Guide

Buying a house in France: the notary's arithmetic, from the source

By Covered Abroad Research Desk · Last verified July 2026

France places no nationality restriction on buying property — the process runs through a notary for everyone, and the buyer pays the acquisition costs. The 'frais de notaire' are mostly taxes: the notary's own regulated emoluments run on a published sliding scale — 4.644% up to €6,500, then 1.915%, 1.277%, and 0.959% above €60,000 — which on a €200,000 purchase works out to €2,394.64 before VAT, with transfer duties and disbursements stacked on top.

The fee scale, verbatim

Service-public.fr publishes the notary's regulated emolument scale for property sales, and it is refreshingly checkable: 4.644% on the slice up to €6,500 · 1.915% from €6,500 to €17,000 · 1.277% from €17,000 to €60,000 · 0.959% above €60,000. The same fiche runs the arithmetic on a €200,000 flat: €2,394.64 before VAT in emoluments. The famous "7-8% frais de notaire" figure everyone quotes is therefore mostly not the notary: the bulk is transfer duties (droits de mutation) collected for the state and départements, plus disbursements the notary advances.

The buyer pays these acquisition costs unless agreed otherwise; where the seller involves their own notary too, the two notaries split the fee with no extra cost — a point the process fiche makes explicitly. Remote signing by procuration is provided for, which matters for buyers abroad.

Source: Service-public.fr, F17701 — frais de notaire, read 5 September 2026.

Source: Service-public.fr, F2604 — vente d'un logement, read 5 September 2026.

The process, compressed honestly

No NIE-style prerequisite exists: a foreign buyer needs identity documents, funds and — practically — a French notary early, since the notary is the state's officer in the transaction: drafting, verifying, collecting the taxes, registering the deed, and releasing the price to the seller after fiscal registration. The compromis-then-acte rhythm runs weeks to months; the syndic (for apartments) is notified at completion.

What buying does NOT do is confer residence: property ownership carries no visa. The residence question runs the routes this site documents — the visitor card for non-working owners, with its SMIC-floating resources test — and its insurance line is the France hub's subject. Owning a French house and being allowed to live in it year-round are separate files.

60-second check

Not sure the policy you have meets your destination's written rule? Run it through the policy check now, before you build the rest of the file around it.

Check my policy

Where insurance actually touches the purchase

Two honest touchpoints. Home insurance: French practice ties multirisque habitation cover to ownership and any mortgage — arranged locally, outside our scope. The stay itself: a foreign owner using the house beyond 90/180 needs the long-stay route, whose health-insurance certificate is exactly what the France hub documents and the checker reads. The house is the easy half; the paperwork that lets you enjoy it is the half with published rules:

Check a policy against the rule

Get a certificate that meets the published rule

Tell us your destination, visa, and who’s moving. Our team reviews it against the current requirement and calls you with a quote — no obligation.

Cover underwritten by Regency Assurance · every rule on this site cited and dated · a person calls back within one business day.

Before you request a quote: cover is worldwide but excludes treatment in the United States, and pre-existing conditions are not covered — including conditions you did not know about. We say this up front so a quote is worth your time.

Common questions

Can foreigners buy property in France?

Yes — France places no nationality restriction on property purchase. The process runs through a notary for everyone, the buyer pays the acquisition costs, and remote signing by procuration is provided for buyers abroad.

What are the real notary fees in France?

The regulated emoluments run on service-public.fr's published scale — 4.644% up to €6,500, 1.915% to €17,000, 1.277% to €60,000, 0.959% above — €2,394.64 before VAT on a €200,000 purchase. The bulk of the famous 7-8% is transfer duties and disbursements, not the notary.

Does buying a French house give me residency?

No — ownership confers no visa or residence right. Living in it beyond 90/180 days takes a long-stay route such as the visitor card, with its own resources test and insurance requirement.