Properties for sale in France

visit the pictures for further details of properties for sale in France:

Plot of land for sale, Bellenaves, Auvergne. 26,000 Euros For sale by private owner. south facing plot with lovely views of the surrounding countryside.

Bellenaves, Auvergne. 120,000 Euros For sale by private owner, beautiful stone cottage with exposed beams, garden and adjacent barn.

Charroux, Auvergne, France. 175,000 Euros For sale by private owner a beautifully restored 400 year old cottage with wine cellar and walled gardens in one of the most beautiful villages in France.

North Dordogne, Aquitaine. 295,000 Euros For sale by private owner, bright and airy 3 bedroom house with land and separate 2 bedroom Gite.

Perignac, South West France 321,000 Euros Pretty French country house with 6 bedroom and 3 bathrooms, wine cellar and swimming pool. The house is in very good decorative order and has gas central heating and lovely views.

Charroux, Auvergne, France 350,000 Euros Pretty 500 year old village cottage with wine cellar, annex and barn, renovated in 2001 complete with Oak beams, whitewashed walls, red tiled floors, large stone fireplaces with garden and large private South/West terrace.

Vence, Cote d'Azur. 375,000 Euros For sale by private owner. 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom luxury apartment with two balconies near to Nice and Antibes with beautiful views.

Grand Angouleme. 407,500 Euros Beautiful 3 bedroom 1 bathroom stone property, in good decorative order with fitted kitchen, gas central heating, garage and pleasing outlook.

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Buying A Property In France Initial Agreement An agreement is negotiated between buyer and seller and the initial contract which is called a Sous-seing Privé, if drawn up by an French Estate Agent, or a Compromis de Vente, if prepared by the Notaire, is then signed by both parties. This is an important legal document, binding on both parties. At this stage the buyer pays a deposit of a minimum of 10% of the purchase price which is held in a special account at the Notaires office until such time as completion takes place or the purchase is aborted. At this stage the property is taken off the market. There are other kinds of less familiar contract such as the Promesse de Vente where the contract is not binding on both parties to the same extent as the Compromis. By signing it the vendors still commit themselves to selling the property to the purchasers, but this commitment takes the form of promising not to sell it to anyone else within a stated period, usually 3 months. A deposit of between 5% and 10% is again paid and again the purchaser will usually forfeit the deposit if they do not go ahead. There exist other forms of preliminary contract such as the offre de vente, offre d'achat and an exchange de lettres - none of which are recommended in preference to the Compromis or the Promesse. Once the Compromis or Sous-Seing Privé has been signed there follows a period of generally 6 - 8 weeks in which the searches are carried out to ensure that the property is not subject to any imminent environmental changes and during which time the purchaser will be required to resolve the financing of the purchase. These searches and the other contractual matters are carried out by the Notaire. The Notaire is unlike most European Solicitors or Lawyers as he is not appointed to act for either party in the transaction but as a public official whose duty is to the State. Their function is to ensure that the transaction is carried out legally and accurately and in accordance with the proper processes and to give the transaction absolute validity that cannot be contested. Accordingly, it is unnecessary to appoint a second Notaire to act for yourselves, although you may feel more `comfortable' having your own Notaire or perhaps European Lawyer to explain some of the points that arise which may be unclear as it unusual for Notaires to volunteer advice. If the buyer intends to take out a mortgage then it is necessary for this to be declared at the time of the agreement and a substantive clause in the Compromis protects the purchasers interests in the event that a loan is not made available. In this event, the sale does not proceed and the deposit is returned. In the event of the discovery of a planned nuisance through the searches, the buyer can withdraw and the deposit is returned. Should, however, the buyer break the contract, the deposit is paid to the vendor as an indemnity - conversely, should the vendor break the contract, the deposit is returned to the purchaser. Final Contract At the end of this period, which can be extended at the agreement of both parties, the final contract, the Acte de Vente is signed at the Notaires office and the property passes to the buyer, who must pay the balance of the purchase price to the Notaire who then pays the vendor. It should be noted that the balance must be in the Notaires possession before the contract is signed. It will also be necessary to provide to the Notaire before completion a copy of your birth certificate translated into French and, if applicable, a copy of a Marriage Certificate also in French. Early advice should be sought in order to understand fully the complexities of French succession law which does not allow you to leave your share of the property to whom you wish - even if you have an existing Will. There are ways of circumnavigating these laws but if you wish to leave this French property to your heirs, it will be necessary for you to take action before the purchase is completed. From the signing of the Contract the purchaser is responsible for the insurance of all the buildings on the property. Fees and Commission The buyer pays the legal fees and registration taxes which amount to approximately 7.5% of the purchase price, including any costs that might have been incurred such as establishing boundaries, repositioning boundaries and preparing plans for the Acte de Vente. These fees are paid to the Notaire on the day of signature of the Acte de Vente and are paid as an all encompassing sum together with the balance of the purchase price. The vendor pays the Agencys commission. Under certain exceptional circumstances these are paid by the purchaser but if this is the case this should be agreed in advance and included within the Mandat, the official instruction from the Vendor to the Agent, and made known to the purchaser at the outset. Planning applications in France If you want to change the external appearance of your property you will need outline planning permission or Certificat d'Urbanisme Positif. The application can be made by either the Notary or a Land Surveyor (Geometre), and is lodged at the Mairie (Town Hall), for consideration by the Mayor and the town or village council. Despite the Mayor's authority the application is then passed up to the departmental planning office or Direction Departmentale de l'Equipement. Given their final approval the mayor issues the required certificate. Matters may be complicated if your property is close to, say, a listed historical monument in which case the application will also be considered by l'Architecte de Batiments de France. These certificates are valid for one year from the date of issue and are automatically renewable for a further year, although the extension has to be applied for. The actual building permission, then, has to be applied for within 24 months of the date of issue of the certificate. If the net surface area to be built upon does not exceed 170 m2 you do not need to call upon the services of an architect to make the application for building permission. Net in this case means the area of the floors excluding those parts not fit for residential use, terraces and balconies. Agricultural holdings, farms and buildings are covered by different regulations. The application for building permission should be forwarded, with detailed plans, to the town hall and confirmation of reception obtained in writing. The town hall then displays your application and, within 15 days writes to you giving the date by which you can expect to receive a decision and stating that if you receive no reply by that date you can assume that you have tacit approval. This process should normally take two months. If you obtain approval, tacit or written, you have two years to carry out the works approved. A 12 month extension can be obtained upon application. When you finally get started you must advise the authorities that you have done so, in triplicate, and you must post a sign giving the details of your authorisation. Should you wish to extend an existing construction no authorisation is required if the area concerned is less than 20 m2. Nor does an application have to be made for an open-air swimming pool. This should only be regarded as a brief explanation of the very complex system that is the French Planning Law. Details for your own particular circumstances should be obtained from a Notaire or Geometre. Glossary Of French Legal Terms: A acompte - deposit, sum paid in advance (a certain percentage of the purchase price) achat - a purchase acquérer - purchaser acte authentique - legal paper drawn up (with all due formalities), by a public officer empowered by law (e.g. a notaire) in the place where he officiates acte sous seing privé - private agreement in writing with no witnesses (the pre-sale agreement) acte de vente - a conveyance or transfer of land (sometimes referred to as acte d'achat) agence immobilière - estate agent arrhes - sum paid in advance by the purchaser, forfeited if purchaser withdraws or double the amount refunded if the vendor withdraws assurance décès - life insurance assurance décès, invalidité et en général et incapacité - insurance covering death, invalidity and incapacity attestation d'acquisition - a notarial certificate that the property purchase has been completed attestation de conformité aux règles de sécurité - certificate of security standards attestation de propriété - proof of ownership of a property attribution de juridication - formal signing of a purchase contract authentique - document authorised by a notaire autorisation de prélèvement automatique - direct debit autorisation provisoire de travail - temporary work permit B bail - lease to tenant bail commercial - commercial lease baileur - landlord banque de consignation - the bank where the notaire places the deposits, with no interest accruing to either party or the notaire C cadastre - local town planning register recording details of land-holdings carte bleue - debit card carte professionnelle - granted by the Préfecture to estate agents to carry out business carte de crédit - credit card carte d'identité - identity card carte de retraite - cash card carte de commerçant étranger - foreign resident business permit carte de séjour - government permit to reside in France (also called permis de sejour) caution - security deposit/guarantee centre des impôts - tax office certificat d'urbanisme - zoning certificate (equivalent to a local authority search) cession - transfer of ownership or rights chèque - cheque chéquier - cheque book charges - maintenance charges on a property (e.g. water, electricity) clause particulière - special condition clause pénale - penalty clause governing performance of an agreement clause suspensive - a conditional clause in a contract that must be met in order for the sale to reach completion code du travail - French employment law commission compris (C/C) - agency commission included commission non compris- agency commission not included code du travail - French employment law communauté - joint estate of a husband and wife compromis de vente - contract for sale and purchase of land comptable - accountant comptant - cash purchase compte à terme - deposit account compte courant - current account compte joint - joint account compte séquestre - deposit help in a special escrow account pending fulfilment of certain conditions conditions particulières - special conditions conditions suspensives - conditional terms stated in the pre-sale agreement (e.g. the acquiring of a loan, the gaining of a positive zoning certificate) conseiller fiscal - tax advisor conseiller juridiques - professional legal advisor conservation des hypothèques - mortgage/land registry constat d'huissier - factual statement prepared by a bailiff which is irrefutable in court constructible - land which is designated for building under local planning scheme contrat â durée indéterminée (CDI) - employment contract of unspecified duration contrat â durée déterminée (CDD) - employment contract of a specified duration contrat de réservation - the purchase contract used for purchase "on plan" (sometimes called contract préliminaire) contrat préliminaire - preliminary contract convention - agreement convention collective - sector specific collective agreement on employment relations contrat de prêt - mortgage contract copropriété - co-ownership D date de livraison prévue - expected date of completion décennale - 10 year warranty provided by artisan déclaration de sincérité - compulsory formula providing that the purchase price has not been increased by a counter-deed département - administrative area within a region dépôt de garantie - deposit paid when renting or buying a property dévis - written quotation direction départmentale de l'équipement (DDE) - departmental surveyors, land planning and public works department domicile fiscal - main residence for tax purposes droit de passage - right of way droit de préemption - pre-emptive right to acquire the property instead of purchaser droit de succession/donation - inheritance/gift tax droits d'enregistrement - stamp duty paid by the purchaser durée - duration of mortgage E EDF/GDF - The state utilities: Electricité de France, Gaz de France emoulements - the scale of charges of the notaire enregistrement (droits d') - registration of the title of ownership (following of which are the payment of transfer duties) etats des lieux - schedule of condition or schedule of dilapidations depending on whether it applies to the beginning or end of a lease expédition - the certified copy of a notarial document showing the date of its registration and the registration duty paid expert comptable - chartered accountant expert foncier - professional to check on the state and value of the property (usually an architect) expertiser - to value a property F FNAIM - Federation Nationale des Agents Immobilier - national association of estate agents, providing a compensation fund for defaulting agents fonds de roulement - capital supplied by all flat-owners, in an appartment block, on top of service charges to meet unexpected liabilities frais de notaire - total sum of money to be paid to the notaire on top of the sale price (includes, notaire fee, registration duty, land registration duty and other charges) G géomètre - surveyor appointed by the notaire to certify the dimensions of the property according to the cadastre H HT - hors taxe - not including sales tax hussier - has many official duties, including baliff and process server; is used to record evidence (for example on the state of property) where legal proceedings are considered hypothèque - mortgage - where the property is used as security for the loan I immobilière - real estate agent indivision - joint-ownership J jouissance - right of possession which must occur simultaneously with the transfer of ownership K L location - renting (tenancy) loi scrivener - the law protecting borrowers from French lenders and sellers on French property purchases in all cases other than a purchase on plan lots - land registry plots applied in apartment blocks "lu et approuvé", "bon pour achat" - - phrases written accompanying signature of contract ("read and approved", "good for acquisition") M mairie - town hall mandat de recherche - private agreement giving power to estate agent to look for property marchand de biens - real estate dealer monuments historiques - listed buildings N nue-propriété - reversionary interest where the purchaser has no occupational rights over the property until the death or prior surrender of the life tenant O occupation - occupant of the premises (either tenant or occupant without good title) offre d'achat/de vente - an offer to buy or sell property which is not itself a binding contract P paiment comptant - cash payment parties communes - common parts of buildings parties privatives - parts of the building restricted to the private use of the owner permis de construire - planning permission plan de financement - financing scheme plus-value - capital gain realised on the sale of the property prélèvement - direct debit Q R rejeter - to bounce a cheque réservation - the deposit paid in a contract de réservation réservation, contract de - type of contract for the purchase of property état de achèvement futur résiliation - cancellation of a contract S SAFER - local government organisation supposed to ensure the proper use of agricultural land, sometimes they will hold pre-emptive rights to buy land securité social - French national health system société - legally registered company T TTC - toutes taxes comprise - including sales tax TVA - taxe sur la valeur ajoutée - value added tax tantiéme - proportion of of the common parts of a copropriété owned jointly with other appartment owners taxe d'habitation - rate levied on the occupation of property taxe fonciére - local tax on the ownership of property testament - a will timbres fiscal - some official documents (e.g. applications for the carte de sejour) carry a revenue stamp tontine - joint ownership troisiéme age - senior citizens (old age pensioners) U V W X Y Z