strake Posted June 7, 2013 Share Posted June 7, 2013 My parents have a house in France (Auvergne) which was basically a holiday home for the family as we grew up. They lived there for a while but came back to the UK a few years back. It is now our property. We like the French lifestyle but if we bought our own house, we would not choose the same area (more coastal for us), so have decided to sell.My question is, in the hope some may have experience here, can we manage the whole sale process from the UK just advertising privately and then appointing a lawyer or would the general advice be to appoint a sales agent in France - even though this seems to be very expensive? We've dipped our toe in the process by advertising with a couple of the standard property websites but not a bite after about three weeks.As is probably apparent, we know little about the French selling/buying process! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NormanH Posted June 7, 2013 Share Posted June 7, 2013 You don't need a lawyer but you will need a Notaire, who is paid for by the buyer.If it is a second property there may be Value added tax to pay depending on how long you have owned it.Most French property is sold privately, but with your lack of experience you would be best biting the bullet and using one of the horrendously expensive agents.Don't expect to have a quick sale unless you set an extremely low price as the market is pretty dead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strake Posted June 7, 2013 Author Share Posted June 7, 2013 Thank you very much for your reply. Amazingly, just after posting above, a private ad we placed on a site yesterday came up with three responses today - two sound pretty positive so we might just get a sale without an agent. In any event, we'll be doing some intensive reading over the weekend about the process.Strake Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nomoss Posted June 8, 2013 Share Posted June 8, 2013 The process of selling the house will be similar to that when you inherited the property and it was transferred into your name(s).Suggest you use the same Notaire as you used then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Roy Posted June 8, 2013 Share Posted June 8, 2013 Wouldn't capital gains tax be involved in a sale like this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strake Posted June 8, 2013 Author Share Posted June 8, 2013 As far as we understand, CGT is payable on any amount over the original price paid after a number of criteria are taken into account - namely costs and time since the purchase. From our side, we're pretty relaxed about that as it's a given so best treated as something that has to be done - although minimised where possible. Our main concern was whether we'd actually get someone to buy the property given the depressed state of the market but we now have four interested parties so just want to press ahead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strake Posted June 8, 2013 Author Share Posted June 8, 2013 "The process of selling the house will be similar to that when you inherited the property and it was transferred into your name(s).Suggest you use the same Notaire as you used then".Sorry, I didn't make that clear. The property has not been inherited, it has been gifted for various reasons - and I understand that has specific issues as to how we deal with any sale. It may be we do the sale in our parents name. This is why the lawyer/Notaire requirement is quite specific for us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nomoss Posted June 8, 2013 Share Posted June 8, 2013 In that case use the same Notaire who was used when the property was gifted to you.If the gift was not made officially (through a French Notaire), and any transfer taxes due paid, then the property is still in your parents name(s), and only they can dispose of it.If this is the case, depending on the value of the property, it might be better from a tax point of view for your parents to gift it to you, taking advantage of the tax free allowances on gifts to family members, and for you to subsequently sell it yourselves, but you should seek expert financial advice on this.There are plenty of specialised companies in both France and UK offering such a service. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lucasn555 Posted June 9, 2013 Share Posted June 9, 2013 Would be interested to know where you advertised to get buyers- we have been trying for months without a bite Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strake Posted June 9, 2013 Author Share Posted June 9, 2013 nomoss,Thanks again for your advice - much appreciated.lucas,Well, we gave up on the English advertising sites as there just wasn't any response. Happy to provide more info if you pm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Hamery Posted August 9, 2013 Share Posted August 9, 2013 I suggest that you appoint a French lawyer (an 'avocat') who speaks English, rather than simply relying on French Notaires. I would stay away from all the so-called 'French property law specialists' which are UK firms and do not even have an office in France. If matters turn to worse, those lawyers who are not based in France will almost be unable to do anything except perhaps invoicing you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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