House Buying Process whilst still in the UK

[Sheena]

I wonder if anyone can take my husband and I through the final stages of buying process.

We have signed the initial contract and are awaiting the final contract to be sent to us via fax/email (we have been informed this will be appromixately the end of October).

The questions I have are around the following:-

1. Insuring the property
2. Change of ownership for electricity/water bills, phone bills, etc - who will ask for the meters to be read?
3. Have completion dates been delayed by days or just hours? We are hopefully arranging to have the furniture delivered in the same week of the completion.
4. Final payment will be made via a french bank account by cheque in advance of the completion date. So hopefully this should be relatively easy??

Is there anything I have not thought of?

Sheena

[Will]

LAST EDITED ON 18-Sep-03 AT 08:25 AM (GMT)

>1. Insuring the property
This needs to be done on completion. Sometimes you can take over the existing policy, but normally you would need to get in touch with a French insurance agent near to your house, or arrange insurance via your French bank. Online insurance is common in GB but seems virtually non-existent in France, probably because of the very complicated form-filling needed for anything French.

>2. Change of ownership for
>electricity/water bills, phone bills, etc
>- who will ask for
>the meters to be read?
If you are buying through a decent immobilier, they will arrange this, or at least help you. Otherwise it's up to you to contact EdF, France Telecom, the local water company etc.

>3. Have completion dates
>been delayed by days or
>just hours? We are
>hopefully arranging to have the
>furniture delivered in the same
>week of the completion.
If you have a firm completion date then that should stand. However dates can be changed - one of the most common reasons is that the notaire just has not got the paperwork ready. If planning permissions, French mortgages etc are involved, or if you have suspensive clauses in your preliminary contract then these can all delay completion until all questions are resolved.

>4. Final payment will be
>made via a french bank
>account by cheque in advance
>of the completion date. So
>hopefully this should be relatively
>easy??
As easy as anything involving a French bank. That should not be a problem as long as there are funds in the account and time is allowed for clearance.

>Is there anything I have not
>thought of?
One thought strikes me - it is normally required that the buyer and seller both sign the Acte de Vente on completion. That means you need to be present in the notaire's offices on completion day. If this is not possible you can appoint somebody else as power of attorney to sign on your behalf, this can be a member of the notaire's staff or anybody, but needs to be arranged through the notaire in advance. If you are going to be there in person to sign then that will make it far easier to sort out insurance, utilities etc.

You also need to sort out, with the notaire or some other person qualified in French law, the best regime under which to buy the property in order to reduce inheritance tax liability and ensure that should anything happen to you the property passes to whom you wish. This is important if you are married, particularly if you have been married before and there are children from previous marriages, and even more important if you are in an unmarried partnership of any kind. You will come across phrases like 'en tontine', 'donation entre epouses', 'SCI', 'PACS' etc and it is important to get this right before the Acte de Vente as it can be very difficult to change afterwards.

I hope this helps. Others may disagree as their experiences will be different, but that's all part of French life.