that is in good condition. We are about to sign the offre d'achat, which seems to primarily serve the interests of the estate agent. It appears to be legally binding on both us and the seller, yet it does not regulate any details. This is fine with us, as we have no special conditions for the purchase.
What about the next step? Would you recommend using our own notary? The notary proposed by the estate agent speaks English. That is fine for us. However, that notary would represent both parties. Is it necessary to have our own notary?
Any advice or warning on important issues to consider during the purchase process would be much appreciated.
After overcoming our romantic attachment to beautiful old French stone houses, we have now settled on a newer house built in 2012 that is in good condition. We are about to sign the offre d'achat, which seems to primarily serve the interests of the estate agent. It appears to be legally binding on both us and the seller, yet it does not regulate any details. This is fine with us, as we have no special conditions for the purchase.
What about the next step? Would you recommend using our own notary? The notary proposed by the estate agent speaks English. That is fine for us. However, that notary would represent both parties. Is it necessary to have our own notary?
Any advice or warning on important issues to consider during the purchase process would be much appreciated.
Jun 4th 2025 | 7:35 pm
#21
Forum Regular
Joined: May 2012
Posts: 145
From: France
Re: House purchase
It is my understanding that you can specify your own notaire to handle your part of the transaction or you can use the same notaire as the seller. In such case, the notaires share the same fee between them. This choice is up to the buyer. Unless you have heard of a "problematic" notaire it doesn't really matter. An English speaker would be an advantage though. The function of the notaire is to look after the interests of the state and to see that the correct fees are taken at the point of sale. The legalities of the sale are his responsibility. He/she does not necessarily represent the interests of either party, unlike a legal respresentative of one or the other.as in other countries.
Jun 5th 2025 | 9:19 pm
#22
Forum Regular
Joined: Mar 2011
Posts: 153
Re: House purchase
These two discussions about signing a offre d'achat or compromis de vente should be useful:My own advice is in land purchase link above and quoted below. Good luck!
Have your own notaire. The notaire need not be local to the region where you buying land.
While a notaire is unlikely to proactively protect your interests, notaires are charged with being fair and to answer questions. Do not expect a notaire to volunteer information.
Ask the notaire plenty of questions about risks and your responsibilities. Ensure you know how you could get out of the sale, if problems arise.
The main piece of advice I can give is this. Treat the "compromis de vente" as if it were the final contract. Signing the compromis is effectively buying the land.
Talk to a notaire before signing the compromis de vente. Never sign a compromis de vente with an estate agent.
You can add clauses to the compromis de vente. Clauses such as, if specific tasks are not done, the sale is cancelled. If the seller does not provide a bornage, the sale is cancelled.
If the compromis de vente does not include any clauses of your own, you are probably missing a trick.
While a notaire is unlikely to proactively protect your interests, notaires are charged with being fair and to answer questions. Do not expect a notaire to volunteer information.
Ask the notaire plenty of questions about risks and your responsibilities. Ensure you know how you could get out of the sale, if problems arise.
The main piece of advice I can give is this. Treat the "compromis de vente" as if it were the final contract. Signing the compromis is effectively buying the land.
Talk to a notaire before signing the compromis de vente. Never sign a compromis de vente with an estate agent.
You can add clauses to the compromis de vente. Clauses such as, if specific tasks are not done, the sale is cancelled. If the seller does not provide a bornage, the sale is cancelled.
If the compromis de vente does not include any clauses of your own, you are probably missing a trick.
Last edited by graham.miln; Jun 5th 2025 at 10:06 pm.
