Do we need to use a UK based French conveyancing firm to complete purchase of home in France?

[Snixy]

We have just had our offer accepted on a little house in the Creuse, which is to be our holiday home. We have a lovely estate agent who has promised to guide us through the whole process. However, I have read much about the importance of having your own solicitor to represent your needs when buying in France, since the notaire is there to ensure that all admin is correctly processed, rather than ensuring the buyers needs are met. What are people's views on the importance of having a solicitor? We attended a property exhibition recently in the UK and the attending specialist Law firm quotes an average of £3k fees for their work :( However, helpful though our agent is, in reality they are working to get the sale through for the vendor...I wondered if there is some middle ground where services of a legal translator could be used to ensure the contract is in order? I do speak French, but my knowledge of legal jargon is poor. Thanks in advance for any advice available

[mint]

AFAIK, no benefit in paying for a UK firm on top of paying for the notaire who would do all that is necessary to ensure the sale is legal.

If you are worried about not understanding the contract, you could try an English-speaking notaire or, instead of paying solicitor's fees, I think your money could be better spent on having the documents translated by a registered, qualified translator.

[BritinBretagne]

Using solicitors is not the norm in France. The Notaire is responsible for the paperwork and taxes and they will insist that you know enough French to understand what you are signing but that means a translator not a bilingual lawyer.

[BritinBretagne]

Snap!

[idun]

If you need a translator, then there will be legalise translators in France, employ one.

Having your own notaire, boff, they are paper pushers in France,

they get the paperwork prepared, and sort the taxes out, sometimes in

their own sweet time, others are efficient. And you will never know

which is good, inefficiency is just a risk one takes. My feeling is that all Notaires feel that their responsibility is to the state and neither side of the sale.

It is the taxes that make them so expensive. Arm and a leg they are.

And that paperwork, well, there are pages and pages of it, and things like rights of way etc are skimmed over without a thought, when these things can be, at best, more or less fine, and worst a nightmare to deal with.

The only thing that our notaire, because we naively believed that we should have our own, was interested in, was  reiterating at least a dozen times was that I should not peg washing out at the front of the house! My neighbours on our little estate did just that with the same paperwork, but I never did and never would have done. No idea if they had been told the same when they bought, but it was on the paperwork.

The rights of way were too....... and if it were mentioned at all was so quick that neither of us caught it.......and that certainly created problems over the years...... and since we sold has created awful problems for my old neighbours and our buyer.

So hire a legal translator, although at this point in the proceedings, even if something was wrong and you have paid your deposit, I cannot help but wonder how you could get out of the sale.

[Patf]

I agree with Idun, especially on the rights of way issue which is so complicated in France.

We sold our first house to a couple from Holland and they brought their own lawyer. They did an inspection of the house with him, and all he did was check the light switches and other electrics worked.

For our second sale, to a french couple, we weren't there, gave the notaire power of attorney.The only slight query which came out later was that they hadn't realised the significance of the provided adverse report on the fosse septique. They were from Paris, so only used to mains drainage.

[Snixy]

Thank you all for your replies, which are all very reassuring. I think we will discuss our concerns with the agent and look for a good translator. Thanks again!

[PaulT]

We used our own Notaire - no extra charge than if both buyer and seller use the same one.

The legal documents I put through Google Translate. Whilst the translation may not be 100% perfect nothing came up that caused us to want to have a translator then do it.

3k for the UK firm sounds like a very nice little earner - did you pay anywhere near 3k when you bought your last house in the UK? Bet their sales pitch was full of dangers if you did not use their services.

[idun]

True it costs no more if both parties have their own notaires in France.

Personally, I have yet to find a decent notaire in France who gives a hoot about their client. Sure that they must exist, but I have never heard of one.

[Weegie]

Probably because you aren't their client.  [:D]

[mint]

 I think using different notaires could waste a lot of time.  Think about it, they have to communicate with each other as well as with their respective clients.

When we sold our house, the buyers who were from St Omer wanted to appoint their own notaire but I persuaded them to use our local one, pointing out that they could appoint madame's parents (who lived nearby) to sign the acte if they didn't want to come all the way again from St Omer.

For my part, I didn't want more to-ing and fro-ing with questions to answer as I was able to deal with most things on the phone or to pop in with documents to leave with the notaire's secretary.  Just as well as it was a complicated sale and could have been strung out for months.  TBH, I wanted the sale to go through quickly as it was becoming a bind going back and forth to ventilate the house and cut the grass.