Bidding, fees – and candles: property auctions in France explained

Purchasing property at auction is more common for developers than private individuals, but do not discount this method of buying a home in France.

Pre-internet, auctions were advertised in the legal notice pages of newspapers. 

Les Echos, France’s main financial newspaper, still prints them, as do many local newspapers.

There are two main types of auction.

Voluntary auctions (ajudications volontaires) are handled by notaires as if they were sales between individuals (particulier à particulier).

Each session has a catalogue which is usually released around a month before the auction date. It is now typically available to view online.

You must obtain authorisation if you want to bid on a property on the day of the auction.

For this you will need to register in advance, with proof of ID, and a deposit cheque made to around 20% of the property’s starting price. 

For higher value auctions, you may need a banker’s draft (chèque de banque).

Bear in mind that if you are successful there will also be auction costs, which may be 1% or 2% of the sale value (sometimes split between buyer and seller). 

These costs are considerably lower than estate agent fees (around 10%).

Once you have received authorisation, you can place bids. 

If you cannot be physically present you can do it via your notaire in the auction room, by telephone, or online via a virtual auction room. 

This means that you can bid even if you are not in the country.

Most auctions feature a large candle and two smaller ones, as they have done for centuries.

Use of candles 

The auction starts when the large candle is lit and bids are taken. 

When there are no more bids, one of the small candles is lit. If no one speaks while it burns out (30 seconds), the second small candle is lit. 

If still no one speaks, the bid stands. If someone makes a higher bid while the candle is lit, the auction continues.

“It is an ancient tradition and, quite frankly, we like doing it this way,” said a spokesman for the Conseil supérieur du notariat. 

“It creates a sense of drama.”

Online auctions on specialist web platforms have been gaining traction in recent years. 

Some, such as Agora Store, specialise in property put up for sale by the state, or by communes which sometimes find themselves responsible for abandoned buildings.

Agora Store also sells cars, vans, tractors, lorries and buses belonging to municipalities.

Judicial auctions

The other main type of auction in France is a judicial auction (adjudication judiciaire).

These are organised by the courts and concern properties from ‘forced sales’; for example, due to unpaid charges or mortgages, or liquidation by a court.

They can also arise because of disputes over inheritances. 

These auctions tend to be listed on specialised websites, including Licitor, Avocats Ventes, and Enchères Parisiennes.

They are held at the court in the authority closest to the property, and the only way to place bids is through a lawyer.

Visits to properties ahead of the auction are strongly recommended. These are usually organised in groups.

After an auction has ended, it is sometimes possible to make a higher bid (surenchère) in the 10 days that follow, as long as the offer is through a lawyer and at least 10% higher than the selling price. 

When this happens, the property is auctioned again with the surenchère price as the minimum.

Only one surenchère auction is allowed.

Once the 10 days have passed, the highest bidder becomes the immediate owner of the property as soon as they have paid the full price. They usually have two months to do so.

In judicial auctions, in addition to the share of the cost of bringing the property to auction, lawyers must be paid émoluments – a form of fee fixed by the court. 

Lawyers are responsible for registering the property with tax authorities in their client’s name, and explaining how much property tax is associated with it. 

Balanced against these costs is the fact that no notaire fees are payable on judicial auction properties.