Experts reports for houses

[minnie]

Early days yet but just wondering. I know that when one sells in France one must obtain the various experts reports in relation to termites, asbestos, lead and electrics prior to selling. If any of these fail, and with the agreement of the buyer, can one sell the property at a reduced price to accommodate failings or is it obligatoire to have the work done before the buyer can finalise the purchase. Just thinking that there are some old properties around which have been empty for years who are quite likely to fail. Anyone know the law on this?

[EuroTrash]

It's not a case of pass or fail - the report is just that, a report. Obviously if it says there is asbestos or termites or dodgy electrics or a non conforming fosse, then the buyer will either walk away or expect you to fix it or reduce the cost. It's all part of the negotiation process and it will depend on how serious the problem is. But there is no law to prevent you selling a house with problems. The law is mainly concerned with ensuring that you don't cover up any faults in order to mislead the buyer.

[minnie]

Thanks Eurotrash, a very helpful reply and what I was hoping for. If we were to move we'd be going to the other side of the world and would need to sell relatively quickly at whatever price. Our visa would require a permanent move within 12 months of acceptance. Basically the price of the house would be whatever somebody might pay for it. I wonder if auction of houses is an option anyway....

[Loiseau]

Minnie, somebody happens to have just sent me some info about auctions. You might find it interesting reading:

http://www.notaires.fr/multimedia/document/VAE2016/Catalogue-Province-Semaine-vente-encheres-2016.pdf

It looks as if there might an annual week of property auctions each spring. Not sure if they are held at other times of year.

Angela

[Chancer]

[quote user="EuroTrash"] Obviously if it says there is asbestos or termites or dodgy electrics or a non conforming fosse, then the buyer will either walk away or expect you to fix it or reduce the cost. It's all part of the negotiation process [/quote]

 

That might be true of an unenlightened foreign buyer but my friend recently sold a prefabricated asbestos house with old non conforming electrics  for the full asking price which was set correctly and sensibly, of course the surveys showed that the external walls and roofs were all asbestos and that the electrics  did not conform to the current normes but it was an old house.

 

Were the buyer to have got devis' to "put it right" my friend would have had to pay them probably €50K to take it off of his hands, in paying the full asking price they got a great deal because the land and services including mains drainage are worth a great deal of money.

[minnie]

Thank you Loiseau - just what I needed to know. Thanks everybody else for your contributions.

[AnOther]

https://www.immobilier.notaires.fr/en/home

and even in English, well partly anyway, typical French supposedly bi-lingual site, drill past the home page and that's it !

[minnie]

Thanks AnOther. That immo interactif looks OK too. Briefly our circumstances: only child (now 40) lives in New Zealand. She can sponsor us so we have decided that now might be the right time. Any number of hoops to go through before residents visa obtained. Once approved one has to move there within 12 months. The way house sales are in France it could take years...However we have decided that if we do go and want to sell quickly we have to be prepared to sell for whatever someone is prepared to pay. Whether we get that far is anyone's guess!

[mogs]

Minnie, I'm not sure so try to check it out, but I believe that once all the expert reports are done there is a time limit on them, ie, if you get them done next week they will only last for 2 years (not sure of exact time). I do know some people who've taken ages to sell and had to have diagnostics done again.

Our fosse was installed in 2009 and know that it has to have another certificate as it's more than 4 years old.

Maybe someone can clarify this.

[minnie]

Yes mogs. Until we finally decide on where our long term future lies and pass through all NZ hoops (including health checks) things will stay as they are. If and when the house goes on the market we'll either advertise it very cheaply or go down the auction/tender route at which point we'll get the experts sorted.

[mint]

[quote user="mogs"]Minnie, I'm not sure so try to check it out, but I believe that once all the expert reports are done there is a time limit on them, ie, if you get them done next week they will only last for 2 years (not sure of exact time). I do know some people who've taken ages to sell and had to have diagnostics done again.

Our fosse was installed in 2009 and know that it has to have another certificate as it's more than 4 years old.

Maybe someone can clarify this.[/quote]

The diagnostics have different parts to them and some parts, like gas and electrics, do last for 2 years but termites only last for 6 months.

The fosse inspection is as you say but is carried out separately by your local "fosse" body and does not form part of the diagnostics.

The energy and emissions report needs to be done BEFORE or right after the house is advertised.

If you still have the old paperwork when you bought and you can get hold of the original firm, it's quite a good idea to have the same people do it for the sale.

Of course, if you are using an immo, then they will sort all this out for you and explain the significance of these things and the timing of when they need to be done. 

[Pommier]

Don't just let an immobilier arrange for the diagnostics; phone around as the difference in costs can be several hundred euros.