The Reservation Process

Once you have chosen a property you wish to purchase, you will need to option it (put a hold on it) quickly as good properties do sell very quickly! Because French investors are still investing heavily in France, and due to the fact they have been joined by foreign investors, really good developments don’t hang around and can sell in a matter of days!

By optioning a property, you are not legally binding yourself to purchasing it, you are just giving yourself some breathing space as you will see from the information below.

If you wish to option a property you should consider choosing your preferred two or three properties on the development. This is because when the properties sell quickly, your first choice may no longer be available, but at least we will be able to ask for your second choice straightaway without needing to come back to you and risk your next preferred property being reserved by someone else in the meantime!

Once you have optioned a property, you will need to pay a reservation deposit in order to reserve the property. An option will only be held during three working days by the developer (sometimes less but we can advise on this) and the only way to continue to hold the property after this time is to reserve it.

To do this you need to provide proof that you have paid a reservation deposit to the notaries escrow account.

The deposit payable is generally between 2 and 5% of the property price for new build property. It does vary from development to development and French law restricts how much can be paid in terms of reservation deposit according to when the development is to be delivered.

The deposit is to be transferred to the French Notaries escrow account to secure the reservation whilst contracts are being arranged. At this stage you would start looking for a suitable mortgage at this stage.
French purchasers are normally required to pay the deposit and return the contracts within one week of optioning the property!

More lenience has been given to foreign investors so that they can seek legal advice regarding the contracts. Nevertheless, 3 weeks is the average delay given by the developers for foreign investors to return their signed contracts. Sometimes they may insist on this delay being shorter particularly if the development in completely sold out and it is the last property available.

Contracts for the majority of the developments are in French. Occasionally contracts are translated although this tends to be rare as the developments sell so quickly on the French market there simply isn’t time to do this.

Once the reservation has been made, you will be issued with the completed contracts which must be signed and sent back to us as soon as possible as reservations are not complete without the signed contracts.

It is highly recommended to instruct a French qualified bi-lingual solicitor who is used to dealing with leaseback or buy-to-let properties to advise you on the contracts and also on such matters as French inheritance law and purchase structure.

Once the signed contracts have been received they are forwarded to the developer who will also sign the contracts. You will then receive the signed contracts by recorded post.

On reception of the countersigned contracts, you have a seven day cooling off period which starts from the morning after you receive the documents. You may withdrew from the purchase during this time and receive a full refund of your deposit.

Once the countersigned contracts have been received you should complete your mortgage application straightaway. You must receive your mortgage offer before you can complete on the property. If you are unable to obtain finance your deposit is fully refundable providing that the conditions specified in the contract have been fulfilled.

Once you have obtained your mortgage offer a copy is submitted to the notary who is then able to prepare the final documents which will allow you to close on your purchase.

The notary will send you a copy of the draft conveyance deeds (projet d’acte) as well as other necessary paperwork. Completion on the property is possible at a public notary in the UK or Ireland in which case you will be provided with a limited power of attorney document (procuration).

Once notarized the proxy is sent back to the French notary, which gives power of attorney to the French notary’s clerk to sign the final Acte Authentique in your absence.

Once the Acte Authentique is signed you are then the owner of the property.

Your French Property have a dedicated Sales Support team which will assist and guide you throughout the entire purchase process. If you have any questions regarding how this works please do not hesitate to contact us.