For sale

The process for buying and selling property in France is highly regulated by the French Government, with the whole process being checked and rechecked to ensure a fair and legal transaction takes place. The system protects both buyer and seller alike, and is one of the safest countries to buy a property in the world. It is very rare in France for property transactions to go astray, as any issues with title deeds and planning permissions are very strictly controlled.

With Propriétés & Co, the process for buying your property will proceed as follows:

1. Initial reservation: To reserve a property, you'll first need to complete a Client Reservation Form (available from your sales representative) and return it to us. This reservation form contains all the relevant information, which will be needed to prepare your reservation contract.
2. Signing of the reservation contract: Upon receipt of the Client Reservation Form we will prepare and send you two copies of the reservation contract for you to sign. This contract contains the buyer’s and the developer’s details, as well as all the basic details of the property being purchased, including the technical specifications of the property, fixtures and fittings etc.
   Once you have signed both copies of the reservation contract and returned return them to us. We'll sign both copies, and send you one copy back by registered mail. Once you have received this copy a seven day “cooling off period” then comes into effect, during which you can cancel your purchase, for any reason by sending a registered letter. Once this ten day cooling off period has finished, you are legally committed to buying the property.
   Failure to secure finance: The one exception to this commitment is if you fail to secure the required funding for the purchase. In these circumstances you are free to cancel the contract and exit without penalty.
3. Payment of deposit: Upon signing the reservation contract you pay a deposit of 5% of the purchase price to reserve your property. This deposit is sent to an escrow (holding) bank account, which is a system that all Notaires follow in France. This is controlled by the Notaire and to which only he has access. The Notaire provides us with proof the deposit has been transferred. However we do not have any access to the deposit until the final signature of the Acte de Vente (deed of sale), and transfer of official title of the property to you.
4. Making your finance available: Once the reservation contract has been signed, your next step is to secure your financing.
5. Signature of Acte de Vente: Once you have secured your financing, and we have satisfied the Notary that all the necessary guarantees, insurance and permissions are in place, the Notary prepares the documents for exchange of the title deeds (the ‘Acte de Vente’).
   There're two ways in which you can sign the Acte de Vente. One is to come to France in person and sign, or ‘by proxy’ with a public notary in your home country. If you choose to sign at your home country you will need to sign a proxy form instructing the Notaire to sign the final Acte de Vente on your behalf. Once you have signed the Acte de Vente, you will become the owner of the property.
6. Making Stage Payments: The schedule for making the stage payments for the renovation/construction of the property is strictly controlled by French law, with payments being made at the completion of each stage of the property construction. The completion of each stage has to be verified and certified by the onsite architect.

The properties are sold under the legal status of "Vente en Etat Futur d'Achèvement" (VEFA). As such, the milestone payments are those provided for by the Construction Code.