French estate agents work to rules that differ from those in London or New York. This guide to buying property in France explains them for international buyers: how agents are appointed and paid, what they owe you and when it helps to have an agent of your own.
By Aron Shadbolt, Founder | Monument Private Office
A buyer has found the right villa above Cannes. The agent showing it is licensed, works for the seller and is paid only when the sale completes, while still owing the buyer clear, honest information. Each of those details lands differently depending on where the buyer comes from. A buyer from New York, used to having an agent of their own, finds that the only agent involved usually works for the seller. A buyer from London meets an agent who, unlike at home, must hold a professional licence.
Real estate agents in France sit at the centre of most property sales. The useful question is less whose side the agent is on than what the agent is appointed to do. Once that is clear, the rest of the purchase can be arranged around it.
Buying from abroad involves much more than viewing a property: searching the whole market, judging the price, arranging the financing, deciding the ownership and making sure every step is done on time until the day you complete.
Running all of that for the buyer is the work of Monument Private Office. We are a private office for international buyers of prime property in Paris, on the Côte d'Azur and in the French Alps. We act for the buyer on the property, arrange the financing and coordinate the ownership structure. All three are handled together as one service, by one team, working alongside everyone involved in the purchase: the estate agent, the notaire, the lawyers and the tax advisers.
When advisers are brought in one after another, each decision is taken without the others in view. With one office running the whole purchase, nothing is decided before the financing and the ownership have been thought through. This way, you make your offer knowing exactly what you are buying, what it is worth and that you can confidently complete.
HOW FRENCH AGENTS ARE APPOINTED
Estate agency in France is a regulated profession. Every estate agency must hold a professional card, issued by the local Chamber of Commerce and Industry for three years after checks on qualification and good standing. Many negotiators work as independent agents attached to an agency or a national network. They act under that agency's or network's card.
Before marketing a property or negotiating its sale, the agent must hold a written mandate from the owner. It sets the asking price, the agent's fee and who pays it. Each mandate is numbered and recorded in the agency's register.
There are three common forms:
Simple mandate. The seller can appoint several agencies and can also sell privately.
Exclusive mandate. One agency only, with no private sale. It cannot be ended in its first three months. After that, the seller can end it with 15 days' notice by registered letter.
Semi-exclusive mandate. One agency, but the seller keeps the right to find a buyer privately.
Under a simple mandate, the same property can appear with several agencies, sometimes at different advertised prices because each agency sets its own fee. It is still one property and one seller.
In practice When a buyer sends us the same property found on several agency websites, we find out which agency holds which mandate and on what fee, so the buyer's interest is registered once with the right agency. The prices can then be compared on the same basis.
WHAT THE AGENT OWES THE BUYER
The agent works under the seller's mandate, so the seller is the client. The buyer is not left out, though.
French law also gives the agent a duty of advice and information towards both parties. The agent must pass on the technical information the parties need. They must also check that the seller owns the property and that the legally required surveys are provided. Courts have held agents liable to buyers who were not properly informed.
Day to day, the agent wants exactly what a well-prepared buyer wants: a sale that completes on the agreed terms.
In practice The agent provides the property details and the legally required surveys. We add the wider view: how that property compares with the others on the market and what those documents mean for the price and the budget, such as building works still to come. Our independent evaluation covers pricing, condition, risk and long-term positioning. It shapes the price strategy and the terms we then negotiate on the buyer’s behalf.
WHAT ESTATE FRENCH AGENTS CHARGE
Agency fees, often called commission, are not fixed by law in France. Each agency sets its own schedule and must display it, including VAT, at the agency's entrance and online. The published figures are maximums, so a lower fee can be agreed.
Published schedules commonly run between about 3% and 7% of the price. The percentage usually falls as the price rises, although the amount in euros still grows.
The mandate says who pays:
Fee paid by the seller. The fee is included in the advertised price and is not shown separately.
Fee paid by the buyer. The advert must show the price both with and without the fee. It must also give the fee as a percentage of the price without it.
Two further points matter for a buyer. First, no payment can be asked of you before the sale is concluded: the fee is paid after the final deed is signed before the notaire. Second, where the buyer pays the fee and the deed shows it separately, transfer duties are generally calculated on the price without the fee. Where the seller pays, the fee forms part of the price on which duties are calculated. Your notaire will confirm the figures for your purchase.
In practice The price and the agent's fee can be discussed together. Buyers from abroad often assume an offer excludes the fee, so we write each offer on the same basis as the advert, making clear whether the figure includes it. When buyer and seller are close but not yet agreed, the agent may choose to adjust their fee to bring the sale together. That is the agent's decision. We raise it with them openly, as part of the offer.
VIEWINGS AND THE VIEWING SLIP
Before a visit, agencies often ask a buyer to sign a viewing slip. It does not commit you to buy and on its own it creates no fee. It records that the agency introduced you to the property.
That slip of paper matters more than its size suggests. Buyers who went round the agency that introduced them, to save its fee, have been ordered by French courts to compensate it. If you have already seen a property with one agency, say so to anyone else who offers it to you.
In practice A buyer flying in for three days may see six properties with four agencies. Before the trip, we arrange each viewing with the agency that holds the mandate, so every introduction is recorded properly and each agent knows who the buyer is working with.
THE SELLER’S AGENT AND THE BUYER’S AGENT IN FRANCE
Most French sales involve one agent, appointed by the seller. A buyer can also appoint an agent of their own, often called a property finder or buyer's agent. The two roles sit on either side of the same sale and usually work together.
A buyer's agent holds the same professional card and works under a written search mandate from the buyer. The fee is either set in that mandate and paid by the buyer, or taken from the seller's agent's fee, often half of it, under an agreement between the two agencies.
Many buyers deal with the seller's agent alone. A buyer living in London, New York or Milan faces constraints a local buyer does not: distance, time and an unfamiliar process. A buyer's agent helps in four ways.
One search across the market. Properties are spread across many agencies. Some are sold without being advertised. A buyer's agent searches all of them against one brief, so the buyer sees a shortlist rather than dozens of listings.
Trips that count. Properties are screened before the buyer travels, so a short visit is spent on serious candidates.
A view on price. Without local reference points, a buyer cannot easily judge an asking price. A buyer's agent compares it with recent sales nearby and negotiates on that basis.
The process explained. The offer, the preliminary contract and the deadlines run on French rules and in French. A buyer's agent explains each step and keeps the timetable.
In practice At Monument, one dedicated expert runs the search, often with access to off-market properties. Every search starts with a brief from our client, which covers how the property will be used, what they expect from it as an investment and how it will pass to their family.
FINANCING PREPARED BEFORE YOU VIEW
The agent will usually ask for proof of funds or of borrowing capacity before putting an offer to the seller. For a non-resident, getting a French mortgage approved takes time and a complete borrower file: income, assets, tax returns and existing loans.
We are a registered credit intermediary as well as a licensed real estate adviser. The same office that advises on the property arranges the financing. We build the borrower profile and arrange borrowing capacity in advance, working with French and European private banks and specialist lenders. The lender makes the lending decision.
In practice Take a buyer in New York whose income is paid partly through a company. Some French banks do not lend to US citizens at all because of US reporting rules. We prepare the borrower file before the search starts and approach lenders who accept that profile, so an offer can go in with financing capacity already established.
OWNERSHIP DECIDED AT THE START
Buying in your own name, through a French property company or through another vehicle affects tax, succession and what a lender will accept. It is decided before signing, not after.
One example is the yearly French wealth tax on property. It applies when a household's property, after debts, is worth more than €1.3 million. For someone who lives abroad, it counts only the property they own in France.
In practice For a family buying a chalet in the Alps, the question of whose name it goes in and how it passes to the next generation comes up at the first meeting. We set out the questions to settle, then bring in their own tax adviser and notaire, or introduce ones suited to their nationality and objectives.
ONE TEAM THROUGH TO COMPLETION
The property, the financing and the ownership affect each other. A limit on the financing changes which property you can buy, just as the way you choose to own it changes what a lender will accept. We coordinate the due diligence, the notaire's process and the completion milestones. A missed deadline can put the purchase and the deposit at risk, so we hold every date for you.
The sale is completed before a notaire. You are free to choose your own: two notaires can act in one sale and share the same fee, so it costs you no more. What people call notaire fees are mostly taxes collected for the state and local authorities. On an existing property, allow 7 to 8 per cent of the price.
After the preliminary contract, a private buyer has ten days to withdraw without giving a reason. The seller is committed from the day of signing. The local authority may also have a right to buy in place of the buyer, with two months to answer once it is notified.
HOW WE WORK WITH ESTATE AGENTS IN FRANCE
We work alongside estate agents in two ways. Where a buyer comes to us directly, we act on the property, the financing and the ownership structure together. Those are the buyers we bring to agents' properties. Where an estate agent introduces a buyer to us, we handle the financing and the ownership structure only. The client and the property side stay with the agent.
Questions and answers
What percentage do French estate agents charge? Each agency sets its own fees and must publish them. Schedules commonly run between about 3% and 7% of the price, with lower percentages at higher prices.
Who pays estate agent fees in France? The seller or the buyer, as set out in the agent's mandate. The advert will always say which.
Do French estate agents work for the buyer or the seller? Either. An agent acts for whoever signs their written mandate: the seller under a sale mandate or the buyer under a search mandate. Most sales involve only the seller's agent, who also owes the buyer a duty of advice and information.
When is the estate agent's fee paid? Only after the final deed is signed before the notaire. No payment can be required before then.
Can estate agent fees be negotiated in France? Yes. An agency's published fees are maximums and a lower fee can be agreed. The fee can be discussed with the agent as part of the overall offer.
Does signing a viewing slip commit me to anything? It does not commit you to buy and on its own it creates no fee. It records that the agency introduced you to the property.
How is a French estate agent different from a UK or US agent? In France and the UK, most sales involve one agent, appointed by the seller. In the United States each side usually has its own agent. Unlike in the UK, where no licence is currently required, French agents must hold a professional card and the fee can be charged to the buyer.
What is the difference between an estate agent and a buyer's agent in France? The estate agent is usually appointed by the seller to sell a property. A buyer's agent is appointed by the buyer, under a search mandate, to find, assess and negotiate a property for them. Both hold the same professional card. A buyer's agent is paid either under the search mandate or from part of the seller's agent's fee, often half, under an agreement between the two agencies. Monument acts for buyers in this role and also arranges their financing.
How do I buy a house in France as an international buyer? You agree a price, then sign a preliminary contract, which a private buyer can withdraw from within ten days. The sale completes when the final deed is signed before a notaire. Monument can run the search, the financing and the ownership structure for you.
Do estate agents in Paris, on the Côte d'Azur and in the Alps work the same way? Yes. The same national rules on the professional card, the written mandate and fee display apply to estate agents across France.
Do I need my own notaire when buying a house in France? It is not required, but you are free to choose your own. Two notaires can act in one sale and share the same fee, so it costs you no more. Where a buyer has no notaire in France, Monument can introduce one suited to their nationality and objectives.
Can a non-resident get a French mortgage? Yes. French and European private banks and specialist lenders lend to non-residents, often with a larger deposit and a full borrower file. Monument arranges this financing for non-resident buyers. The lender makes the lending decision.
Who can help with buying property in France as a foreigner? A buyer's agent, a notaire, a lender and a tax adviser each cover part of the purchase. Monument Private Office brings them together for international buyers of prime property, running the search, the financing and the ownership structure as one service.
This article is general information and not legal, tax or financial advice.Links: DGCCRF, L’agent immobilier : les règles qui encadrent la profession; ANIL, Affichage des honoraires des professionnels et annonces immobilières; Ministry of Justice, obligations of the estate agent; Service-Public, property wealth tax; City of Paris, pre-emption declarations; National consumer institute, content of property adverts; Cour de cassation, decision of 7 May 2026, n° 24-10.637.Monument Private Office advises international clients on the acquisition, financing and structuring of prime residential property in France, from offices in Paris, Cannes and London. Monument Private Office SAS holds a professional card for real estate transactions (carte T n° CPI 7501 2024 000 000052, CCI Paris) and does not hold client funds. It is registered with ORIAS as a credit intermediary (n° 25007028, www.orias.fr). It arranges credit and does not lend.
If you are planning a purchase in France and want one office to run it with you, get in touch in confidence.
