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30/03/2008, 21:06 Wilsonjj Joined on 23/08/2004 Posts 4 Selling our house in France Hi, I wonder whether anyone can help with a Notaire issue. We are reluctantly selling our house in the Languedoc and have had a reasonable offer from a french buyer. Our estate agent requested a copy of the title deeds for the house which are with the Notaire that dealt with the purchase. He won't send them to the UK or fax/email them and will only let us pick them up in person. To this end my husband is planning to fly out for two days needs week in order to collect them and deliver them to the agents. However, a friend has told us today that rather than using the buyers notaire, we can instruct our own at no extra cost. If this is the same notaire that holds our deeds, he can then liaise directly with the buyers notaire and we do not need to incur additional costs that we can ill afford. Is this correct and can we do this and are there any disadvantages to us doing this.   Many thanks in advance. Julie    Report

30/03/2008, 22:46 Ron Avery Joined on 29/11/2004 Aveyron 12 Posts 3,096 Re: Selling our house in France Why is your Estate Agent in the UK, I thought you didn't want to incur uneccessary fees? As you have bought in France you must be aware that normally there is a Notaire an employee of the state, who deals with the sale and represents the buyer and seller's interests.  You can use a different Notaire to the buyer if you want but what is the point?  What your friend may be getting confused about is the seller normally pays no fees, except for the obligatory surveys that must be undertaken. Ron in the Avey-ron    Report

30/03/2008, 22:55 Cathy Joined on 07/03/2006 Mostly near Bordeaux; Sometimes near Bristol Posts 1,684 Re: Selling our house in France When we bought our house, we shared a notaire with our vendors but I wish that we hadn't (a long and complicated story). I then found out that we could have appointed our own and that the fees would have been the same, which is why notaires do not encourage the practice. Yes, notaires are supposed to be impartial and represent both parties equally but no one is perfect and our notaire wasn't. Cathy ----- Your children won't remember you ironing their pyjamas but they will remember you reading them a bedside story.    Report

30/03/2008, 23:00 Wilsonjj Joined on 23/08/2004 Posts 4 Re: Selling our house in France We are not using an estate agent in the Uk. We are using a French agent. However, our notaire (who dealt with our purchase) won't release our deeds to the Estate Agent - only to us when we are next in france. We were not planning to use him this time. We are happy to use the buyers notaire only but wondered if it would be easier to involve our own notaire to avoid a two day trip to France to collect the deeds in person. He won't play ball otherwise and we need the deeds in order to proceed.     Report

30/03/2008, 23:01 Wilsonjj Joined on 23/08/2004 Posts 4 Re: Selling our house in France Thanks Cathy. I think that's what we will do too. Julie    Report

30/03/2008, 23:25 Ron Avery Joined on 29/11/2004 Aveyron 12 Posts 3,096 Re: Selling our house in France Sorry Julie got confused by your post as to why they had to be sent to the UK. You have not actually explained why the Estate Agent wants to see the Deeds in the first place, why cannot your Notaire send them to the other Notaire, surely that is where they need to go?  It is really unusual to use two Notaire's in a French sale although it has been done by some English buyers who just cannot get the concept of an honest lawyer in their heads, it should not be necessary despite what you have been told.  Maybe Will who is the expert in this field will advise you soon. Ron in the Avey-ron    Report

31/03/2008, 7:07 Will Joined on 22/09/2004 Sussex & 50 (Mortainais) Posts 4,727 Re: Selling our house in France I am not an expert, but there is no legal or financial reason why you cannot use two notaires. In practice, it normally adds complication to an already protracted business, and can engender bad feeling on the part of the first notaire. Though it can be beneficial if the sole notaire is awkward, incompetent or anti-British (which, although rare, has been known). So in your case it may help, but if the notaire holding the documents (there are no title deeds in France in the same way as in England) won't release them to a bona-fide agent immobiler, I see no reason why he would be more likely to cooperate with another notaire.   Will intentionally blank signature http://www.vienormande.com    Report

31/03/2008, 7:40 ErnieY Joined on 05/12/2006 Nr Prayssac (Lot) Posts 2,942 Re: Selling our house in France Just to clarify a point, ignoring politics and practicalities, I believe you are perfectly entitled to use a second Notaire and at no additional cost as they share the fee. This probably explains why it may be unpopular with them My doctor said one drink per day, I can live with that !    Report

31/03/2008, 10:50 Wilsonjj Joined on 23/08/2004 Posts 4 Re: Selling our house in France I have contacted the agent today and we have decided to use two Notaires. Our original notaire seems to be being difficult about handing the documents over as we were not using his services this time. He would not give them to the Immobilier at all and insisted that they be collected in person by either myself or my husband. No logical reason for this at all. He will now liaise with the Buyers Notaire and hand the documents over. It all seems bizarre as we would have been happy to just use one notaire. We just don't want to incur costs of £200+ to travel over for two days in order to collect these documents in person because our original notaire won't release them. Fingers crossed that things get easier from now on. Thanks for all your posts. Julie      Report

01/04/2008, 9:21 darnsarf Joined on 19/01/2006 31 (just) Posts 106 Re: Selling our house in France We used the two-notaire' approach when we bought a couple of years ago. We also used a UK (french dept) law firm, partly as advisors on inheritance issues etc, partly as translators (expensive for this!) and partly for 'general wellbeing'. I chose a local Notaire who claimed on his site to speak english. In the event, his english was far worse than my french. The seller's Notaire was the one who handled the seller's original purchase. By stroke of bad luck, and despite being 30 miles apart, my Notaire used to work for the seller's one and the two hated each other! Further, my Notaire didn't get on with the local Mayor either. The two Notaires squabbled throughout the process, blaming each other for every typo and delay. It was OK in the end though and I think I'd still prefer the 'two Notaire' approach if only to ensure that things are more likely to be checked. The problem though seems to be that Brits tend to see the Notaire as a 'lawyer', not a 'processer of paperwork'. I was less than impressed with the Notaire system. That said, we did use the same Notaire when buying a nearby barn and it all went very smoothly (but maybe because the seller was the regional bigwig!) Whether selling or buying, I still think it's a good idea to have a lawyer protecting your interests.    Report

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