The Notaire is impartial but has to check there are no restrictions which could hinder or hurt the buyers use and enjoyment of a property etc

There are bad and good notaires. People need a good estate agent or a bit of sense themselves to ask the right questions they also need a properly composed compromis, drawn up to protect their interests,

I have known of unscrupulous estate agents selling agricultural buildings where there was no hope of occupation by any one other than a registered agricultural worker, with a compromis properly describing the nature of the property but no explanation that they could not live in the property given by the immobilier.

It is very important that any buyer has the correct and relevant suspensive conditions in the compromis, permission for roof terrace, permission for pool etc.

1. Jurists - people who have a law degree and can give advice but are not qualified in any way to practice.
2. Notaires who have a law degree and are fully qualified lawyers/solicitors.
3. Avocats who have a law degree and are fully qualified court room lawyers/barristers.

By French law a notaire handling a property sale must be impartial and act in the interests of both the seller and the buyer. Quite a few of our local notaires (Herault insist on the presence of an interpreter when the buyer or seller sdpeaks little or no French to make sure that the acte and all its implications are fully understood by all parties. The interpreter has to sign the act as well as the buyer the seller and the notaire.

The notaire can give you advice on the best way of buying a property, sci, tontine regime matrimoniale, inheritance issues, capital gains etc etc.

The fees a notaire can charge on the sale of a property are fixed by the French state and represent a very small part of the total fees payable. Notaires, like lawyers in most countries, are legally obliged to have very expensive and full professional insurance cover.

Fees usually run from 10% on very small prices down to 6% on very high prices. If both the buyer and the seller elect to use their own notaires, these state fixed fees are split between the two notaires, in general using two notaires is not worthwhile as it slows down the procedure with no benefit to either buyer or seller.

The bulk of the payment goes in land registry fees, split between the commune, the department, the region and the state.

In the country most compromis run beyond the given date for signing due to delays in getting back land registry information. If this worries you, why not speak to the seller or to the agent invlved in the sale and ask for a written undertaking to change the last date for signing?

Most notaires will not have a compromis signed unless the seller has already had the the diagnostic tests done ( asbestos, lead, termites, in some areas some gases, + insulation and soon electric system). However often immobiliers/real estate agents will have a compromis signed regardless. It is the responsibility of the seller to organise the tests and obtain these certificates.