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Buying real estate in Paris

Notary fees: tips to optimize them

notary fees represent around 7 to 8% of the purchase price of an old property and 2 to 3% of the purchase price of a new property. For an apartment or house worth 300,000 euros, for example, these costs therefore amount to around 21,000/24,000 euros in the old one and 6,000/9,000 euros in the new one.


What you need to know about notary fees

What are notary fees and why have they increased? We'll tell you more.


What do we call “notary fees”?

Notary fees, which are also called “acquisition costs”, represent a set of taxes and taxes collected by the notary on his behalf and that of various administrations. Note: the notary receives less than 20% of the total of these fees.
Notary fees include:
- notary fees calculated by instalments and based on a regressive scale;
- disbursement costs, i.e. all costs of correspondence, issuance of documents or copies;
- taxes going directly into the state coffers.


Increase in acquisition costs

Since the 1Er In March 2014, the amount of transfer duties — also called “land registration tax” or “registration fees” — increased in some French departments and municipalities.
In Paris, this increase will apply as of 1Er January 2016. Transfer taxes will thus be equal to 4.5% of the purchase price of the property compared to 3.8% so far. This increase in transfer taxes, and therefore notary fees, reflects the government's desire to help departments that have difficulty “financing the solidarity expenses that are their responsibility (RSA, disability compensation benefit, etc.) and which are increasing in the current context of economic and social crisis”.


Notary fees: our advice to reduce them

Did you know that? There are a variety of ways to reduce notary fees.


Pay your agency fees separately

Excluding agency fees from the selling price of a property is possible. To do this, the mandate signed with the real estate agent or the apartment hunter must be a sales mandate with buyer's commission or a search mandate. Then ask for a distinction between the amount of the property and the amount of fees to be paid to the real estate agency and indicated on the sales agreement. But be careful, in order to be able to pay agency fees separately, you must have the required liquidity.


Deduct the price of furniture

Does the property you want to buy have an equipped kitchen or a furnished bathroom? Ask for the price of the furniture to be deducted from the value of the property. Indeed, notary fees apply to the real estate value of the property and not to the furniture. Our advice: list the various pieces of furniture, assess their value and subtract the total sum obtained from the selling price of the property. This tip can allow you to deduct 2 to 3% of the value of the property. If you are tempted to increase the value of the furniture, remember that checks may be carried out and that you may be required to reimburse penalties.


Play the negotiation card

First possible negotiation: that of the price of the property. Registration fees, for example, represent a percentage of the selling price of the property. If this price falls, so does the price of this tax and others. Let's take a concrete example: an apartment is sold for 300,000 euros. The notary fees then amount to around 21,000 euros. By using your negotiating skills, you manage to obtain a sales price of 280,000 euros. This means 19,600 euros in notary fees or 1,400 euros in savings. Finally, don't we say “who doesn't try anything has nothing”? If you have the soul of a negotiator, why not try to get a discount on notary fees? Even if these are regulated by the administration, you can always try.

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