P-D de Rouffignac

Several points arising from this post for the benefit of others facing a similar situation: 1. Beware DIY renovations by owner/vendors. French buyers will generally not accept them, preferring instead work carried out by registered artisans and carrying the appropriate insurances and guarantees. 2. You agree to buy a property 'in the condition in which you find it' thus absolving the vendor from virtually all responsibility.  You would probably feel more comfortable yourself as a vendor with this clause in the contract, and it is very much up to the buyer to satisfy him/herself regarding everything from planning to plumbing!  3. Surveyors' reports invariably contain numerous get-outs, such as not gaining access to particular parts of the building etc, which tend to lessen the value of their reports. 4. In case of doubt, best to get it sorted out at the offer stage and get anything written into the 'compromis de vente' as a condition of purchase ('clause suspensive'). Not much comfort to Mister C I am afraid but property buying is invariably hazardous. My sympathies. P-D de R.

Dear Lisa - You would surely get an idea of the income and expenditure situation of any campsitte you were considering buying, as with any going concern you will need to look at the figures for the last three to five years as part of the deal. And then work out if you can survive or live well or modestly on the income after expenses. One caution I would offer is to ignore any stories of the 'what you see is only the income officially declared, of course it's much more' type. You can only trust the audited figures, and any plans, bank loans or cash projections can only be based on those. I live on the Mediterranean where campsites flourish, some of them 4-star and accomodating 5000 people. But this is not everyone's choice and if you can offer something a bit special, combined with an interest - cookery, crafts, painting - you can find niche markets which simplify your advertising. Bon courage, P-D de R.    

In my experience, it is certainly NOT the case that buyers, agents or notaires will automatically accept that electrics are okay on the say-so of the owner/vendor, particularly in view of the new 'expertises' which devote several pages to the state of the electrical installation in relation to the new norms. This has proved a stumbling block in two recent transactions involving English buyers, whereas it is well known that French buyers want to see evidence of qualified artisans and the usual guarantees. P-D de R.

Re: property ads with no price mentioned A French estate agent cannot offer a property for sale without a written mandate from the owner/vendor, which will include the price, the percentage commission charged and the same amount in euros. Where a property is adverised without a price, with perhaps the mention P.O.A. or 'further details from the agency' there is no mystery. This is sometimes simply used for high value properties or at the owner's request (so that neighbours/ex-wives/husbands etc don't automatically learn of the asking price) and also to deter non-serious enquirers, and occasionally criminals. I was once involved in selling a property at 2 million euros and as it was unoccupied but contained many valuable works of art, we were very cagey about what information we gave out to casual enquirers, and only discussed it with visitors in the office by appointment, who had confirmed their identity beforehand in writing! As a general point I never went on visits without this information (contained in the "bon de visite") and I caution private sellers to be very careful about casual callers, especially those who 'drop by' having seen a For Sale sign outside your property. There are some strange people out there. P-D de R.

If you are moving to a new home in France from, say, the UK, it is the ideal time to downsize. Now living on the Mediterranean, I am amazed at the stuff people have hauled from the UK, furniture that makes their beachside apartment look like a Birmingham front parlour. I lived for 30 years in my last apartment in central London but always on the principle I could chuck everything into the back of a Ford Transit and be away within 20 minutes if I chose. I brought nothing with me here that would not go into the back of the car. Aother secret is never to own a garage. Everyone I know who has one has filled it with junk and leaves the car outside........The French homes I visit are either huge and empty, apart from an Odeon-size flat screen TV, or tiny and stuffed with furniture I would not accept as a gift. De-cluttering is the first step towards downsizing. You can end up living in half the space you think you need.   P-D de R.

Dear Meiklejohn - Hi. I worked for two years for one of the largest independent agencies in my region but now I am the French liaison for a company advising mainly non-French speaking clients on all aspects of property buying and settling in France. I try and keep a close watch on property trends and also am in almost daily contact with local estate agents and Notaires in the course of my work. On the question of a property appearing at difference prices, it may be mandated by several agencies at different prices, the owner may have agreed to drop the price (this needs an 'avenant' attached to the oiriginal agents' mandate to make it legal) or the owner may have signed a 'mandat simple' allowing him/her to also try and market the property privately. This is permissible under French law but not necessarily the best way to sell a property. And it also raises doubts in the minds of potential buyers not familiar with the French system. P-D de R.

I really do not understand all this argument about agency fees and who pays who and how much. If a vendor places a property with an agent to sell, at, say 100,000 euros and the agent says 'My commission for marketing it is 10%', in the event of a sale the vendor receives 100,000 minus 10% = 90,000 euros. End of story. Yes of course the 10% is included in the price paid by the buyer, but then you can't walk into a shop and see a refrigerator for 300 euros and say 'But, ah, you only paid 200 euros to the wholesaler'. The picture has got murky and confused because even the TV programmes talk about 'net vendor' prices, as though there is a market price for the property, onto which the agent's commission is then added. In reality, the correct market price of the property - i.e. the price at which is likely to sell compared to other similar properties on the market - is the 'net vendor' plus agency fee. To add the agency fee on top of the market price effectively kills the sale. Finally, forget all the myths about bargains and beating vendors down in price - every Department in France is recording price rises in the first six months of 2010 (apart from four) with predicted rises of 6% durying the rest of the year. As Will has said, significant price reductions are usually the result of over-valuation, usually by the vendor, who eventually comes to his senses. This is another recurring theme of TV programmes such as 'Maison à Vendre'. Finally, rejoice in the fact that your pound is currently - and maybe briefly - buying a lot more euros than it was a few weeks ago! P-D de R.

I always advise owners of a second home in France (i.e. one they do not occuply all the time) to arrange to have their EDF and other utility bills to be paid automatically by their French bank, using a 'prélèvement', while having the bill sent for information to their home address in UK or wherever. This avoids the situation where a bill goes astray and does not get paid, where bills arrive at home when in fact you are in France, and so on. The cut-off procedure is pretty swift and just another hassle to deal with, as the services are tending to centralise via call centres, and consequently you deal with an anonymous voice and not necessarily with sympathy. In the present case I can't see precisely what you will achieve by 'complaining' (this is not meant as a crticism) and for the sake of a quiet life I'd set up another 'prélèvement' and put it down to experience. Whoever said 'You can't fight City Hall' was probably right - you can but it's a thankless and tiresome excercise. P-D de R.

Please look at this from the point of view of the estate agent. As an example, while working for an estate agency in the Mediterranean area, two men and a woman walked in off the street, and said they wanted to see round a property advertised in the window, and on sale at 1.8 million euros. It was known locally to contain several valuable paintings and furniture, so we were always extra cautious when dealing with people we did not know. They went into long explanations of how they wanted to use it as a company conference centre, but they were in a rush and could they meet at the property that afternoon. As a normal precaution in most cases we asked for a copy of a passport, even before going on a viewing such as this and when asking the client to sign the 'bon de visite'. They said fine, they would come back to the office at 2.00pm as they did not have their papers with them (itself an offense under French law, especially if they were driving). We never saw them again. Now, 99% of people are probably totally honest but nonetheless they remain an unkown quantity. Why should I be asked to trust them, when posters on this site regularly caution against trusting (all) estate agents, Notaires, builders etc. I even had a client recently who asked my colleague for a copy of his 'carte professionelle' - a director of the agency, established 50 years and him in the business for nearly 20! So asking for proof of identity is quite normal, even at the visiting stage. You can hardly do anything in virtually any public office or business in France without this. P-D de R.

I have been in the French property business for nearly ten years, so I think I know what I am talking about. In my view, it is invariably unwise to 'fall in love with your dream house' when refering to something you have seen on the internet, let alone travel half way across the world to view it. The problem is that you are already thinking of this house as 'the one' rather than keeping a cool head, taking time, getting to know an area, viewing a selection of properties, and possibly not committing yourself on a first vist, and certainly not without taking time. Some of the questions that other posters suggest you ask are useful, but others not - for example, no-one urging you to buy a house is going to say it is located next door to the neighbours from hell! You need to re-visit the property and make your own judgement rather than rely on someone else's word. For example, planning permission can be granted at almost any time, so the fact that a plot of land does not have planning permission currently does not mean that this cannot change in the future. A lot of the questions a potential buyer wants to ask can only be answered with any validity when the 'expertises' (expert survey reports) are prepared, at the time of the pre-sale contract, which itself would be subject to these reports being satisfactory. You are unlikely to get this sort of detailed information during one or a series of preliminary visits. I would urge you to have faith in your estate agent and his knowledge and judgement. That said, do not look at them or any other third party as a scapegoat. An estate agent does not sell you a property, the customer buys it - it is your decision and yours alone. So proceed as you would with any other purchase, using your head rather than your heart! Best of luck, P-D de R.  

Auto-entrepreneur registrations have now reached half a million since January last year, so many more are being processed daily than in the early days. This might account for the delays. However when you register on-line your application is given a reference number, and you could use this to check where your application is in the system. Normally you receive your SIRET number relatively quickly, enabling you to start trading, while the social security element takes longer. Hope this may help - P-D de R.

Dear D-D Having read your post and the replies, can I offer the following: 1. The relatively new occupation of property finder (Fr. = 'chasseur de biens") has been popularised in variou French TV programmes such as 'Cherche appartement ou maison' on M6. However, like many good ideas, it has been messed up by the French bureaucracy and vested interests, who (choose to) insist that this activity comes under the loi Hoguet (regulating estate agency activities, thereby preserving a monopoly).  A Ministerial Reply of August 2008 finally cleared up the matter and stated that where the client ('mandant') pays the searcher for the service, it falls outside the loi Hoguet. In my own case, property searching is a miniscule part of my activities (and I don't find it particularly interesting) and our French registration states that we do not act as estate agents, do not take commissions, and we define our activities as coming under APE (trade classification) code 7022Z (consultancy). Given the above, you could register as an 'auto-entrepreneur' in France under this classification and develop a specialised service.   2. By way of preparation over the next couple of years, you could beef up your French (a lot of your work would involve translating and interpreting), and perhaps do a degree that covers French law. I did a Masters (LLM) at Warwick over two years, and specialised in comparative English/French law. When you arrive in France, you could spend some time working in an estate agency - easiest opening are as an 'agent commercial', not ideal but you get to learn the practicalities of the business, as no two property sales are alike. My two years in a local agency were very instructive and my former colleagues remain a valuable source of information and advice. 3. Armed with the above, you need to choose and get to know your area. I cover a very small patch but I guarantee I know virtually every appartment block or housing estate in the area! You need also to make your contacts with agencies, notaires (and their clerks, who do the real work), the planning department, the Mairie and others - this takes time but is essential. And finally, operating as a true (fee charging) independent, you need to be clear what added value you bring to the client looking to buy property and settle in France. Hope this gives you some food for thought and a little encouragement - P-D de R.    

The French estate agency sector suffers from a number of defects, including the fact that although it is highly regulated, a lot of the people you actually deal with are short term, temporary, part-time or independent negotiators. They may have little or no previous experience. It is only the owner of the business who is fully licensed and 'qualified' (by experience or certain types of university degree), and carries the required professional indemnity insurance. Many (independent) negotiators, some of whom are now starting to call themselves 'property searchers', rely on a sub-licence from an agency, sometimes from the Prefecture in another department, and it is hard to imagine with what sort of controls on quality and competence are in place. The recent downturn in the property sector has led to a reduction in fulltime employees in favour of freelancers working on commission only. Many find it hard to earn a living and leave after a few weeks, and the result is inevitably constant turnover of personnel. Poor photographs are often the result of the dire state in which many owners still offer their property for sale, and secrecy regarding precise location can be blamed on the system of owners signing sales mandates with several agencies - the result is too many negotiators competing to sell the sale property and earn a commission.   The job is a tough one and I have every sympathy with those trying to make a living and offer a reasonable level of service to their clients. P-D de R.

I did this recently, moving between two apartments which were reasonably close together. I found the following helped: 1. Using the same Notaire to handle both transactions - the sale of my apartment (A) and the purchase of the new apartment (B). 2. I signed the 'compromis de vente' for the purchase of B at the same time as my buyers signed a compromis for purchase of A (which I countersigned of course) - that way, we were both more or less protected from either party pulling out, as compensation would have been paid by one or another.  We had each paid a 10% deposit on our purchase, lodged with the Notaire. 3. Signature of the final act and completion were supposed to take place on the same day (rather like a UK 'chain'), but this slipped a little by mutual agreement. Because everyone knew everyone else (Notaire, agent, my buyers of A; and the agent knew the sellers of B)  I in fact moved out of my apartment A two weeks ahead to help my buyers (who wanted to start alterations before the summer deadline) and was allowed to store my furniture in apartment B (but not live in it - I squatted elsewhere) and move in finally two weeks later, on completion. It should be possible for both transactions to be completed on the same day, ideally by the same Notaire. But even in my case because from the outset I had stressed and had written into both compromis documents that one transaction was dependent on the other, given reasonable goodwill all round there were no hiccups. The sellers of apartment B were also anxious to complete, being in the throes of a divorce and having suffered an unreliable tenant who had left them with a trail of unpaid bills - so the circumstances helped. If your own situation is not quite the same (for example, the sums involved are larger) and you have any doubts at all,  my advice would be to always secure the sale of your existing property first - compromis, completion, money in the bank - before committing to a second purchase, even though you may have identified a property you want to buy. Completion can take as little as two weeks if you push everyone and you are a cash buyer, and at worst you may have to store your furniture temporarily and rent somewhere to live. Better that than finding yourself committed to a purchase and your existing property unsold. The golden rule is it is always easier to buy property than to sell........ Hope this helps a bit, very best of luck - P-D de R.  

Replying to your last question, if you have assets in, say, UK as well as France, under new European rules you can choose which jurisdiction - French or British - handles your estate on death. This does not change national rules, such as French succession laws already referred to, but it is intended to simplify the administration. A simple French will, hand written ('olographe') covering your French assets can cost under 100 euros and lodged with the Notaire; for more complex probably no need to spend more than 500 euros - based on personal experience. As already noted, the Notaire can advise on all the complexities such as protecting the surving spouse. Hope this helps - P-D de R.

A more creative approach might be to approach a local architect to get some initial ideas. So much depends on the site, its location, orientation etc as well as your friend's requirements - he may need to sqeeze a large house onto a small plot, his ideas about style, materials, layout etc. Buying off a developer's catalogue means you are paying a minimum 20 - 30 per cent profit margin, whereas using an architect and local builders you are paying for labour, materials plus a 12 - 15 per cent architect's fee - for full service from intial design to supervision of the construction. I have no links with architects but am a great fan of them, and have recently written in FPN about several projects involving a 100 m² home for under 100,000 euros (land excepted)). For inspiration and if your French is up to it,  I recommend looking at the projects described in the Archi Pas Chère series by Olivier Darmon (Editions Ouest-France), which has links to all the architects involved (names, contacts etc). You may find one in your region. Hope this offers some food for thought - P-D de R.

The main difference between buying a French property as your principal residence or as a second/holiday home is its treatment on re-sale for French capital gains tax. Your 'main or principal home' is exempt from CGT and its status is normally established by the Notaire handling the sale (who also acts as tax gatherer for the French government) using evidence such as your integration into the French system (registered for tax, registered in the French healthcare system, evidence of utility bills etc). As already noted other local and property taxes are the same, but in the case of a principal home, as you advance in age and/or are on a low income (such as the British pension!),  there are reductions and exemptions applicable

If you are already in France, you may have noticed that the price of new cars - especially those in the range of less than 10,000 euros - is often close to that of second-hand, with the advantage of getting a new model, purchase terms (even leaseback) and longer and longer guarantees/servicing deals. The price of 'nearly new' cars tends to be high, with a drop once the kiolmetrage is (often well) over 100,000 kms, where you will be offered a 3-month warranty and end of up buyng a load of uncertainty. (It is much the same, curiously, in the property business, which I confess I know more about.  With currently low interest rates monthly repayments on a mortgage are now often the same or less than a monthly rental on the equivalent property - plus of course the resale value...). P-D de R.

I am amazed that many vendors and/or their agents appear to be so casual when accepting an offer that is subject to the would-be purchaser securing his finances. In this case, the vendor apparently does not even know which bank has offered finance to the buyer - sometimes known as "a letter of comfort" - and any competent estate agent would require this as a minimum before advising a vendor to accept an offer subject to the sort of delays associated with this kind of arrangement. During which time, of course, the property is withdrawn from the market and cannot be offered for sale. It is true that theoretically the buyer is required to demonstrate "due diligence" in securing his loan but unless a (substantial) deposit has been paid and is held by the agency or the Notaire - and could be subject to forfeiture - many buyers, of all kinds, have a tendency to drag their feet, as witnessed by other posts on this and other forums on the subject. Meanwhile vendors have their own worries and concerns, possibly caught in a bridging loan situation, separation, divorce or urgent move, or anxious to put an offer on another property. I regularly advise buyers/sellers in these situations and urge all parties to have a little consideration for the other side, as well as observing the letter of the law when it comes to timescales and deadlines. P-D de R.

May I add my voice to those urging you to push your insurance company into action. I have a case of damage to my car caused by the Mairie and we are now approaching the first anniversary, with their insurance company still prevaricating, taking as long as possible to reply to letters, asking for papers they have already received etc etc. My insurers - GAN, bless them! - are determined to fight and win. They have similar cases - damage to cars through water filled pot-holes, now even worse since the snowfalls last week - and one case dating back to October 2008.  I too have witnesses, photographs etc - even evidence from the security people at the Mairie, as the damage occurred right outside their building. Do not give up. P-D de R.  

Dear Albert the I-G I take your point and read your always well-informed posts with great interest. I was basing my remarks in this case on the sort of problems described particularly on www.auto-entrepreneur.fr by French nationals, about dealing with the various 'caisses' etc, rather than the 'brits trying to use A-E as a back door route to health cover' thread. Best regards - P-D de R.

Hallo - a number of considerations. You need first to check that your qualifications as a groom/riding instructor and landcaper ('paysagiste') are recognised in France, and most importantly that you can get adequate professional and public liability insurance. This can be particularly difficult for those with 'foreign' qualifications. Regarding a gite, many are struggling at the moment, unless you offer something very special or different, activities, vegetarain/organic food etc. Taxes in France are broadly similar to UK but the social contributions can be a huge burden - 45% of income under some regimes. The approximate equivalent to self-employment in France is the 'auto-entrepreneur' regime which you can investigate on the internet, and on this and other forums, but there are doubts about how easy it is to get adequate social cover if this is your only income source. Private medical cover is hard to get - in spite of the adverts! - and expensive. Finally, you need to be sure you have a market for your services and an income stream from day one, a sufficient budget to buy a property, and savings to fall back on in the event that things do not go as smoothly as anticipated. Do research the forums and elsewhere before making any irrevocable decisions. France currently has high unemployment but last year there was a record number of new business creations. P-D de R.

First of all, my heartfelt sympathies for this situation which is stressful and intrusive. On the practical side, there is a comprehensive body of French law covering 'troubles de voisinage' (neighbour problems), including day and night time noise ('tapage nocturne'), music, DIY activities, noisy appliances, smells etc. You must, as suggested in some of the replies, make a formal complaint ('porter plainte') to the police and mairie, and if necessary consult an 'avocat' about formal legal action. The actions you desribe are both civil and criminal offenses, especially if - as they seem - they are deliberate and malicious, and are punishable by both fines or worse, and damages, plus an injunction to desist. The is also a local mediation service ('médiateur du coin') but this requires reasonable goodwill on both sides to be effective, and may not be appropriate in the situation you describe. I hope this goes some way to helping you resolve this problem - P-D de R.

Are you referring to the compromis de vente when you say that the vendor is unable to, or has not yet signed, 'the contract'? This situation rings alarm bells, as either there are multiple owners/vendors, in which case all their names and signatures should appear on the compromis and acte finale. And they should equally all have signed a sales mandate with the agent before the property was put on the market. Family differences should have been sorted out well before this stage. If on the other hand there is truly only one single owner/vendor, then disputes with his/her family about how he/she might share the proceeds of the sale are of no concern to you the buyers, and do not constitute a reason for delaying the sale. This is a bad situatiion and I think you need to speak urgently to both the agent and the Notaire to clarify. Cordialement - P-D de R.  

You need to proceed with caution. In every commune where there is a PLU ('plan local d'urbanisme') a 'déclaration de cloture' must be addressed to the Mairie before any work begins. The height and type of enclosure is subject to local planning rules and, if applicable, the rules of the co-ownership (for example in the case of a 'lotissement'). Special rules apply to enclosures that border the public highway and to those separating a neighbouring property, for which the services of a land suverveyor ('géometre') may be required, to establish the precise boundary.  It is inadvisable to start any work without the required permission as it could be dismantled if it is found to infringe any required conditions. It may seem a lot for a bit of fencing but better safe than sorry. Hope this helps - P-D de R.