We are preparing to buy a house using the same notaire as the seller. A friend who has lived here many years has suggested it would be wiser to use a different notaire to the seller. Can’t see any mentions of this on previous posts. Any opinions on this please?
We have always used the same notaire. They are independent public servants whose role in a house purchase is to get the tax right. They get a fixed fee which is the same, so if two of them they have to split what is already a small amount in two. Making it even less likely that they will be motivated to work swiftly.
Ask point blank if the sellers are happy with their notaire’s efficiency and accuracy. And if yes then I personally would accept.
Only caveat might be if something potentially contentious in the house purchase. But if there was I probably wouldn’t be buying it anyway!
(notaire’s fee may not seem small, but when you take out the obligatory charges and taxes there’ not that much for them. )
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Agree. Use same notaire as seller.
Your friend must have some evidence to support that viewpoint?
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I used the same notaire as the purchaser of my house. Makes sense because the notaire then knows the history of both and can make decisions that might crop up. Also I sold through the same Notaire as it was where we used in 1989 to buy our house and the lady in charge of immobilier sales was also a long standing friend so knew us and the property. What is the point of going to two different ones when they will have to spend precious time corresponding with each other!
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One notaire is like an egg - un oeuf. Ours was great (he had acted in our vendors’ original purchase, so was reusing the old contract - with the inevitable errors!) and even made what I assume is an old lawyers’ joke about Claud François when the electrical diagnostic report mentioned the location of a sockert in the bathroom.
This is something that occasionally comes up on facebook. The rare people who say use “your own” invariably come from outside France, and/or don’t understand the role of the notaire (explained by Jane above). They tend not to speak much French, and sometimes have a horror story of how they were done over by a notaire, who was in cahoots with “the other side”.
Of course, you can never tell the truth (though the people who make these claimes never seem to have complained about the notaire’s alleged dodgy dealings), and my suspicion is always that they simply didn’t understand the nature of the contract because they didn’t use an interpreter.
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The only sensible reason I can think of for using different notaires is if one or both parties has “their” notaire who has acted for them before and already knows their personal circumstances, their wishes as to succession etc.
Otherwise I think it makes sense for both parties to use a local notaire, who may know that particular property already eg through having dealt with it changing hands several times over the years.
Notaires are not advocates (unlike UK residential property solicitors), so there is no conflict of interest and no real advantage in buyer/seller each retaining their own.
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We didn’t have a chance to ask our friend for her reasons but will do so. Consensus here is certainly for a single notaire.
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The only thing I would add is that, as in all professions, there are good Notaires and others less so. Some pass smaller conveyance folios over to their office staff. Others sail over building issues that use of a surveyor or independent solicitor may give more examination. The person choosing the Notaire, and paying the bill, means they choose the caliber of service.
According to Article 1593 of the Civil Code the expenses of acts and other accessories to the sale are the responsibility of the buyer.
I am using 2 notaires at the moment but only because they are dealing with quite different situations (my late wife’s succession on the one hand, which is dragging on, as opposed to a quite simple land purchase by me), and I did not want to get the one entangled with the other.
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Who pays the Notaire may vary. At the upper end of the market the Notaire is now frequently paid by the seller, with the intention clearly laid out beforehand.
However, despite the Notaire fee being covered by the seller, a buyer can still request their own Notaire, and the fee will be split between the two Notaires, still paid by the seller.
This was our situation in the last property purchase two years ago.
Notaries fees are paid by the buyer
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I also thought this was the case. They are often called “frais d’acquisition”…
Yes. I posted a link to the law above.
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I certainly paid the notaire in the case of my bit of land purchase, €100 which I presume is 10% of the purchase price, but I have no idea if there is tax to pay on completion, or who pays it.
So you say but I can state for a fact that the Notaire was assigned by, and the fee paid by our seller. Quite possibly the cost was within the purchase price we paid, which was the seven figure asking price, or because we were willing to wait 6 months for completion while their son finished his finals.
It may be possible there is a choice. Always best to establish this up front with the agent in advance of completion.
Rubbish 
Blunt and not appreciated
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It was a bit blunt Mr Scully.
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