The compromis and your ten days
The compromis de vente is the binding preliminary contract, usually with a 5-10% deposit. From the day you receive the signed copy you have ten days to withdraw for any reason and get the deposit back. After that the exit routes are limited to the conditions suspensives written into the contract - typically mortgage approval, planning searches and pre-emption rights.
Always include a mortgage condition if you are borrowing, even if you expect to pay cash. It costs nothing and it is the cleanest exit available.
Notaire fees are not just the notaire
What the French call frais de notaire is mostly transfer tax collected on behalf of the state. On an older property expect around 7-8% of the price; on a new build it drops to roughly 2-3% because VAT is already in the price. The notaire's own remuneration is a small, regulated slice of that total.
One notaire can act for both sides. You are entitled to appoint your own at no extra cost - the fee is split between them - and most foreign buyers should.
Figures are typical ranges rather than quotes. Confirm your own numbers with a local notary, lawyer or tax adviser before you commit.
Surveys and diagnostics
France does not have a British-style structural survey culture. Instead the seller must supply a dossier of diagnostics: energy performance, asbestos, lead, termites, gas, electrics, drainage and natural risk exposure. These are useful but they are not a structural assessment. On an old stone house, commission your own building survey.
Inheritance is the thing people ignore
French forced heirship reserves a share of the estate for children regardless of what your will says, and it applies to French real estate. There are planning routes - an SCI company, a tontine clause, matrimonial regime changes, or electing your national law under the EU succession regulation where eligible - but they must be set up at or before purchase. Raise it with the notaire on day one, not after.
Running costs of a French home
Taxe fonciere is paid by the owner. Taxe d'habitation has been abolished for main homes but still applies to second homes, and many communes have voted surcharges on second homes in high-demand areas. Anyone buying a home in France as a holiday property should factor both in before modelling a rental return.