A Big Negotiation: The reality of buying property in France

For me, this was a big meeting. On a Sunday evening in February, a little over one month after we had arrived, the owner of the property asked to meet with us to discuss buying the Bastide. My husband and I decided it would be appropriate to do this over dinner at La Ravanelle.

This added another layer of stress as I need to really concentrate when I cook. Preparing everything, juggling the girls, and remembering the conversation will be conducted in French meant I needed to focus more than I normally would.

The evening with the vendor

The owner is Swiss and he was on time. He was early, which I love. You only have to see the precision to which the Bastide had been renovated to know this is someone who pays attention to time and detail. I think he was very happy we had invited him for dinner. I had fed the girls before he arrived so I could play hostess and enjoy a glass of champagne. Conversation was easy and after my second glass, I found my French flowing like a native. He was impressed.

He commented:

after a month you are speaking French!” I thanked him but had to confess that I had learnt French at school and my French had improved a lot living in a French household.

The night was progressing smoothly, dinner was cooking and I had just put our eldest daughter to bed. I could decipher that my husband and the owner were discussing the particulars of the deal to buy the Bastide. I couldn’t quite understand everything but gathered we were to pay a certain amount as a deposit and that we would become the equivalent of directors in the company that owned it. This high-level discussion all appeared to be simple. If it had been in Australia buying the shares in a company was something that I understood. But in France, the laws and the level of language required to understand this detail would need to be reviewed by our French accountant and a lawyer.

My mind was whirling, turning over all the scenarios. I put our second daughter to bed and when I came back down we all enjoyed a simple meal of roast beef, sautéed potatoes and green beans. I desperately wanted to know what had been agreed but didn’t want to stop the flow of conversation. I could tell my husband was happy. He had waited for me to come back from putting our daughter to bed before we finally shook hands on what they had agreed.

I was beside myself knowing that we could buy the house, stay in France, and continue our French dream. Three kisses on each cheek with the owner were exchanged to seal the deal. He appeared to be happy too. His family had just purchased another house in the area, but he said it was with a “tear in his eye” that they were selling this Bastide. It is a home with very special energy. You can tell immediately when you walk through the front doors so I can relate when he says he is sad. We will look after it with the same love and attention. My husband promised that we wouldn’t change anything and of course, he can visit anytime.

Buying Property in France: Now for the hard part!

It was not a straightforward sale of land from seller to purchaser. It was the sale of shares in an SCI “a company” which owns the property. Such structures are used in France as it saves on taxes and allows for certain expenses to be deducted. The next step was to wait for the Notaire to provide the French equivalent of a sale of shares agreement. Notaires in France are what I would describe as hybrid property lawyers. They are not officers of a court of law but are appointed by the French government. They must be engaged for property transactions, wills and estates, and other such important matters.

The agent immoblier (estate agent) had sent us an e-mail making the introduction to the owner’s Notaire explaining that we were to sign a Promesse de Vente. There are two ways to buy property in France, “Promesse de Vente” is a sale of property from vendor to purchaser. Once a purchaser signs there is a 10-day cooling off period. The second way is by “Cession de Parts” which is the sale of shares in the company that owns the property. Once this document is signed there is no cooling-off period.

There was also a strong suggestion in this e-mail that the owner’s Notaire could act for us and the owner to save on the Notaire’s fees. Well, every fiber in my body screamed “Conflict of interest”. In my 25 years of legal experience, I had never heard of a professional acting for both parties in the same transaction.

The first document we received was a “Cession de Parts” (sale of shares agreement), not a “Promesse de Vente” as flagged by the immoblier. We were told we had two days to review it and we were to go to the Notaires office the following Tuesday to sign. This “Cession de Parts” was sent to our expert comptable (accountant) for his review.

On Monday night (3 days including the weekend after we received it), he e-mailed us saying “

Do not sign this document”. It shows a disturbing misunderstanding of company law and will attract the payment of excessive taxes.

This was all politely communicated back to the owner’s Notaire and immoblier explaining that as we were unfamiliar with the laws it was essential to obtain our own legal and accounting advice. They were unhappy and could not understand why we needed more than two days to review this documentation.

The agent even became aggressive:-

• She sent my husband several WhatsApp messages saying they had another buyer and that we should do the right thing and pull out of the sale.
• Then she demanded to come and see us that day.
• We also exchanged e-mails and she tried to impress me that “buying a house should not be a stressful process”.
• What she failed to realise was that she was causing the stress.
• Politely we requested that she be removed from this review process and all future e-mails.
• We also discovered why they didn’t want us to appoint our own Notaire was that Notaires share the fee paid by the seller for their services. If only one is appointed then the Notaire can keep the entire fee for himself.

A stressful process

This was a very stressful process which caused my husband and me many sleepless nights. I am not sure how we laboured through it. Setting up local bank accounts, staying up until midnight to authorise the transfer of funds from Australia to our Monsieur and Madame account (we had to transfer the money from a French account to the Notaire), reviewing the documents sent by our Notaire punctuating the end of the day. Almost three and a half months and the day to finalise the sale had arrived.

We thought this meeting was only to meet and sign the document. But no we continued to review it in real-time, making more changes with all parties present, Notaires, seller, buyer, and the agent (who we requested to not be there). The owners’ Notaire, dressed in a suit and waistcoat, put on a comical display, trying to impress but impressing no one by taking other calls, going in and out of his office, photocopying documents, and leaving for half an hour at a time to get advice on certain clauses. We were almost ready to get up and leave. Under French law, I had to have an interpreter. This was fine except during the negotiations, he translated what I could understand but not the important parts of the conversations that I needed translated.

Fortunately, I had the benefit of asking my husband. Our Notaire was very good. She kept their Notaire honest and corrected many of his mistakes. The whole show was very amateurish. Finally, after an excruciating three hours, signatures were made on a digital screen and La Ravanelle was ours. It was more a relief than a celebration. We knew the
laws, the process, and the paperwork would be completely different, we just were not prepared for the manipulation.

What did I learn? What tips do I have?

• When buying property in France, be prepared. Check everything, and expect the unexpected.
• Even after speaking with other people who have tried to purchase and have successfully purchased properties you still need to tread cautiously.
• Friends recounted stories of going to the Notaires office to sign and secure a property and then the vendor decides at the final hour that they don’t want to sell: nothing is certain.
• Not only have we heard of this happening once but with one friend it has occurred repeatedly.

All in all, would we do it again, given the time, stress, maneuvering, and sleepless nights to secure our beautiful home? Absolutely!

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