Your French Estate Agent

Estate agents in France must have a professional license - the coveted "carte professionnelle". Attika has the full license (license number 5799T) and is insured by the FNAIM, France's National Federation of Estate Agents. We are not a "middle-man" as are the vast majority of other "English Estate Agents" based on the Riviera - we are a fully registered and professional estate agent with many French clients too! When you use Attika as your agent, you can rest assured that you are getting your property at the same price as any local would with no "price hikes" added for a middle man, or to exploit foreign buyers ! In addition, we do not charge for our add-on services as do many UK agencies based in France. We will set up your bank account, utilities and broker a mortgage deal for you - at no cost.

Attika International’s personalised property search will source properties and co-ordinate an itinerary of visits for you.

What is the amount of agency commission and who pays this?

In France each individual estate agency is free to decide upon the amount of commission they will take for selling properties and this is usually further negotiated with the seller when they choose agencies to market their property. The price of any property presented to you will normally already include the agency commission which has been previously negotiated with the seller (this is ALWAYS the case on the Attika site). The amount of commission must be displayed in the estate agents window and inside the office. Normally speaking agencies will take between 5 and 10% depending on the price of the property. For more expensive properties costing above 1 000 000€ the agency commission is normally around 5%

Normally speaking the seller pays the agency commission.  However, it can be the case that the buyer pays the agency commission instead in which case the agency will ask you to sign a search mandate - a 'mandat de recherche' - this is rarer and will be fully explained to you by any agency should they advise you to carry out your purchase in this manner.

The advantage of the buyer paying the agency commission:

• You may be advised in certain cases to pay the agency commission separately via a Mandat de Recherche. Your notaire may well advise you to do so or your agent may discuss this option with you since paying this way may have certain advantages for you as the buyer. By signing a Mandat de Recherche, you will pay slightly less Notary fees since these fees are based upon the net purchase price i.e. the total purchase price minus the agency commission. This means that if you were to buy a property for 1000000€, the agency commission might be around 50 000€ and is included in the asking price. Should you choose to pay the commission yourself instead of the seller, this 50 000 Euros commission will be knocked off the purchase price and thus your Notary fees of approximately 7.5% will be calculated on the net 950 000€ rather than on 1000000€ so you will be making a saving of  3750€

The disadvantage of the buyer paying the commission:

• If you are taking out a loan on the property it is often the case that the bank will not loan on the agency commission if it is stipulated that the buyer will be paying the commission separately. They do however loan on the agency commission if it's included in the price as is generally the case. So, if you know you need a loan you are generally best to avoid a mandat de recherche.

• In terms of capital gains tax, your property will have gained more in value as the starting price didn't include the agency commission. You will therefore be liable for added tax should you sell before 15 years. For information on Capital Gains Tax, please see the following chapter on French Taxes & Costs.