P-D de Rouffignac

Despite Sprogtster's post, I have yet to see any consistent forecasts/evidence of falling house prices in France. As always, generalisations are unreliable within any property market, where two 'similar' houses in the same street can differ widely in value. To take a specific example, I currenlyt live in a complex built around a leisure marina, where some buildings/apartments are much less attactive than others - north facing, facing a car park, never reached by the sun, immediately above a known noisy restaurant/bar, comparatively poor construction (thermal/acoustic insulation varies between the different buildings), neglected maintenance by the syndic etc - all of which can reduce their saleable value. Some located above a noisy bar I would classify as unsaleable, theoretically of no value. But they may sell - at a discount - but they do not represent the average value of the area, they merely distort it. The French own around 3 million second homes and although they account for just 7% of annual property transactions overall, around where I live they represent 70% of the local housing stock, and a correspondingly higher percentage of annual sales. As a result local sales are down - due a to surplus of second homes (largely studios and F2s) on the market and hesitation about a property purchase which could be classified as a luxury rather than a necessity. Down the road however a brand new housing development (one of several locally) of detached and semi-detached individual homes has sold out within 12 months, bought by people with families, in jobs and moving permanently to the area. It is impossible to generalise, as I hope I have demonstrated by this small example, as no two markets are the same.

The changes referred to affect only the administrative aspects of inheritances, and are designed to simplify the adlinistration of an estate with assets in more than one country. However national laws will continue to apply, such as the rates of taxation ('death duties') payable, and French rules regarding 'preferred hereditaries' (such as children). Your freedom to choose to whom you wish or do not wish to bequeath your assets is still restricted. And if you have no family and wish to leave your assets to someone outside the family, the rates of taxation are high (at 60%).

There is a lot of confusion about French notaires. First of all, they are lawyers but differ from 'avocats' whose principal role is litigation. It is correct that just one of the Notaire's roles is to correctly assess and collect sums due to the government - for example, capital gains tax due on sale of a second home - and in all property transactions they ensure - as part of their normal obligations - that the transaction is legal, above board and fair to both parties. However, they also act as independent legal advisers on many issues, such as choice of purchase vehicle (eg an SCI, UK limited company etc), wills and inheritance, protection of spouses etc - and many issues un-connected with property, such as setting up or buying a business. You can consult them in the normal way as you would for example an English solicitor on all these and other legal issues. Mine are currently advising me on a complex purchase mechanism to hopefully avoid some of the worst effects of the current French inheritance laws.

A coupe of quick comments on your latest update. Regarding the access road, it might be an idea to discuss with the other occupants about having it adopted by the local commune, who would be responsible for maintenance, upkeep, lighting, drainage etc. Otherwise it will always represent an additional cost to the residents.(In some French cities small, sometimes gated alleyways, such as a former mews housing stables are privately owned, each resident owning the area in front of their property to the centre of the 'road'. They have to get together to agree on major work such as re-surfacing). You need to check how the present access road is managed - who actually owns it? Regarding the provision of mains services - these are in the hands of the various departments (sanitation), water suppliers and EDF etc so you need to be sure there will be access for example. to mains drainage ('egouut') otherwise it will mean a septic tank. Timescales for the above may be elastic. Also the Notaire needs to double check all the other legal aspects such as title, easements etc. Re correspoding - two notifications received from the site operators but access denied to the messages, using one of those aggravating 'no reply' communications! Best to contact me direct via my website which has all my details. P-D.

You absolutely must get all the paperwork sorted out, and do not rely on anyone's assurances. As Betty has said, for your own peace of mind, insurance and in case you might want to sell in the future. In my experience, the French authorities are not lenient. In a recent case, clients wanted to buy an agricultural going-concern, which included a two-storey house on the land, built some 15 years ago. My suspicions were aroused when I found it was not shown on the cadastral plan, while the owner insisted that he had the right as a 'farmer' to erect a dwelling on his land, and the Mairies 'knew all about it'. Indeed they did.  My own enquiries at the Mairie produced a different response, one official saying to me 'Yes, we know about it, it is illegal, built without a permit and is within a 'zone rouges' (risk of flooding, no building allowed). It could be orderd to be pulled down at any time and the decision would not be ours but that of the Prefecture'. My clients walked away from the deal and bought elsewhere, and I would advise the same to you if there is the slightest doubt about your proposed property purchase. Note that - as in the case above - Notaires (and dare I add, English legal advisers) work primarily from the cadastral plan and documents from the vendor, the Mairie etc. There is no substitute for investigating on the ground. Sorry if this sounds harsh but after ten years in the French property business I have learnt to take nothing on trust.

Dear D-D - Good to hear of your progress. If you want to send me your email address I will send you (as attachments in Word) some standard notes on the buying process, which others have found helpful, and also a piece I wrote some time agao about using an architect during the planning/building process. Best regards, P-D de R;

Dear DD - Bit late getting bak to you, but the 'technical' infomation about mains services etc to the site you are looking at will be available from the Mairie. The on-line edition of the 'cadastral plan' is sometimes out of date as the information relies on its being provided by the Mairie, so they remain your best source of info and guidance. Hope your enquiries are going well.

I don't think that successfully buying or selling French property depends on whether you are an optimist or a pesimist. Important sums of money are involved and it is a question of getting things right from the start. The French property business is one of the (few) areas that normally works well but a lot depends on the competence of the professionals involved, and the ability of the buyer/seller to understand the process, check the facts and be alert to mistakes than can be made. As in the present case, it is not unusual for a property to be sold subject to the buyer obtaining a mortgage but correct procedures have to be followed. Ditto in the case of a property sold that is let or about to be let (for example for the summer season) - againt this can be negotiated correctly to the satisfaction of all parties. I would never ever suggest to a client that it's okay to risk losing a few hundred euros. That would be sloppy, unprofessional.and unethical.

I read with concern your last email that (a) it was not made clear to you at the time of signing the 'compromis de vente' whether the buyer was paying cash or seeking a mortgage (and thus allowed to benefit from the longer period of retraction/cooling-off); and (b) that you did not receive a copy of the 'compromis' on signature or soon afterwards, even if the buyer was signing using a power of attorney. Both are quite unacceptable. If there has been some delay in getting the signature of the buyers (unimaginable in practice) then they have effectively prolonged the cooling-off period. I think also that the situation regarding the summer rentals should have been clarified, for example, whether the buyer required immediate possession (or defering this till after your summer rental period), or would take on the retnals - all this to protect you in case the sale were to finally collapse. Can I suggest you contact the agent or Notaire urgently to clarify the situation.

If at the time of signing the 'compromis de vente' the buyer has made it clear that he/she is buying subject to securing the necessary financing (and you agree to this as vendor), then he/she is allowed about another 40 days - including time to search for a mortgage and to accept an offer from a bank/mortgage provider (there is included a cooling-off period under consumer protection laws which covers this acceptance period). In order not to (potentially) forfeit any deposit paid should the buyer not succeed in securing financing, he/she must demonstrate and prove 'due diligence' in approaching one or more banks, and provide evidence of his/her efforts. The additional approx 40 days is not simply an extended cooling-off period during with the buyer does nothing. Ideally, one prefers to deal with cash buyers who have funds in place (for example, from the sale of another property, savings etc) or at least an assurance from their bank (sometimes referred to as a 'letter of comfort') that they will be offered a mortgage. In a slower market one tends to welcome all comers and hope for the best...... Some agents however continue to market a property during tihs period, noting that it is however 'under offer', just in case the sale falls through. In this case the vendor speaks of 'about 5 weeks' and as suggested it is time to find out whether the buyer has received and accepted a mortgage offer by speaking to the agent or Notaire.

If you don't want to spend much money at this very preliminary stage I suggest you begin your own enquiries at the Mairie - they will have a plan of the site and its identity (cadastral plan reference), who is the owner, classification for building or not, what might be allowed in terms of volume, water and drainage etc. 'Chalets' of the type you describe have frequently started life as a 'tool shed' and may be more or less tolerated unofficially but become a problem when there is a need to formalise a situation (such as a sale). Best regards, P-D de R.

Difficult to reply to all your questions without further information, but if you are buying a plot on a 'lotissement' (an estate with other houses), then services such as electricity, water etc will be normally supplied to each plot, and details agreed with the developer and the commune about access roads, street lighting etc. All this information should be included in a comperhensive information package provided by the developer or agent handling sales, detailing stage payments and prececisely what is included in the sale price. Important among other things to verify that soil tests have been done. If your proposed plot is isolated, you need to check the cost of these utilities and how they are going to be paid for, and also with the Mairie about roads etc. If you are buying a plot and having your house built independently, an architect can be called in as early as possible to advise on these aspects, including the feasibility of the site for the sort of house you want,  as well as design, orientation of the house, building regulations and standards. And of course, costs. Houses built to the latest BBC standards cost extra and may become the norm under future legislation. I personally would advise doing the above checks and consultation before signing a 'compromis de vente' - it is difficult without having done these checks to know what to include as 'clauses suspensives' at this stage. You can't insure yourself against risks you don't know about! Hope this helps.

Congratulations on your sale. I would wait until (near) completion before advising your insurers - they can quickly sort out a cancellation and a refund if premiums have been paid in advance. More important is for the new owners to cover the property from the date of completion. When taxe foncière has been paid in advance in one lump sum (i.e. for the rest of this year) the Notaire normally estimates the amount to be apportioned betwen vendor and buyer and the two parties agree a transfer/refund between them. In your case best to advise the tax office on completion, after the Notaire has given you an 'attestation' (several copies) that you have sold the property (a bit like the bit of paper you received when you bought the property and had not yet received the title deeds). The sale 'attestation' is useful for example to show your bank when you transfer the funds from the sale, to prove you are not money laundering and all that nonsense! Payment of a deposit by the buyer - not obligatory but advisable - is normally forfeited if the buyer backs out after the cooling-off period, and is designed to protect the vendor. Yes, you should normally receive this to cover the (potential) loss of taking the property off the market and possibly losing another buyer(s). As a suggestion, you could keep the sale proceeds in a euro account in France or UK until the rate is more favourable to you, unless you need the money immediately in sterling of course. Hope this helps a bit - P-D de R. Edit: NormanH has beaten me to it but hope my points at least confirm.

Two points to note: - Not all Notaires handle property transactions - they need to be licensed (as estate agents) to do so. - Prices of properties for sale privately are frequently higher than those proposed by estate agents, mainly because private owners/sellers have - understandably perhaps - an over-optimistic view of the value of their property. They often price it in relation to what they hope to spend on another property or need to repay a mortgage debt, rather than a hard-nosed assessment of its market value.  I am currently looking for a certain kind of property, under 100 000 euros, on www.leboncoin.fr which includes announcements by private and professional sellers, and the price differentials are amazing - private sometimes ten or twenty thousand euros higher for what appears, on paper, to be a similar property type. Of course a visit is essential but you cannot assume that because it is a private sale you will save money.

One of the points to note in the helpful link provided by NormanH is that the loi Carrez is applied only to properties bought in co-propriété (co-ownership) which includes apartments (where you own the freehold of your own apartment plus shares in the building's common parts) and properties such as houses or chalet/pavillions that are built within a complex (which similarly may include shared grounds, a pool, tennis courts etc). The term 'habitable space' (surface habitable) is a bit confusing as it can be taken to mean the loi Carrez measurements (which exclude for example mezzanines and loggias) or the overall space - some property descriptions include both loi Carrez (where applicable) and include the dimensions of areas such as mezzanines, loggias etc which offer extra living space, in the description. For example, if you were looking for a 40m² apartment, you might be happy with a 30m² apartment which had a 10m² mezzanine.

Dear NormanH I think it is fairly well known on this forum and others, and to readers of French Property News, that I am a property advisor working in a minuscule area of the south of France. I have no idea where the original poster is thinking of buying and have no particular interest in knowing, but I hope that my ten years in the French property business, including two years in an agency, are of some weight and usefulness when trying to reply to questions posed on this forum. If you have a problem with that, talk to the Moderators. P-D de R.

Frankly, it looks as though the owner/vendor is stringing you along - you say he is now asking you for MORE money than the original offer price. Have you asked him why? Normally  a property can placed be with an agent by a vendor, using a 'simple mandate' which is non-exclusive and allows the vendor to seek and negotiate with a private buyer should he genuinely find one through his own efforts (ie. the vendor advertises privately or hangs a For Sale sign on his property). In this situatuion the owner/vendor would not be liable to the agent for commission, and a wise buyer would expect to pay LESS than the price proposed by the agent, as he is not contributing to the agent's commission. However, even though the agent's mandate may have expired (most can be cancelled after three months) there is often a clause enabling the agent to demand commission should a buyer appear who was originally introduced by the agent, for a period up to two years. The French courts are very strict in these cases and invariably rule in the agent's favour. Never mind any comments about signing a 'bon de visite' or not, there is usually enough alternative evidence establishing whether a buyer was introduced by the agent or not. If you are new to French property buying, it is perhaps wiser to go through an agent, who can also guide you through the process of making an offer, cooling-off, payment of deposit, technical surveys, vendor's responsibilities, optimal marriage regime, inheritance implications etc. - with the French notaire - through  to completion.

There is absolutely no reason why a straightforward French property sale cannot be completed in six to eight weeks maximum. Provided the agent or notaire has a copy of the title deeds and the diagnostics have been completed, a compromis de vente can be completed by either of them the same day, as can a power of attorney (procuration) - both are largely standard documents. The seven day cooling-off period is only extended if the buyer is seeking finance from a bank or mortgage provider, but the vendor would be aware of that. I am currently selling/buying and my usual notaire and the agents have copies of all the documentation already and know of the situation, and the moment I have an acceptable offer they are ready to proceed. Also for my finalising the purchase of the new property, as one transaction is dependent on the other, and must proceed simultaneously. I did this a few years when moving into my present home and managed to do so with just a one week gap between the two transactions. You can do a lot of work in advance by having all the documentation ready and copied to the relevant parties. P-D de R.

I am sometimes asked to provide an English translation of a mandate (and other property documents) but the cost is generally prohibitive as no two are alike. What I advise clients and would suggest in your own case is to ask the estate agent to go through the document with you point by point to explain what it means. Legal gobbledegook can be as inexplicable in English as it is in French, and because of the differences in law the terminology is often untranslatable.. That said, your agent may have a copy of 'Contrats de l'agent immobilier' (Delmas, FNAIM) which contains most of the standard contracts used (including various 'Mandats de vente') in French, English, German, Italian and Spanish. Hope that helps - P-D de R.

Probably not what you want to hear but the two English food shops I have observed close to me have both closed. Problem there were not enough 'English products' for a full shopping trip nor enough variety to make a special visit worthwhile. Low turnover also meant that sell-by dates were often exceeded on certain perishable products which put customers off........

A reputable agent and, in due course the Notaire, will look very carefully at the title deeds ('titre de propriété') which you should have received some weeks after completion of the original purchase, to verify the correct ownership of the property.  If there are any doubts at this stage, potential buyers - who have a wide range of properties to choose from in the present climate - may shy away from this purchase, fearing delays due to possible litigation between the vendors. In my experience as an agent, we were occasionally approached by a husband or wife in dispute, trying to sell a jointly-owned property independently of the other party, and we would not even enter into an agency mandate (contract engaging the agent to sell the property on behalf of the owner) without ensuring that all parties concerned had signed. Much the same rules apply to inheritances, when all involved must sign - if one of them does not want the property sold, the deal stalls. We would require a copy of the 'titre de propriété' at the time of preparing the sales mandate and the Notaire needs it the moment there is a potential buyer, in order to prepare the 'compromis de vente' (initial sales contract). .

Prices are NOT falling through the floor in France. I do wish those who write about France would do their homework and take the trouble to investigate the real situation. Heaven knows, there is enough research easily accessible. P-D de R.

To sell on public markets you need - as NormanH had pointed out - an ambulant traders licence. To get this you need to have some sort of business setup, such as auto-entrepreneur (the simplest format). Once you have these, you can apply to the markets controller at the Mairie(s) of the place(s) you would like to sell, armed with the above, and apply for a place. Some markets have vacancies, some have a waiting list, such as popular craft markets in holiday resorts in summer. Apart from that it is relatively easy and low-cost (three or four euros only for a 2 - 3 metre stall) and when I spent a summer working with a friend we found our fellow stall holders friendly and helpful, and looked after us (for example, if we had to be absentt for a few minutes they would keep an eye on our stall or even take money for us). Once you get to know the 'placier' who allocates places and collects the rent, he will try and accomodate you with as good a position as possible. Hope this helps, good luck - P-D de R.

If you wish to pay what you consider a "reasonable fee" you can use one of the many (I understand around 50) networks of low-cost estate agencies springing up in France and recruiting hundreds of commercial agents. I won't mention names for fear of libel but there was an item about them on French TV last Sunday night in the 'Capital' series on M6. Admitted their fees are low (they say) but from what I saw the downside includes: - people recruited with no prior experience in the property business and given an average 5 days training. - all work on commission only and pay their own expenses - one in three gives up within the first 12 months - advertising is purely on the Internet whereas recent research shows that 70% of potential (French) property buyers use local estate agencies as their primary point of contact. The programme showed a commercial agent on his first assignment to estimate and take on a sales mandate for a commercial building - he was completely out of his depth, with no ideea of what selling price to suggest to the vendors. The French estate agency business is rigorously controlled by French law (qualifications, licensing, spot checks etc) but the fundamental weakness is that a single agency with a valid licence can sub-licence any number (it seems at present) of 'agents commercials' with limited or no experience as noted above. I have worked inside a French agency with people of 10, 20 or more years experience (my own qualifications include a law degree), and am currently selling my property and buying another. I have placed it with two agencies and am happy to let them get on with the job of finding a buyer, and I am using another agency to find my replacement property in another town. I am happy to pay their commissions in both cases and enjoy the assurances and guarantees that that implies. P-D de R.

Replying to your question about notifying the French utility companies - This can be left to the agent or notaire, who will take readings just before completion, so the buyers can take over the services (water, gas, electricity) without delay and there is no cut-off/re-connection. Exception is of course the telephone and related services (internet etc) which are optional, and you can notify cessation when you want. The compromis de vente and acte finale will also state how the property taxes (foncière, habitation) will be apportioned, and any management costs if a co-ownership building. Hope this helps. P-D de R.