Vanne, Brittany.
One of a series of inlets from the sea near Vanne..
NOTAIRES
The notaire is similar to a solicitor in that he does the conveyancing of the property, but unlike a solicitor, a notaire represents neither party exclusively. As a representative of the French State, he or she is, in theory, an impartial agent to the transaction. The notaire will oversee the legal work, draw up contracts, arrange for certain searches to be done such as establishing whether the vendor has title to the property, an asbestos survey, checks to make sure there are no outstanding mortgages against the property, establishment of boundaries, etc, collect the taxes due on the transaction, and hold the money in his bank account when the time comes to transfer it from the buyer to the vendor.
If you want to appoint your own notaire rather than the
notaire specified by the vendor you
can do so, and they should share the work and the fees. If you write to
him or her in connection with your purchase you should address him or
her as Maitre. The notaire usually charges between 6% and 8%
of the net buying price of the property for his services, (this
includes local and government taxes and the
equivalent of stamp duty in France),
so you will
need
to add this to the commission of the immobilier to find the total cost
of commissions.
The link below is to the English pages of the
notaires of France official web site where you can find a
notaire in the region you are hoping to buy in, as well as some other
useful
information.
TRANSFERRING
FUNDS TO
FRANCE
You can save quite substantial sums of money by using a
foreign
exchange company rather than a high street bank to transfer any large
sums of money to the notaire in connection with your purchase of your
French house. Not only should their commission be lower but they should
also offer you a more competitive exchange rate. I used CaxtonFX
foreign exchange company to transfer my final payment to the notaire,
and they gave me an excellent service, but there are plenty of other
companies you could use. Just look on your favourite search engine.
Before you have bought your house in France it is a good idea to set up
a French bank account. Then you can transfer some funds into it to pay
any commissions and other expenses associated with your house purchase.
Foreign exchange companies only handle large sums, so for smaller
transfers you will need to use your bank. You will need to
ask for a
currency draft in Euros & you will need to supply them with the
IBAN, (International Bank Account Number), of your French bank account.
The currency draft will be sent to you by your bank & you can
then post it to your French bank using international signed for at the
Post Office. For more urgent transfers you can ask for a telegraphic
transfer, again you will need your IBAN, and the money will be
transferred directly to your French bank account.
