·         You’ve found ‘the one’ and you make an offer, through the agent, for the property

·         The vendor accepts your offer

·         You sign a ‘Proposition d’Achat’ showing the vendor that you are a serious buyer and authorising a ‘compromis de vente’ to be drawn up

·         You supply the agent with your papers – birth certificate, marriage certificate, passport and any divorce or change of name certificates in order that the compromis can be drawn up

·         The compromis is drawn up and the reports for asbestos, (lead and termites where necessary) will be ordered by the vendor if not already available

·         The compromis is drawn up and sent, with the relevant reports, to the buyer for signature

·         The compromis is then sent to the vendor for signature

·         Once signed by both parties, the buyer is sent an SRU letter – this is a notification that you are now entering your 7 day cooling off period, a relatively new stage in the process introduced to allow the buyer a period of reflection. The same period is not available to the vendor – they are tied in as soon as they have signed the compromis

·         At the end of the 7 day cooling off period the buyer pays the deposit into the Notaire’s account, normally 10% of the asking price and always specified in the compromis

·         Also at the end of the 7 days, the whole file, including all the signed documents, is sent to the Notaire who starts his searches. This usually takes around 2 months

·         At this time we will request a change of use certificate if you are planning to convert a building that is not currently used as a dwelling, or if you are buying a house a more simple status certificate will be requested, both from the local planning department via the Mairie. (Don’t worry, if you require a positive result from the change of use certificate for the purchase of your property, we will enter a clause into your compromis from the start protecting you should you get a negative decision)

·         The agent receives the result of the change of use application and notifies the buyer, vendor and the Notaire (this is usually the last formality to be completed). If this result is negative the buyer can pull out at this stage and be reimbursed the deposit with no penalties due

·         The agent will arrange a mutually convenient signing date and obtain the final balance of the account from the Notaire

·         The buyer arranges for these funds to be transferred to the Notaire’s account

·         The agent verifies that funds have been received

·         The buyer attends the final signing with the agent who will be there to translate. (Power of Attorney can be arranged for buyers who are unable to attend)

·         You will be given the keys – time to celebrate!