French Property Taxes and Duties
Buying a property in France is not always cheap, as there are taxes and duties to be paid at various stages in the process. The main factors that affect the level of fees are:
the age of the property (new houses attract lower charges)
the number of people involved (lawyers, mortgage companies, surveyors etc)
whether you buy through an estate agent
Total fees can be as low as 4% of the price of the property, but can easily be as high as 15%. Note: most fees are paid by the buyer. As a quick rule of thumb:
Land registry
0.6% for property less than 5 years old, 1% for everything else
Estate Agent Sales Commission (usually paid by the seller of the property)
Where an agent is involved - allow between 5 and 10%
Notaire's Sales Commission (usually paid by the buyer)
Where an Estate agent is not used - allow up to 5%
Stamp Duty
0.6% for property less than 5 years old, 6% for everything else
Notaire's Conveyencing Fees
These are calculated according to the price of the property. Allow 1 to 1.5%
Additionally, if you need a French mortgage:
Mortgage Arrangement - commonly 1%
Mortgage Administration - commonly 1%
Mortgage Registration - commonly around 1%
Revised: 19/02/2005
