How do I set a fair price on my French house that I want to sell?

Reader question: After owning a house in the Ardèche for 33 years, we have decided to sell. A French friend has expressed a desire to buy as it is near to his parents’ house. How do we set a fair price?

For years, only tax officers and notaires had access to government databases recording property transactions. Since 2019, the most important of these, Demandes de valeurs foncières, has been opened to the public.

It lets you see prices in your area for properties sold in the last five years.

Connect to your tax site on impots.gouv.fr, look for the link to données publiques, and then click on rechercher des transactions immobilières. Sales in Alsace-Moselle and Mayotte are not included.

A more complicated way of getting the same information is through the Patrim site, available through impots.gouv.fr – again, access is through your tax number.

Looking at house sale announcements is another way of gauging the market, or you could pay (around €300 to €2,000, depending on the size and complexity of the property) for a formal estimate.

Finally, a house is only worth what someone is willing to pay. Agreeing a figure you are both happy with might be better than lots of effort selling it for a bit more to someone else.

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