France Expat Forum

Lindesu
Joined 2014
Posts: 26

7 years ago

Buying a small home in Bretagne

7 years ago

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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