Can bank loan pay for notaire home purchase fees in France?

Reader Question: Is it true that the notaire’s fees due on a property purchase in France can be financed as part of a bank loan?

So-called ‘notaire’s fees’ are a significant cost when buying property.

This is especially true in non-new-builds where the fees can be as high as 8%. Only a small element of this goes to the notaire, the rest is passed on as taxes to the state.

One solution is what is known as une vente ‘acte en main’. In this case, the notaire’s fees are paid by the seller and not the buyer, although the selling price of the property will of course be higher to account for these.

The advantage for the buyer here is that they can obtain bank financing which includes this expense, which now becomes part of the purchase price.

This route is mainly used by those with limited funds to put towards a purchase.

Read more: Tips for negotiating down house prices in France

You need to discuss financing the fees with your notaire as most bank loans are calculated assuming you will pay these fees yourself.

Clauses may be inserted into the compromis de vente and acte de vente to ensure this is the case.

In this case the price must be specified in the ‘contrat en main’, and the section on the notaire’s fees should say these are included in the purchase price and are payable by the seller.

The acte de vente also needs specific wording in the section relating to taxes on the purchase.

Related articles

French property prices: should buyers - or sellers - wait?

7 key points on property market in France from new notaire data