Money and growing your career in France

You have learned the rules, the market and the deal. This last lesson is about your own money: what a sale really pays, how network splits compare with a salary, how to pick the right employer and how to grow toward your own agency.

What agencies charge

There is no legal scale: each agency publishes its own tariff, TTC, with a maximum and who pays (lesson 4). Agence Immobilière France, an industry blog, gives this indicative picture for 2026:

Sale price	Usual fee, TTC
Under €100,000	7% to 10%
€100,000 to €200,000	5% to 7%
€200,000 to €400,000	4% to 5%
€400,000 to €800,000	3.5% to 4.5%
Above €800,000	2.5% to 3.5%

The same source puts traditional agencies at 4% to 6% and mandataire networks at 3% to 4.5%. These are indicative, not official.

Your share as an agent commercial in a network

Networks publish a base split that rises with your yearly turnover, and charge a monthly pack for tools and services. Check in your contract whether the split applies to the fee with or without VAT. The examples below use the fee excluding VAT.

Network	Base split	Top split	Monthly pack, excl. VAT
IAD France	69%	up to 89%	€163
Safti	70%	up to 80% to 85%	€159
Capifrance	72%	up to 98%	about €205
eXp France	at least 75%	100% after €80,000 of commissions excl. VAT in the year	about €100

Sources: Maformationimmo (March 2026) for IAD, Safti and Capifrance; MeilleursRéseaux for eXp, based on network documents and agent testimony, with 802 eXp agents in July 2026. Check every figure in the network’s own contract before you sign.

Example 1: a flat in Lyon, €300,000, fee €12,000 TTC, of which €10,000 excluding VAT. You are at IAD’s base split.

1. Fee received by the network, excluding VAT: €10,000
2. Your share: 10,000 x 69% = €6,900, before your own contributions and tax
3. Your yearly pack: 163 x 12 = €1,956, excluding VAT

Example 2: the same deal at Capifrance’s base split.

1. Your share: 10,000 x 72% = €7,200
2. Your yearly pack: about 205 x 12 = €2,460

Example 3: a villa near Antibes, €1,200,000, fee €36,000 excluding VAT, at eXp after you passed €80,000 of commissions in the year.

Your share: €36,000, before contributions and tax. Until you reach the threshold, the same deal at 75% would give €27,000.

The pack is due every month, with or without a sale. Two slow months cost you about €200 to €400 with no income against them.

Run your own numbers with the commission calculator.

Your pay as a salaried négociateur

Salaried négociateurs are covered by the collective agreement IDCC 1527 (Convention collective nationale de l’immobilier). Kohen Avocats sets out the minimum for a non-executive négociateur VRP:

• €1,500 gross a month, or €19,500 a year paid over 13 months.
• It can be paid as an advance on commissions.
• Pay is usually a fixed part plus commission.

Salaried staff who are not VRP fall under the national minimum wage, the SMIC, which is higher: about €21,876 a year at 1 January 2026 according to LegalPlace, or roughly €1,823 gross a month. Check the 2026 grid of IDCC 1527 for your exact category.

Example 4: a négociateur VRP with a 20% commission on the agency’s fee excluding VAT.

The agency closes a €400,000 sale with a fee of €15,000 excluding VAT. Your commission: 15,000 x 20% = €3,000. If your contract treats your €1,500 minimum as an advance, read how the advance is set against commissions before you sign. The 20% here is an example, not a market rate.

Tax and contributions

As a salaried négociateur, your employer deducts contributions from your pay. As an agent commercial, you pay your own contributions and income tax, most often under the micro-entreprise regime, plus your RCP insurance and your training. The rates and thresholds change each year, so get an accountant or use the official simulators from your first month.

How to choose an employer or a network

1. Who is the card holder, and will the attestation be issued before I start?
2. Salaried or agent commercial? If salaried, is my minimum an advance on commissions?
3. What is my split, on which base, and how does it rise?
4. What is the monthly pack, what does it include, and what happens if I stop?
5. Who pays for portals, photos and training hours?
6. What leads does the agency give, and what is my share on them?
7. What happens to my mandates and pending deals if I leave?
8. If I am non-EU: does my residence permit allow this status (lesson 2)?

Get the answers in writing. Compare employers on CloserPass agencies.

Growing your career

• Specialise. Prestige, new builds, one arrondissement or one town, lettings, or one language community.
• Build experience that counts. Salaried years with a card holder count toward professional aptitude for your own card (lesson 3).
• Join a professional body. FNAIM, the main trade body, says it has about 10,000 member agencies.
• Build your own brand with sourced market updates and reviews from happy clients.

Opening your own agency

When you are ready, here is the checklist (lessons 3 and 4):

1. Qualify: a bac+3 or equivalent, or enough salaried years with a card holder.
2. Set up the company and its head office.
3. Decide on client funds: non-détention de fonds, or a financial guarantee.
4. RCP insurance.
5. Apply to the CCI: €160 for the first card, valid three years, renewal €130.
6. Request attestations for each collaborator, €55 each, before they start.
7. Set up the registre des mandats, mandate models and the off-premises withdrawal form.
8. Publish your fees TTC with a maximum and who pays, in the window, inside and online.
9. Plan 42 hours of training per person over three years.

Before you start: final checklist

• I know my status: salaried négociateur or agent commercial, and my permit allows it.
• My card holder has obtained my attestation d’habilitation before my first negotiation.
• As an agent commercial, I am on the RSAC and hold my own RCP insurance.
• I never negotiate without a signed mandate entered in the registre des mandats.
• I show fees TTC, with who pays and a maximum.
• I never hold client money as an agent commercial.
• I can explain the 10-day withdrawal period after the compromis.
• I can estimate transfer taxes at 6.31% or 5.81% and total buyer costs.
• I check the DPE class on every investor file.
• I log my 14 hours of training each year.
• I have a 90-day plan and a daily prospecting block.

Rates and rules change, so check the official source before you act.

Take the final quiz

You are ready. Test yourself with the final quiz for France: questions from every theme, each corrected with its source. Then look at open roles and the France market page.

This lesson is general information, not tax or legal advice. CloserPass is not affiliated with the CCI, FNAIM or any government body.