The realtor I’m working with, has indicated that I’ll need to use a French bank account to pay for the notary fees and to pay the down payment at the time of signing the compromis de vendre.
The realtor and I stopped by the local branch of the HSBC, and since my French is deplorable he facilitated the conversation with the teller there, about whether I could open a French bank account without having an actual physical address in France. The teller said that she believed it’s possible! The realtor was surprised to learn this, too. So, to do this, I need to make an appointment with someone at HSBC, and present the required documents to show income and so forth.
I’m wondering: could I just simply use a money transfer service, such as TorFX, to pay for the Notary and down payment instead? I’ve not quite registered with TorFX but I would do so if this would work.
You can use any institution that transfers using IBAN to make payments in France. You could use your own bank but an FX company would be cheaper. In my opinion however you will need a local bank so it’s best to get one as soon as possible. Go and talk to some local branches, they will know what hoops you need to jump through. It was years ago but I had no trouble getting a French bank account with only a foreign address.
We have used Britline which is part of Credit Agricole but they speak English. Link to Britline Website
As Dominic suggests an FX Company will be able to make the payment for you at a more competitive rate than your bank - but you will need to get a bank account fairly promptly for utility Direct Debits (Electricity, Phone etc)
Years ago, we paid our deposit to the notaire using our Barclays account, international transfer or something, it was quite long winded but it worked. When we had a copy of the CdV, I faxed CA Britline the relevant information and opened an account on that basis.
We are with CA but if you are resident in the States I’m not sure it’s possible to open an account with them,
YOU MUST BE OVER 18 AND ORDINARILY RESIDENT IN THE UNITED KINGDOM, IRELAND OR FRANCE TO APPLY FOR AN ACCOUNT.
If you are not ordinarily a tax resident of one of the above countries we regret that we cannot proceed with the opening of your account.
You could give one of their advisers a call to check though.
Thanks! So you are referring to CA Britline, which is the same as Britline, right? With some banks I suspected that being a Yank might be a problem, but as you say perhaps I could discuss. At any rate, I appreciate the info!
Give them a call to see what they say - at least the discussion will be in English.
Britline is part of Credit Agricole which is why they are referred to as CA Britline. They are based in Normandy in northern France but with English speaking staff .
You may have to make do with Britline as I don’t yet think they have a division called Yankline!
If you are a French resident with the correct visas etc I can’t see why nationality would be a problem. My recommendation would to be to get a local bank account and to build up a relationship with them. It’s amazing how much simpler things can become once they appreciate that they are dealing with a real person.
Hello Mary
I have looked on various sites and it appears that the problems might stem from the French banks ‘complications’ with the IRS!
I have looked on sites in the USA and asked what banks may be affiliated in France, the only things I could find were to do with business/exports, in which case there are some banks that have links in the USA.
Here is the link for what its worth … https://www.export.gov/article?id=France-US-Banks
Have you tried looking on various forums in the USA to see if anyone has been/ are going through the same experience? Can the American Embassy in Paris give you any help, they must have other American citizens in the same boat.
Maybe another road to try is online banking, not sure what hurdles you would have to jump through.
Good luck !
I can’t see why you would have to pay the notaire from a French bank account…??? I moved here 20 months ago…(albeit from U.K. though) …and I too was worrying about opening a French bank account in order to pay my bills etc…and trying to put the cart before the horse I too looked into Britline…In the end I quit worrying and used an FX company to transfer funds direct to the notaire’s account for both deposit and completion …and then within a week of moving here I made an appointment at a local regional bank…For all my worries about not being fluent enough to open a French bank account I’m now really glad I waited…There have been several occasions where I have been really grateful just to be able to nip into my local branch with a query or a problem and speak face to face…Maybe it’s different moving here from the USA…???
It’s very different for American citizens and maybe others from outside the EU too.
A few checks on google show that French banks have to do more work because of the IRS and some don’t want this complication!
The money can be paid directly into the notaires account using one of the many transfer companies available.
Personally I would try online banking but I am not sure that Mary can set up an account without an address here, catch 22 situation.
I know this is not the done thing but I know of one France forum where most of the posters are Americans. Perhaps there is more personal experience on a site like that. The content of that site really is quite different to the mainly British populated groups. Sometimes an almost common language is not enough.
David, would you please let me know to which forum you are referring? I might like to join it. I’m getting extremely wonderful advice and the discussions are valuable here on SF and yet it would also be smart to check there, too, I should think. Given that I’m about to do a thousand things wrong (you should have seen me schlepping my french horn the other day, through the Paris metro, and then in the snow in Sancerre, for example!), it’s best to try to eliminate a few errors at least. The grey hairs are plentiful already . Cheers.
. Cheers.