The job of a real estate agent in France

Welcome to the course. Over eight short lessons you will learn how to start, work and grow as a real estate agent in France. This first lesson is about the job itself: who is allowed to do it, who pays you, and what the first year really looks like.

Scope. This course covers metropolitan France, with a focus on four markets: Paris, the Côte d’Azur (Nice, Cannes, Antibes), Lyon and Bordeaux.

A licensed profession, with three ways in

France regulates property intermediaries through the loi Hoguet (law n° 70-9 of 2 January 1970) and its decree n° 72-678 of 20 July 1972. Anyone who habitually negotiates, sells, lets or manages property for other people must work under a carte professionnelle, a professional card issued by the CCI, the chamber of commerce and industry. For sales, it is the carte T (transaction).

Only one person or company holds the card. Everyone else who negotiates works under that holder’s name. In practice you will meet three profiles:

• The card holder (titulaire de la carte T). The agency or the network’s head company, or its legal representative. It signs the mandates, holds the insurance and, where allowed, client money (lesson 3).
• The salaried négociateur. An employee of the card holder, paid a salary and commission under the national collective agreement for real estate (IDCC 1527).
• The agent commercial immobilier, often called a mandataire. A self-employed adviser who works under a contract with a card holder, very often a network such as IAD, Safti, Capifrance or eXp.

The salaried négociateur and the agent commercial both need an attestation d’habilitation: a named document, requested by the card holder from the CCI, that lets them negotiate on its behalf. They do not need a card of their own (lesson 2).

What an agent actually does

On a resale, you usually work for the seller. You:

1. Win the listing and sign a written mandate before any negotiation (lesson 4).
2. Value the home, gather the diagnostics and publish the listing with the fees shown the way the rules require.
3. Qualify buyers, organise viewings and collect offers.
4. Help both sides reach the compromis or promesse de vente, then follow the buyer’s 10-day withdrawal period, the bank and the notaire until the final deed (lesson 6).

On a new build, you sell for a developer, under the VEFA rules (lesson 5). On a rental, you find and check tenants for a landlord.

Who hires

You will meet four main types of employer:

• Mandataire networks. La Maison des Mandataires counted 47,000 network advisers at the end of 2025, up 7% in a year. Networks handled 28% of transactions that went through an intermediary in 2025, against 13% in 2018.
• Franchise and branch networks, such as Orpi, Century 21, Laforêt, Guy Hoquet or Nestenn, often run by local owners.
• Prestige agencies, strong in Paris and on the Côte d’Azur, such as Barnes, Daniel Féau, Émile Garcin, Kretz, Engel & Völkers, Sotheby’s International Realty, John Taylor or Michaël Zingraf.
• Independent local agencies, often family firms that also handle lettings and property management.

The trade body FNAIM says it has about 10,000 member agencies. The market itself is large: about 949,000 existing homes changed hands in the 12 months to the end of May 2026, up 5.7% in a year (MesFraisNotaire, citing Notaires de France).

How you get paid

There is no legal fee scale in France. The agency sets its own tariff, but it must publish it, VAT included (TTC), with a maximum rate and who pays (lesson 4). An industry blog, Agence Immobilière France, puts most fees between 3% and 10% of the price, falling as the price rises, and estimates that about 70% of sale mandates put the fee on the seller. Treat these as indicative, not official.

That fee goes to the card holder. Your share depends on your status:

Status	How you are paid	Main risk
Salaried négociateur	Salary plus commission, social cover through your employer	Smaller share per deal
Agent commercial in a network	A percentage of the fee you bring in, minus a monthly pack	No income until a deal closes
Agent commercial in a local agency	A share agreed in your contract	Depends on one agency’s leads
Your own agency with a carte T	You keep the fee, you pay the costs	All the risk and the paperwork

For salaried staff, Kohen Avocats sets the minimum for a non-executive négociateur VRP under IDCC 1527 at €1,500 gross a month, or €19,500 a year paid over 13 months, and notes it can be an advance on commissions. We do the maths in lesson 8, and you can test your own numbers in the commission calculator.

A realistic first year

Be honest with yourself before you start:

• The paperwork is in French. Mandates, offers, the compromis and the CCI file are all in French. There is no language test, but in practice you need fluent French. English, Italian, Russian or Arabic are a real plus in Paris luxury and on the Côte d’Azur.
• Independence has a cost. As an agent commercial you pay your own contributions, insurance and network pack, even in a month without a sale.
• You must train. Everyone who negotiates must follow continuing training: 42 hours over three years (lesson 3).
• The rules are checked. In a 2019 survey of 2,175 establishments, the DGCCRF found anomalies in 64% of them, mostly on mandates and fee display. Do everything by the book from day one.

The agents who last build a daily routine, know their patch street by street and treat every seller as a future referral. That is what this course will help you do.

What comes next

In lesson 2 we look at who is allowed to work in France, and under which status. To see open roles now, browse jobs and compare employers on agencies.

This lesson is general information, not legal advice. CloserPass is not affiliated with the CCI, FNAIM or any government body. Rules and figures change, so check the official source before you act.