Selling your property

The ‘LOI ALUR’ file

The documents required vary depending on the type of property. In general, you will need to bring together the following items : 

• Coproperty rulebook (Règlement de copropriété): this large book details the rules to administer the building. If it has ever been modified, the modification documents must be added too. Those documents can be asked to the syndic of co-ownership if lost.

• Coproperty charges over the last 2 years: this allows the buyers to know how much the coproperty charges cost in average.

• Minutes of the coproperty meetings : these documents are provided to inform of the latest topics discussed during the general assembly meetings, as well as voted works.

• Maintenance notebook (carnet d’entretien): this document sums up all the works that have been carried out along the time and the companies in charge of the maintenance contracts.

• Asbestos diagnosis for the common parts: just like for the apartments, this diagnosis informs the buyers on the asbestos state of the building.

• Early accounting sum-up (Pré-état-daté): often requested by the notary, this document states the current state of the owner’s accounting towards the co-ownership.

• Some other documents may be requested by the notaries

The technical diagnostics

The documents which compose the technical dossier depends on the type of apartment he owns, when the building was built etc. Those documents are provided by a certified surveyor (for around €300). Usually, selling an apartment requires :

• Surface notification (certificat "Loi Carrez"): this document informs of the apartment’s surface (only the square meters above 1,8m high are counted).

• Asbestos diagnosis (diagnostic amiante): this diagnosis is needed to establish whether there is asbestos in the apartment. The law has changed in 2013, so some recent diagnosis may not be valid anymore.

• Energy Consumption Diagnosis (Diagnostic de Performance Energétique or DPE): this document is supposed to rank the apartments in an energy consumption category from A (low energy consumption) to G (high energy consumption). The label is compulsory on the adverts and thus the documents must be established as soon as possible. It is notably based on the coproperty charges and electricity bills.

• Electric diagnosis (diagnostic électrique): this diagnosis checks the current state of the electricity network in the apartment. The seller does not need to undertake works : this is purely an informative document.

• State of the Natural, Natural, Mining and Technological Risks (Etat des risques naturels, miniers et technologiques or ERNMT): this documents states the risks that may threaten the building (flood, avalanches etc.)

• Depending on the property, other diagnosis may have to be carried out by a certified surveyor (gaz diagnosis, lead certificate etc.)

Other documents

Inventory: when sold with furnitures, an inventory of the apartment’s furniture must be drawn with the estimated price of each items.
- Other documents may be requested.

The sale compromise (compromis de vente)

The sale compromis is an early contract that sums up all the negociation and legal articles to clarify what rules will be applied during the sale. It recalls the commitments of both buyers and sellers.
The buyer must pay a deposit to prove its commitment (up to 10% of the apartment’s value). In case of condition precedent to obtain a mortgage, the buyer commits to actually looking for a mortgage at a rate that is specified on the compromise. He must provide bank documents attesting that he has filled a dossier to obtain a mortgage.

The sale

Once the sale compromise is signed, the notaries are in charge of the administrative part. Once all the documents have been obtained, they take care of the change of ownership towards the State and co-ownership company.