The acquisition process for property in France

Buying property in France for the first time can feel opaque. The vocabulary is unfamiliar, several professionals are involved, deadlines are set by law, and the moment when your loan needs to be in place is much earlier than most first-time buyers assume. This guide walks you through the standard acquisition flow, from the first offer to the final signing, and explains exactly where your financing has to fit in.

The overall timeline, from the moment the seller countersigns your offer to the day you receive the keys, is typically ten to twelve weeks. Anything shorter is possible, but every week you save on this timeline comes from work you did before the process even started.

The three stages of a French real estate acquisition

Every standard acquisition in France follows the same three formal stages, in the same order, regardless of price or property type.

Stage 1: Offer to purchase (offre d’achat)

You submit a written offer to the seller, usually through the real estate agent, stating the price and the essential conditions of the purchase. Once the seller countersigns your offer, they are legally committed to selling to you on the agreed terms and can no longer withdraw in order to sell the property to another buyer.

On your side, this is where a common misunderstanding arises: your statutory 10-day withdrawal period does not start at this stage. It only begins later, once the preliminary contract has been signed. The offer to purchase does, however, freeze the deal in your favour and opens the file at the notaire’s office.

Stage 2: Preliminary contract (avant-contrat)

The next step is signing the preliminary contract, typically referred to as the compromis de vente or, less commonly, the promesse de vente. This is a substantial notarial document that sets out every term of the transaction in detail: the property description, the price, the conditions precedent (including your financing condition, or condition suspensive de prêt), the completion date, and the schedule of payments.

Two clocks start on the date this contract is signed:

• Your 10-day statutory withdrawal period. During these ten calendar days, you may cancel the purchase without having to justify your decision and without penalty. This right is granted by Article L.271-1 of the French Construction and Housing Code.
• The 10-day deposit transfer window. You have ten days from signing to wire the deposit (dépôt de garantie) to the notaire’s escrow account. The deposit is typically 5 % to 10 % of the purchase price and is agreed with the seller, usually via the real estate agency.

Stage 3: Final deed of sale (acte authentique de vente)

Once the preliminary contract is signed and all conditions precedent are fulfilled, in particular your loan approval, the notaire schedules the appointment for the signing of the final deed of sale. This deed formally transfers ownership of the property to you and the sale price to the seller. Keys are handed over the same day.

Several weeks before this final appointment, the notaire will send you a financial statement (décompte notaire) showing the exact balance of funds you need to wire, after deducting the deposits already transferred (the price deposit and any advance on notary fees).

Where financing fits in, and why it must be prepared upstream

Reading the timeline above, most first-time buyers assume the loan process starts when the preliminary contract is signed. This is the single most costly assumption in a French acquisition, and the reason so many international buyers lose the deal or renegotiate under pressure. In practice, the loan file must be prepared before you sign the offer to purchase, not after.

Why upstream preparation matters

Three hard constraints in the French process force the loan file to be ready early:

• The 45 to 60-day financing condition. The compromis de vente typically gives you 45 to 60 days to obtain a firm loan offer from a bank. If you have not started the file before signing the compromis, you burn two to three of those weeks simply gathering documents and picking a bank, leaving no margin for unexpected requests from the lender.
• The mandatory 10-day reflection period on the loan offer. Once a bank issues a formal loan offer, French law imposes a further 10-day statutory reflection period during which you cannot sign it (Article L.313-34 of the Consumer Code). This is a hard delay that cannot be shortened.
• The funds transfer window before completion. The bank needs the signed loan offer, the notaire needs the funds a few days before signing, and the notaire will not schedule the final deed until the money is confirmed on the escrow account.

Add these constraints together and, from the day the preliminary contract is signed, you have roughly eight weeks to complete the loan cycle. If your file was not warm before you signed, you enter that window already behind.

What upstream preparation looks like in practice

Preparing your file upstream does not mean applying for a loan before you have found a property. It means:

• Assembling a complete documentation set (identity, tax returns, income statements, bank and investment statements) before you start visiting properties in earnest.
• Discussing your target price and profile with a broker before you sign an offer to purchase, so you know which banks would take your file, at what LTV, and at what rate. For international and non-resident profiles this is particularly important, since the panel of banks that finance your profile is narrower.
• Obtaining an indicative feasibility statement from the broker. This is not a formal loan offer, but it tells you what you can realistically finance, so your offer to purchase is aligned with a bank’s actual appetite.
• Setting up your French bank account and any capital transfer routing early, especially if you are transferring funds from another currency. FX operations at closing can add days, sometimes weeks, if not organised upfront (see our dedicated FX article).

The financing condition (condition suspensive de prêt)

If you are financing your acquisition with a mortgage, the preliminary contract must include a financing condition. This clause, protected by the Loi Scrivener (Article L.313-40 of the Consumer Code), provides that if you cannot obtain the loan under the terms specified in the compromis within the agreed deadline, the sale falls through and your deposit is returned in full. The terms specified in the clause matter, in particular the loan amount, the maximum interest rate, the loan duration, and the number of banks you must approach. If your loan file is not ready before signing, drafting a realistic financing clause becomes guesswork.

Costs to plan for at each stage

Beyond the purchase price and the mortgage itself, several cash outflows are expected during the process:

• Deposit (5 % to 10 % of the price), wired to the notaire within 10 days of signing the compromis.
• Notary fees and registration duties (approximately 7 % to 8 % on existing properties, 2 % to 3 % on new-builds), payable on the day of the final deed. These are calculated by the notaire in advance and detailed in the décompte.
• Bank guarantee fees (either a caution, typically the CAMCA / Crédit Logement structure, or a mortgage inscription registered by the notaire), invoiced by the bank or embedded in the notaire’s statement.
• Broker fees, if applicable, disclosed in the mandate signed with the broker before any work begins.
• Down payment (typically 30 % of the price under current LTV practice for non-residents and international profiles), payable to the notaire before the final deed.

Timeline recap

In an optimal scenario, with the loan file prepared upstream:

• Day 0. Offer to purchase signed and countersigned by seller.
• Days 7 to 15. Signing of the preliminary contract (compromis de vente) at the notaire. Your 10-day withdrawal period starts.
• Days 15 to 21. Full loan file sent to the chosen bank (this can begin during the withdrawal period so as not to lose time).
• Weeks 5 to 8. Bank issues the formal loan offer.
• 10 days after issuance. Mandatory reflection period expires. You may now sign the loan offer.
• Before completion. Funds transferred to the notaire’s escrow account.
• Weeks 10 to 12. Final deed of sale signed. Keys handed over.

Any slippage on the loan side, missing documents, a bank changing its terms, an FX operation that takes longer than expected, pushes the entire schedule to the right, and can force a request for extension of the compromis (which the seller may or may not grant).

How Omage supports you across the process

Our role as a regulated mortgage broker and CIF is to be the financing pillar of your acquisition, from the very first conversation. Concretely, we discuss your project and profile before you sign any offer to purchase, we identify which banks in our panel (French, Monegasque, Luxembourg and Nordic private banks) fit your file and confirm indicative terms, we assemble the complete documentation and manage the file from submission to formal loan offer, we coordinate with your notaire on the financing condition, the payment schedule and the funds transfer, and we stay involved through to the day of the final deed. If you would like, we also introduce you to notaires, tax counsels and real estate agencies on the Côte d’Azur who work regularly with international profiles.