Buying on the French Riviera as a foreigner: from offer to signature

Buying on the French Riviera as a foreigner: from offer to signature

French law governs the purchase of French real estate wherever the buyer lives, and the process follows the same sequence for everyone: an offer, a preliminary contract, a cooling-off period, a period in which conditions are met, and a signature before a notary.

For an international buyer, what matters is knowing that order and where each protection sits. This guide sets out the steps as the official sources describe them.

An accepted offer binds the seller, and no money changes hands

A purchase usually begins with a written offer (offre d’achat). According to service-public.gouv.fr, its validity is generally a few days (one to two weeks), and once the seller accepts it in writing, the seller is bound by it. No money should accompany the offer: a sum handed to the seller with it is forbidden and voids the offer.

It is also worth reading the advertised price carefully. Under the arrêté of 10 January 2017, a sale advertisement must state who pays the agency fee. Where the buyer bears part of it, the price must be shown both including and excluding that fee. The price can never include the seller’s share. Our own fee structure is set out on our fees page.

The compromis or the promesse fixes the terms

The offer is followed by a preliminary contract, in one of two forms. In a compromis de vente, both sides are bound: the seller undertakes to sell and the buyer to buy. In a promesse unilatérale de vente, only the seller is bound, and the buyer holds an option to decide whether to go ahead. With a promesse, the buyer is not obliged to pay anything on signing, but the contract often provides for an immobilisation indemnity, in practice between 5% and 10% of the price, usually held by the notary. Your notary will explain which form is being used and why.

The 10-day cooling-off period starts after a registered letter

A non-professional buyer of residential property has a 10-day right to withdraw (délai de rétractation). The period starts the day after the first presentation of the registered letter, or the day after the document is handed to you in person where an agent acting under mandate delivers it, so ask your notary to confirm the date on which your ten days end. Nothing may be paid to the seller before the period is over. Where there was no compromis, a reflection period of ten calendar days applies before the deed is signed.

The conditions suspensives protect the buyer, above all the loan condition

A condition suspensive makes the sale depend on an event. Where the contract states that the price will be financed by a loan, a loan condition is compulsory. The usual deadline is 45 to 60 days after the promise is signed and it can never be shorter than one month. It is satisfied by a firm, unconditional loan offer. If the loan is refused and you can prove it within the deadline, the deposit is returned without penalty.

A buyer paying cash has no loan condition. If you do borrow from a French-regulated lender, the rules in force at the time of writing set a debt-service ratio of 35% and a term of 25 years as the standard limits, from which lenders may depart for a limited share of their lending. Loans from banks outside France follow their own rules, so it is worth speaking to your lender before making an offer.

The deposit is paid after the cooling-off period

In practice, the deposit is commonly up to 10% of the price. It is paid once the ten days have passed and, if a suspensive condition fails, the buyer recovers it.

The notaire completes the sale, and you may appoint your own

Buyer and seller may share one notary or each have their own. In that case the fees are shared between the two notaries. Notaries are also required to verify the source of funds, according to Notaires de France, so expect to be asked for supporting documents. What are commonly called frais de notaire are mostly taxes: roughly 80% goes to the State and local authorities, according to notaries. We work through the figures for the Alpes-Maritimes in our guide to buying costs.

The commune has two months to decide whether to pre-empt

Before the sale can be completed, the notary sends the seller’s declaration of intention to sell (déclaration d’intention d’aliéner) to the commune. Where the right of pre-emption applies, the commune has two months from receiving it to renounce, to stay silent, which counts as renouncing, or to buy, at the declared price or after offering a lower one, in which case a judge can fix the price. Requests for documents or a visit suspend the time limit. Whether the right applies depends on the zoning of the property concerned, and your notary will confirm it.

The seller supplies the technical diagnostics

A technical diagnostics file, provided by the seller, is annexed to the promesse or compromis. Which items it contains depends on the property. According to service-public.gouv.fr, an energy performance certificate (DPE) is required for houses of 50 m² and over and for all flats, and is valid for ten years if issued from 1 July 2021; older certificates are no longer valid and must be redone. Asbestos is checked if the building permit predates 1 July 1997, lead if the building dates from before 1 January 1949, and electricity and gas if the installation is more than fifteen years old. Termite checks apply in zones set by the prefecture, and an energy audit is required for houses rated E, F or G.

Lots in a co-owned building, typically apartments, carry one further protection, the loi Carrez. If the real private area is more than one-twentieth smaller than the area stated in the deed, the seller owes a proportional price reduction, and the buyer must claim within one year of the notarial deed. It does not apply to villas.

Expect around three months from compromis to signature

Notary offices commonly describe about three months between the compromis and the deed, and about two months for a purchase without a loan. That includes the commune’s pre-emption period. This is practice rather than law, so ask your notary for the timetable on your own file.

Ownership normally passes at the signing of the deed

Under the Civil Code, a sale is in principle complete, and ownership passes, as soon as the parties have agreed on the property and the price, unless they provide otherwise. In a Riviera purchase the preliminary contract normally postpones the transfer to the signing of the acte authentique before the notary, and that is when you become the owner, so check that your compromis or promesse says so. The sale can be relied on against third parties once the notary has published the deed at the land registry, and the buyer receives a copy of the title about six months after signing.

What to have ready

• Identity documents, and the evidence your notary asks for on the source of funds.
• If you are borrowing, a firm, unconditional loan offer within the deadline of the loan condition.
• Funds for the deposit, available once the ten days have passed.
• The name of your own notary, if you would like one.
• A decision on how the property will be held, whether in your own name, jointly or through a company, taken with tax and succession advice before the compromis, because it can affect wealth tax and succession.

Marks Real Estate has worked from Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat since 2002, and our multilingual team coordinates with the notaries involved. You can browse our current properties for sale on the French Riviera or those in Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat.

This article is general information, not legal or tax advice. The rules described are those in force as of October 2026 and can change. Marks Real Estate works with a network of tax advisers and legal specialists, and we recommend that you take advice on your own situation before committing to a purchase.