Lindesu
3/21/2017 00:42 EST
My daughter and her French husband live permanently in Bretagne. Her father and I, US citizens, are nearing retirement age. We have found a small home near her for a very reasonable price and I have all the finances worked out to purchase it, with a minimum amount carried on an unsecured loan here in the US. My son-in-law is starting the negotiations right now, and hopefully, by the mid to late summer it will be ours! (The wheels turn slowly in France!) For now, we will just visit a month or two at a time, on a tourist visa, but may work on a retirement visa several years down the road. We may use as a holiday gite in the future, with my daughter handing off keys and bedding. But that is a few years down the road and will have French tax implication.
So, my current question, for those of you in the know, is about the transferring of funds for the purchase. This will be a individual to individual purchase, no agence immobilier. My bank assures me there will be no problem doing a bank wire from my accounts to the sellers account with the swift codes. I have done this with rentals in the past, so I know that drill. What I am a little uneasy about is the several days lag that comes with the wire transfer. I worry that the money will go into the sellers bank, before we meet with the notaire and sign the final papers, getting the key. Am I worrying unnecessarily? I am anticipating that once we have an agreed upon price, I will hop a flight back over to France to take the down payment, notaries' fee, and meet with all to sign the contract to buy. (I was just there in February, when I toured the property and fell in love!) Will the notaire have options for me, such as wiring the remaining money to him or the equivalent of an escrow account until the closing on the property?
Thanks for any guidance.
Susan
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stillkicking
3/21/2017 08:33 EST
If you are seeking legal and banking advice, this site may not be not the optimal avenue for that, but if you are afraid that the seller might try to abscond with your money, I would think twice before dealing with this person.
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xantippe
3/21/2017 08:44 EST
Doesn't the Notaire deal with the money, and it is all done on the day of signing?
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Stevenstruck
3/21/2017 09:22 EST
Certainly. I am not an expert but I just bought a house in Brittany, cotes d'armor, with the money wired from my financial advisor to the notaire. No problem.
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Lindesu
3/21/2017 10:47 EST
Stevenstruck, This is what I was hoping to do, wire it to the Notaire. I am glad to know this is possible. My son-in-law is quite a bit older than my daughter, and has a lot of business experience. He is going to help me with a lot of the details, but since he is French, he has not actually done what I am doing. I am sure that the buyer is a very trustworthy person, but it still makes me uncomfortable that one or the other of us might be trusting the other person to do the right thing, if the money transfer did not arrive precisely at the same time of the final closing with the Notaire. Wiring it to the notaire would solve all the problems. Thanks so much.
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xantippe
3/21/2017 12:42 EST
If the money doesn't arrive in time there will be no closing. Don't worry things have a way of happening even if it isn't what you are used to. We bought a couple of houses whilst living in CA and didn't even come for the closing. You can appoint someone else to sign, like your Daughter or son in law. The Notaire will take care of the money side of the deal.
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kimterrell
3/28/2017 15:51 EST
Hello, I have been living in France since 2012 and I have learned one thing and that is not to scrimp when it comes to major purchases, especially a house. If you are going to purchase the equivalent of a FSBO understand that it is a different world here. You could find yourself in a lot of trouble. For one thing, most places require the sale to be posted to give local people the opportunity to purchase the property if they want to. Bypassing this notification could nullify your sale. The notaire will oversee the legal work connected to the French house sale including, drawing up contracts, arrange for certain searches to be done: such as establishing whether the vendor has title to the property, an asbestos, lead, and termite survey, checks to make sure there are no outstanding mortgages against the property, establishment of boundaries, etc, collect the taxes due on the transaction to the Commune, the Department, and the State, and hold the money for the property in his bank account when the time comes to transfer it from the buyer to the vendor.
Wiring money should not occur until you have a better understanding of how the French conveyance system works.
Good luck.
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Lindesu
3/28/2017 23:22 EST
Thanks Kim, good advice. There's no getting around using a Notaire, so I am sure he will keep everything on the up and up. I understand many of the quirks of the French system. My son-in-law has a lot of experience in this realm and will make sure my interests are safe guarded.
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Lindesu
3/28/2017 23:30 EST
Also, the property has been posted for about six months now. There are lots of properties available for very low prices, especially in the rural areas. They usually require some amount of work, ranging from full blown ruins to structures requiring some refreshing. We lucked out on this one. Needs a little work, but roofing, electrical and plumbing estimates confirm that not a lot will be required. Nothing jaw dropping. I understand that the Notaire may assign and independent person to also do a property inspection. Which is fine. Really excited about the house. We have an agreement on price, but it will still take probably 3 months to wrap up!
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