Agency fees are included in the listing price that buyers see for a property. Listing fees are ordinarily about 5%. The purchase is ordinarily structured so that the buyer pays the seller and the seller pays the agency out of his total. But, it is also possible for the purchase contract to separate the two, with the buyer paying the seller his net price and the agency fee separately.

The capital gain realized on the sale is calculated by subtracting the purchase price from the selling price. That amount is then reduced by certain expenses, including fees paid to licensed real estate agents (at purchase or sale), notaire fees paid by the seller when he purchased, and certain renovation and improvement expenses. After 5 years of ownership, a seller can either itemize actual renovation expenses, or add 15% of the purchase price to the basis of the property as the value of improvements (even if no improvements were made).

Capital gains tax:

There is no capital gains tax on the sale of a primary residence in France.

For a secondary residence owned either individually or through an SCI, the amount of capital gains owed at the time of sale is determined by (1) the fiscal residence of the seller, and (2) the number of years that the property was owned by the seller.

As of January 2015, a base rate of 19% capital gains tax is imposed on the sale of real property by any individual, regardless of his residency. Under prior law, rates varied between 19-50% depending on the seller’s country of residence.  

The base amount of tax owed is reduced starting after 5 years of ownership, as follows:

Years 6 through 21: 6%/year

Year 22: 4%, after which there is no capital gains tax to pay upon sale.

Social charges:

Until January 2015, a further 15.5% of the gain realized on the sale was paid to the government as social charges (essentially payroll tax). The social charges were also subject to a reduction schedule, albeit over a 30-year period.

A court has again intervened, this time to declare such charges illegal as applied to residents of other EU countries. Regulations are expected to broaden the reversal of social charges such that they will only be imposed on French residents.

Both of these laws are set to apply retroactively up to two years.

Any tax due is calculated and collected by the notaire at the closing of the sale. A nonresident seller who owes tax on the sale is required to take out a guarantee that insures that the correct amount of tax was paid. The cost of this insurance is about 1% of the selling price of the property. This requirement will probably be eliminated, at least for EU-resident sellers, once the expected regulations are issued. 

While you get the advantage of our multiple listing approach by having many outlets working to sell your property, Paris Property Group manages all the visits and controls all the listing information for the property. This ensures that the information is communicated effectively and correctly. We are present for all visits, inter-agency or otherwise, and provide each potential buyer with complete information on the property so that they are well-informed and can act quickly to make a decision about whether they want to pursue their interest. We work out a set schedule of visiting times with you, to have the least impact on your day and give you a fair chance to put things in order so that the property presents at its best.

The selling process is divided into two stages. The sale is first formalized by a preliminary contract that may be prepared either by a notaire – a promesse de vente – or by an estate agent or privately between the parties – a compromis de vente. 

In either case, the seller is obligated to sell immediately upon signature, whereas the buyer has a 7-day period of reflection during which he can withdraw from the purchase without any financial penalty.

The sale is finalized with a formal deed of sale, the acte de vente.  Regardless of the form of the initial agreement, the signing of the acte de vente is overseen by a notaire.

Once the preliminary contract is signed, it is ordinarily between two to three months until the acte de vente is signed. During this time, the buyer obtains any needed financing, and the buyer’s notaire verifies good title to the property and takes care of other legal and administrative requirements surrounding the sale.

At the signing of the acte de vente, the buyer pays the purchase price plus all taxes, fees and commissions, the keys are handed over by the seller, and ownership of the property passes to the buyer. From the signing of the preliminary sales agreement to the final closing, the process generally takes between two and three months.

We stand by our commitment to act in your best interests. When we work on an exclusive contract with our clients, the commission fee is 5% if we share the sale with another agency, but we reduce our fee to 4% if we sell the property on our own. The reduced fee is our guarantee to you that our interests are aligned with yours, to ensure that you get the maximum possible out of the sale.

A seller must provide the buyer with the results of 6 required diagnostic examinations:

• loi carrez – precisely defined measurement of the surface area of the property
• presence of lead
• presence of asbestos
• presence of termites
• condition of the electricity installation
• condition of the natural gas installation
• assessment of the quality of insulation, gas emissions, etc. (graded on an energy index)
• presence of any natural/environmental risks (for example, flood zone)

As of January 2011, the results of the energy performance test must be included in the property sale listing. Since all the diagnostic tests are done by one company, it makes sense to get them all done before the property is listed.

From the first day we take on the sale of your property, we share the listing with select real estate agencies in the property neighborhood, and other agencies that specialized in your type, size or property location. In addition, we are members of a 400-agency network working on a shared database. Any of these agents can propose the property to potential buyers with whom they are in contact. If you have agents that you are particularly interested for us to work with, we are glad to share the listing with them as a priority. We also build a website specifically for the property, so that interested buyers can see exactly what is there and we do not have to hassle you with visits by prospective purchasers who are not the right fit.

We list online through both English language and French language listing sites, to give the property wide exposure to potential buyers.

With your permission, we provide information about your property for sale to quality merchants and shops in the area – Paris remains a village, and a lot of information and sales pass through local channels. Again, the interest is to get the widest exposure we can for the property and bring in the maximum number of potential buyers to secure the highest price for your sale.