You have a project concerning property and you decide to look into what is available.

First and foremost, our role is to understand your needs and to propose products that fit the criteria of your search.

We will suggest that you should first talk to your bank if you will be needing a mortgage or loan.

We will then be better able to propose properties that may meet your expectations.

Before each visit, in accordance with legal requirements, we will both sign a visit-card (bon de visite) on which the address of the property visited and the name and address of the visitor will figure.

After each visit, we will evaluate the stronger and weaker points of the property in order to help refine your search.

If you become interested in one of the properties we visit, we will provide you with a folder containing the certificate of the surface area of the property (Loi Carrez), the results of all of the obligatory analyses (diagnostiques obligatoires), the minutes of the last general meeting of co-owners (assemblé générale), the accounts relating to the relevant part of the expenses due to the co-ownership and a copy of the last property taxes payed by the current owner.

We will then invite you to visit the property a second time, if possible accompanied by someone who can advise you, before considering whether or not you intend to put an offer on the flat.

As soon as you have confirmed your intention to buy the property, we will write up an offer (proposition d’achat) that the agency will then send on to the owner.

If your offer is accepted by the owner, we will ask him/her to countersign it (to avoid any risk of a higher offer put in at a later date being accepted).

At this stage it is possible to arrange a date when you will sign the provisional sales agreement (avant-contrat, promesse or compromis de vente), which will take place either through private agreement at the agency or with a notary.

When the provisional sales agreement is signed, you will also have to provide a cheque deposit (typically 10% of the sale price of the property) which will go into the depositary account (compte séquestre) of the sellers notary. Unlike the buyer, the seller can no longer withdraw from the agreement.

You then have seven days within which you can retract your offer (SRU law) without losing the sum you have put down as a deposit when the provisional sales agreement (avant-contrat, promesse or compromis de vente) was signed – but only if you are not buying the property as an estate agent.

If you will need to have recourse to loan, the notary(ies) will ask you for the relevant documents that certify the arrangements you have made with your bank. From the moment you sign the provisional sales agreement (avant-contrat, promesse or compromis de vente) you have a minimum of 30 days to secure a loan (materialised in a formal offer of credit). In general, this period stretches to 45 days. This is called the suspensive credit condition (condition suspensive de crédit). During this time, you can withdraw if your personal situation changes (due to illness, unemployment etc) and/or if several financial establishments justify their refusal of a loan in writing. Once the final date has been reached you can no longer withdraw without losing your deposit.

You have been successful in your application for a loan. From the date on which your bank sends the offer of a loan, you have 11 days (Scrivener law) to reflect. During this time you cannot accept the loan.

Then, with the help of the agency and your notary you will fix a date when the final sales agreement (acte authentique) will be signed.

Between the 11th and the 13th day you can therefore accept the offer of a loan which you will sign at your bank. Your bank advisor will then inform you when the sum will be transferred into your account.