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Buying and selling a French property

Buying a property in France can be a daunting experience, particularly as it involves understanding another country’s law and dealing with documents in the French language. Translations of the contract are often provided but they are not always accurate and in the event of a problem arising it will be the French version that will prevail.

The process gets off to a much quicker start in France than the UK, with the estate agent often drafting the preliminary sale contract and searches not being carried out until you are already bound into the purchase. A sale contract contains a number of conditions that are there to protect the buyer and so it is important that all the conditions you need are included.

It is important to seek expert legal advice at an early stage and our experts in French property law can guide you through the process.

Complexities involved in buying or selling property in France

When selling a property in France, you will be required to provide certain informative reports to the buyer and when you sign the preliminary sale contract you will be making numerous declarations about the property which you will want to make sure are accurate to avoid problems later on.

Also, it can often be forgotten that capital gains tax might have to be paid (both French and UK)
We will guide you through the complexities involved when buying or selling property in France. We will liaise with the estate agent and Notaire for you, providing you with detailed reports on the sale contract and sale deed, in English.

As well as advising you upon any additional clauses and conditions we consider to be in your best interests, we will also discuss with you the applicable laws of succession and French inheritance tax - key to helping you decide on the best property ownership structure for completion of a purchase.

We can help sellers calculate their capital gains tax liability on a sale, as well as advising on the sale process itself.

Why choose Furley Page for buying and selling French property

Our goal is to ensure that you understand the buying and selling process in France and the documents you will be required to sign. We want your transaction to go through smoothly and stress free.