Buying · The Process
Buying in France: Offer, Compromis & Notaire
The French system is safe, notaire-led and quite different from the UK — no gazumping, no survey culture, and a preliminary contract that's binding much earlier than you'd expect. Once you know the steps it's straightforward. The catch is that nobody checks the house for you: the diligence is yours, which is exactly why this whole site exists.
Here's the road from "I want it" to keys in your hand, in the order it actually happens, with the bits that matter for a cheap wreck flagged as you go.
The single biggest difference from the UK: there is no survey culture.You won't get a lender's survey or a homebuyer's report by default — and on a cash wreck, not at all. What protects you is your own homework: the desk checks, the ground check, and the get-out clauses in the contract. Do the diligence, or nobody will.
Notaire fees, the second-home tax and the annual bills that sit on top of the price you agree here.
Read the guide →🛂 The Right to Live ThereBuying the house and being allowed to live in it are two separate things — sort this alongside completion.
Read the guide →📖 The Complete GuideWhere this step fits in the full find-it, check-it, buy-it, live-in-it journey.
Back to the guide →The steps, in order
The offer (offre d'achat)
You offer through the agent, usually in writing. On a long-empty wreck this is where you haggle — lead with the faults and be ready to walk.
The compromis de vente
The preliminary contract — and it's binding on both sides, far earlier than a UK exchange. You'll pay a deposit (typically 5–10%) held by the notaire, not the seller.
The 10-day cooling-off
After signing the compromis the buyer gets a 10-day cooling-off period to pull out with no penalty, no reason needed. Use it to finish any checks you couldn't do before.
The notaire's searches
The notaire — a neutral state official — runs the legal searches, confirms title, boundaries, rights of way and any pre-emption rights. This takes roughly two to three months.
Completion (acte de vente)
You sign the final deed at the notaire's office, pay the balance and the fees, and get the keys. Done.
The get-out clauses to insist on your safety net
The compromis can carry conditions suspensives — conditions that must be met or the sale falls through and you get your deposit back. This is where you build in protection.
Put your real risks in writing
Common ones: subject to a mortgage (if you're borrowing), subject to planning (a certificat d'urbanisme), and subject to a satisfactory SPANC report on the drains. On a rural wreck these clauses turn "I hope" into "I'm covered." Ask the notaire to include the ones that fit your situation.
Two French quirks worth knowing no nasty surprises
The notaire is neutral — and one is enough
The notaire acts for the transaction, not for the seller against you. One notaire can handle the whole deal; you can appoint your own as well at no extra cost (they split the same fee). Many buyers of cheap rural houses are perfectly fine with the seller's notaire.
Pre-emption rights on rural land
On rural and agricultural land, bodies like SAFER (or the commune) can have a right of pre-emption — first refusal at your agreed price. It rarely bites on a house-and-garden, but the notaire checks for it, and it's why the searches take a couple of months. Nothing to fear, just something to know.
Bought it — now make it liveable
A cheap wreck becomes a home one system at a time: power, water, waste and a first warm room. Here's the whole off-grid build, in the order to tackle it.
Make it off-grid →