Property surveys in France

When you buy a property in France you need to be aware that you buy it as seen. The vendor has to provide the seller (and the notaire) with reports identifying the presence of asbestos (lutte contre le saturnisme), lead in paint (amiante) and the presence of termites and parasites. New reports include septic tanks (raccordement au réseau d’assainissement), electrical safety (état de l’installation intérieure électrique) and energy consumption in the house (diagnostic de performance énergétique).

All these reports are carried out by specialist companies and are – of course – written in French. It is very important to read and understand them before signing any papers (compromis de vente).

Recently I had to interpret for an English couple who was buying a property in Brittany. Although the agent was English, he didn’t fully explain the septic tank report. When I translated at the notaire’s for them they found out the septic tank was in good working order but was not conforming to the new regulations. They had to think about having a new septic tank installed within a couple of years. A septic tank could be rather pricey (between 5,000 and 10,000 euros) depending on the ground, access, size of the plot, number of bedrooms, etc. If this couple had known about the septic tank issue beforehand, they would have probably asked the vendor to reduce the price. Unfortunately it was too late to negotiate anything as they were about to sign the final papers (acte de vente). Negotiations are done before signing any paper so before signing the compromis de vente.

When you buy a house in France, take your time. Seek advice from a translator if you don’t speak French. You could save a lot of money and stress!

See my post about ‘Why you should employ a translator / interpreter when buying a house in France’ here.

Why you should employ a translator / interpreter when buying a house in France

Buying a house in France can be daunting if you don’t speak the language. Even if you have a basic knowledge of French, it can be a stressful experience. You need to understand what you are signing and agreeing to. Your agent might be bilingual but it is best to employ an independent person to assist you with the transaction. The “Compromis de vente”, “Acte de vente”, “Servitudes”, “droit d’échelle”, and all the “Diagnostics techniques”, etc are all part of the procedure. If those words are Chinese to you, seek assistance as it can cost you money later!

I recently helped an English couple who has a lovely holiday cottage near Dinan. They received an official letter from their neighbour. With their basic French and the use of a French/English dictionary they understood some key words and decided to contact me for some help with the language. Their French neighbour was threatening to take them to court. They could not understand why he had been asking for a key of their back gate for the past 12 months. As they could not understand they ignored it until they got this alarming letter. By looking at their deed I straight away noticed there was a right-of-way (servitude) on their land.
They were horrified to find out about this “servitude” 2 years after their purchase. Their estate agent was English and never told them about it. As he could speak some French he acted as an interpreter at the notaire’s office but obviously some important information were not translated.
As stated in the deeds, the French neighbour can, if he wants to, go through their land to get to his back garden.
All what he wanted was to take his land mower through their land rather than going through his own house which is not practical as you can imagine. As the right-of-way (servitude) was obstructed by a gate, by law they had to give the neighbour a key. To sort out the dispute with the neighbour I organised an unofficial meeting with the French neighbour and the English couple. We all sat down round a table, with a cup of coffee and some tasty home-made cake. The English couple gave their neighbour a key of their back gate and apologized for the misunderstanding. A few months on they get on very well and even invite each other for some apéritifs (drinks) on a regular basis.
This could have saved them an unnecessary dispute with their French neighbour and stress. After all they only came to France to relax and enjoy some nice red wine!