Buying a property at auction
If you want to buy a property at an auction in France, you need to be represented by a lawyer registered with the bar where the auction is taking place.
This means I can only represent you before the Court of NICE in this specific area of law.
In order to participate to the auction you will have to provide a cheque provided by your bank (normally it is a French bank) it is commonly called “un chèque de banque” OR make a bank transfer of 10% of the starting price but cannot be less than 5.000 euros.
If it is a bank transfer, it will be reimbursed easily if you do not win the bid.
I will be asking you to decide what is the limit of the price you are willing to pay for the property and I will be sending you a power of attorney with this limit.
Should you win the auction, you would have to wait 10 days in case someone increases the price of at least 10% before being able to finalise the bid.
Furthermore, please bear in mind that if you win the PROPERTY AT THE AUCTION there will be extra FEES to pay:
1 “les frais préalables” – prefixed fees – that we will know of a week before the auction – which will have to be paid within 15 days after the final sale, ie. 15 days after the 10 days that follow the auction.
2 the fees to register to change of name of the property (taxes that are also due before a notaire when you are buying an estate) which amounts 5,01% of the final price of the auction.
3 the lawyers’ fees to follow the registration of the property
Those fees will have to be paid in the month following the final sale.
Please contact us should you have any questions regarding this matter.