Question: In a French property transaction, who pays the selling agency’s fee, the buyer or the seller, and is it negotiable? Standard practice in France is that the selling agency’s fees normally amount to around 5% of the purchase price of the property. The fees are agreed between the seller and the real estate agent […]

I’m planning to sell my Paris apartment, which I bought in mid-2007. The deed of sale had a number of diagnostic reports attached. Which of these do I have to have redone, what paperwork do I need to supply and who pays for it all – me or the buyer?

We have reported regularly on the changing capital gains tax landscape in France. Read our latest update here. The capital gain is the difference between the price you pay for a property that is not your primary residence and the price you get when you sell it. However, there is a range of expenses, prescribed […]

France may have led the way in imposing capital gains tax (CGT) on sales of second homes but the UK is now following suit.

Mortgage rates in France have been at historic lows in recent months. However, the outlook for the next move in interest rates has changed markedly over this period. During the summer of 2013, commentators expected French mortgage rates to rise before the end of the year. In the early fall, this was pushed out to […]

Today, 21 million citizens of non-European Union (EU) countries live in a member state of the EU. Growing cross-border mobility and property ownership mean that beating a path through the jungle of inheritance law is becoming ever more necessary.

Apartment buildings are subject to shared co-ownership expenses (charges de copropriété). Co-owners in Paris pay on average 48.9 euros/m2 per year for a building with all of the amenities below. For a 50m2, this adds up to 2,445 euros per year. But it’s worth noting that many buildings do not have the full range of […]

Question: I have recently bought an apartment that included a chambre de bonne, with the intention of renting that out separately. The room has its own toilet and shower, and  from what I understood about city regulations, was large enough to be rented out for residential use. But when I was showing it to interested […]

Question:  A client in process of buying a place in Paris just asked us to update him on the current status of capital gains tax in France.   Miranda says preparation can be key to minimizing tax.

Jen Angotti, a licensed Virginia real estate agent, interviewed PPG founder Miranda Bothe about the ins and outs of investing in Paris real estate. This post was featured on her blog Concrete Jungle DC.