The French Government doesn’t restrict the foreign individuals to acquire a French property under the title of freehold ownership. One can buy the property either in a co-ownership form or in a volume ownership where multiple individuals use a single apartment. Apart from the freeholds, leaseholds are also there where the lease contract is drawn for 99 years.

1. First, you need to choose a French property. Thorough research is advised because that will save you a lot of unnecessary headaches.
2. Once the property is finalized, you need to hire a real estate agent until you want a private sale.
3. The agent will then make an offer on your behalf.
4. If the seller agrees with the offer, you can initiate a survey. This is to ensure that everything related to the property is in a fine condition. The surveys generally include a thorough check of the property’s physical condition and the various documents related to the property.
5. You will have only ten days before the legal binding of the deal and hence, if you want to change your mind, you will have to carry on with it within these ten days.
6. The compromis de vente is the initial contract which both the parties sign where various sale relate d clauses are mentioned. You can either take the help of the custom contract format or you can customize your own contract, including clauses according to your own wish.
7. After the signing of this preliminary contract, you have to make a down payment of 10% which is calculated on the assessed price of the property.
8. Once the cooling-off period is over, the deal becomes legal and the property is taken off from the market.
9. It is after this that the notary will draw a custom sale agreement, the acte de vente, and will ask both the parties to sign it at the Notary’s office.
10. Verbal reading of the contract is performed to which both the parties agree.
11. Once the notary gets the approval, the rest of the payment is made after which the attestation de propriété will be handed over to you.
12. This will transfer the title to your name and after the registration of the title is completed at the Land Registry Office, you will be registered as the legal owner of the concerned property.