A deal from start to finish in France

A French sale passes through several hands: you, the seller, the buyer, usually a bank, and the notaire, the public officer who drafts the final deed and collects the taxes. Your value is knowing the order, keeping everyone on time and making sure nobody is surprised by the costs. This lesson follows a resale, then a new build, and works through the numbers in euros.

Who does what

• You, the négociateur or agent commercial: under the card holder’s mandate, marketing, viewings, offers, the file for the notaire, coordination.
• The card holder: signs the mandate, issues the fee invoice and, if it has a guarantee, may hold funds.
• The notaire: checks the title and the file, drafts or receives the compromis if asked, signs the acte authentique and pays the taxes to the State.
• The bank or broker: approves the loan.

A resale, step by step

1. Mandate. Signed and entered in the registre des mandats, with the fee TTC and who pays (lesson 4).
2. Viewings and offer. The buyer makes a written offer. Check that the price and the fee basis are clear.
3. Diagnostics and documents. The seller provides the technical diagnostics, including the DPE, and, for a flat, the building’s documents.
4. Compromis or promesse de vente. The pre-contract sets the price, the conditions, the date of the deed and any deposit. It can be signed privately, at the agency, or before a notaire.
5. The 10-day withdrawal period. See below.
6. Loan approval. The bank approves the loan before the deed.
7. Acte authentique. Signed before the notaire, who receives the funds and pays the transfer taxes. The buyer becomes owner.
8. Your fee. Charged only if the sale actually happens. A clause charging a fee without a sale is illicit (DGCCRF).

The 10-day withdrawal period

This protects the buyer, and you must know it by heart. According to Notaires de France:

• It applies to a non-professional buyer of a residential property, under article L.271-1 of the Code de la construction et de l’habitation.
• It lasts 10 calendar days.
• It starts the day after the first presentation of the registered letter notifying the signed compromis, or the day after signing if the compromis was signed before a notaire.
• The buyer withdraws by registered letter, without giving a reason and without penalty.
• Any deposit is refunded within 21 days.

So a signed compromis is not a done deal for ten days. Do not tell the seller “it’s sold” before the period has passed.

Transfer taxes in 2026

Buyers call them frais de notaire, but most of the amount is transfer tax (DMTO) paid to the State and the department. The 2025 finance law let departments raise their share from 4.50% to 5.00% between 1 April 2025 and 31 March 2028. MesFraisNotaire, checked against the DGFiP table of 1 June 2026, gives:

Situation	Total DMTO on a resale
89 departments that raised the rate, including Paris (75), Rhône (69) and Gironde (33)	6.31% (often rounded to 6.32%)
11 departments without the rise, including Alpes-Maritimes (06)	5.81%
Eligible first-time buyers in a department that raised the rate	5.81%

The same site’s FAQ is inconsistent on the Alpes-Maritimes, so check the DGFiP table before quoting.

All buyer costs on a resale, taxes plus the notaire’s fees and disbursements, came to about 7.2% to 7.8% of the price in MesFraisNotaire’s examples.

Worked example 1: a resale flat in Paris

A buyer pays €250,000 for a resale flat in Paris. MesFraisNotaire’s estimate of total buyer costs: 7.81%, so about €19,525. The agency fee is on top or included in the price, depending on the mandate.

If the mandate puts a 5% TTC fee on the seller, the agency invoices €12,500 TTC to the seller, and the buyer’s costs are calculated on €250,000.

Worked example 2: who pays changes the taxes

A Lyon seller wants €400,000 net. The fee is €20,000 TTC.

Option	Price in the deed	DMTO at 6.31%
Seller pays the fee	€420,000	€26,502
Buyer pays the fee	€400,000 (plus €20,000 fee)	€25,240

When the buyer pays, the transfer taxes are charged on the net seller price, which saves about €1,262 here. Agence Immobilière France notes this effect, and estimates that about 70% of mandates still put the fee on the seller.

Worked example 3: a resale on the Côte d’Azur

A buyer pays €340,000 for a flat in the Alpes-Maritimes, where DMTO stayed at 5.81%. MesFraisNotaire’s estimate of total buyer costs: 7.19%, about €24,446.

A new build: VEFA

For an off-plan purchase, the steps change:

1. Contrat de réservation. The buyer reserves the unit and may pay a deposit, capped by law: 5% if the sale is to be signed within one year, 2% within two years, nothing beyond (Le Mag Juridique; most texts place these rules at articles R.261-28 to R.261-31 of the Code, so check the number).
2. Acte de vente in VEFA before the notaire.
3. Stage payments, capped by article R.261-14: at most 35% at foundations, 70% when the building is watertight (hors d’eau), 95% at completion, and the last 5% at handover, which can be held in escrow if defects are reserved. Late-payment penalties are capped at 1% a month.
4. Handover and the list of reservations.

Example: a €400,000 new flat in Bordeaux, sale signed within a year.

Stage	Maximum paid in total	Of which at this stage
Reservation deposit (5%)	€20,000	€20,000
Foundations (35%)	€140,000	€120,000
Watertight (70%)	€280,000	€140,000
Completion (95%)	€380,000	€100,000
Handover (100%)	€400,000	€20,000

The deposit is credited against the price. Every residential VEFA also needs a garantie financière d’achèvement (GFA) from a bank, insurer or guarantee company, which ensures the building is finished if the developer fails (Homunity). Buyer costs on a first sale of a new home are generally reported to be much lower than on a resale, but we did not verify the rate for this course, so ask the notaire for an estimate rather than quoting the resale figures.

The seller’s side: capital gains

Non-resident sellers often ask what they will owe. David Notaires gives the rules:

• 19% income tax on the gain, plus 17.2% social levies, or only 7.5% for sellers affiliated to an EEA or Swiss social security scheme.
• A surtax of 2% to 6% on gains above €50,000.
• Holding allowances from the sixth year: no income tax after 22 years, no social levies after 30 years.
• A fiscal representative is needed if the seller lives outside the EEA, the price is above €150,000 and the property was held less than 30 years.

Furnished lets. For sales from 15 February 2025, depreciation claimed under the LMNP real regime is added back when computing the gain (NBE Avocats). Investors who let furnished should ask their accountant before they sell.

Mortgages

In October 2026, broker averages were 3.50% over 15 years, 3.66% over 20 years and 3.75% over 25 years (PAP.fr). Introduce your buyers to a broker early, before they make an offer.

Taxes, fees and rates change, so check the official source before you act. Practise with sales training.

This lesson is general information, not legal or tax advice.