Role of the solicitor in property purchase: complete guide

The notary is not just another intermediary in a property transaction: they are a public officer exercising delegated public authority, whose involvement is mandatory to transfer ownership of a property. This status explains both the extent of their checks, the authentic nature of the deed they draw up, and the fact that their fees are not negotiable. Understanding what they actually do between the preliminary contract and the handover of keys removes most of the confusion around timeframes.

What the notary checks before the deed

Most of the work takes place during the two to three months separating the preliminary contract from the deed of sale, and it is invisible to the buyer. Five checks structure this period:

• Title history, traced back thirty years, which establishes that the seller is indeed the owner and that the chain of transfers is regular.
• The mortgage register, which reveals any charges on the property — outstanding loans, seizures, registered easements — and determines what must be cleared before the sale.
• Pre-emption rights, whether held by the local authority or a sitting tenant, the exercise of which can cause the sale to fall through.
• Planning status, through a request for a certificate from the local authority: easements, building lines, public interest projects, and the regularity of existing constructions.
• The seller's situation: legal capacity, marital property regime, absence of insolvency proceedings.

These searches depend on third-party bodies whose response times are binding on the notary. This is why a case cannot be sped up beyond a certain point, however willing the parties may be.

The deed of sale and its legal force

A notarial deed differs from a private agreement in three respects.

It provides conclusive evidence of its content until proven otherwise through a forgery challenge, a cumbersome procedure that is rarely brought. The facts recorded by the notary — the parties' presence, identity, date, payment of the price — benefit from this particular evidential force.

It has an established date, which is binding on third parties without any further formality.

It is automatically enforceable: a copy bearing the enforcement clause allows for enforced execution without first having to obtain a court judgment. This is what makes the notarial deed so useful for loans and acknowledgements of debt.

The notary then carries out land registration, a formality which makes the sale binding on third parties. Until this is completed, the buyer is the owner as between the parties but not yet in relation to everyone else.

So-called "notary fees"

The term is misleading, and the breakdown is worth knowing.

Fees generally amount to around 7 to 8% of the price for existing properties, and 2 to 3% for new-build properties. They are made up as follows:

• The transfer duties, collected on behalf of the State and local authorities, which make up the bulk of the sum. They do not go to the notary.
• The disbursements, advanced by the notary on the client's behalf: planning documents, mortgage register searches, surveyor's fees.
• The notary's fees, the only part that actually remunerates them. These are set by decree and proportional to the price, which makes them identical from one practice to another.

A discount is possible on the portion of fees corresponding to the highest price brackets, within a limit set by regulation. It must then be applied to all clients under the same conditions.

Preliminary contract or exchange of contracts: what the notary brings

A preliminary agreement can be signed privately, between individuals or by an estate agent. Having it drawn up by a notary changes two things.

First, the quality of the conditions precedent. The loan condition, the most common one, must specify the amount, term and maximum rate: if drafted too vaguely, it is either ineffective or too easy to invoke. The other conditions — planning, absence of easements, clearance of pre-emption rights — require an understanding of the checks that will follow.

Second, the escrow of the deposit, held in a dedicated account rather than by one of the parties, which avoids disputes over its return.

The 10-day cooling-off period available to a non-professional buyer runs from notification of the preliminary contract, and its starting point depends on the validity of that notification. This is a point that electronic signature of a preliminary contract secures, by establishing the delivery date beyond dispute.

Remote signing

The electronic deed of sale is permitted. The notary receives the parties, one of whom may be physically present while the other attends remotely via video conference using a dedicated system, and the deed is signed electronically and then stored in digital form.

For a buyer who is unable to attend, the traditional solution remains a power of attorney, which must then precisely specify the scope of the powers granted — a mandate drafted in general terms does not allow for either selling or purchasing. The applicable rules are set out in our article on the electronic signature of a power of attorney.

Usage scenarios

First-time purchase. Choosing your own notary is a right available to the buyer, even when the seller already has one: the two practices then share the fees, with no extra cost. Many buyers are unaware of this.

Property with undeclared works. This is one of the points revealed by the planning check. It is better to anticipate it before the preliminary contract than to discover it three weeks before the deed, at which point you must choose between regularisation and renegotiation.

Purchase in joint ownership or through a company. The drafting of the ownership structure is decided before signing the preliminary contract, not at the deed stage. The tax implications are covered in our article on property taxation.

Frequently asked questions

Is a notary mandatory? Yes, to transfer ownership of a property: the deed must be authentic and registered with the land registry office.

Can notary fees be negotiated? Not the transfer duties, which go to the State, nor the disbursements. A discount is possible on the portion of fees corresponding to the higher price brackets, within the limits set by regulation.

Can you choose your own notary? Yes, even when the seller already has one. The two notaries then share the fees, with no additional cost to the parties.

How long between the preliminary contract and the deed? Generally two to three months, the timeframe being dictated by third-party responses — planning, mortgage register, clearance of pre-emption rights — and by obtaining the loan.

What happens if a condition precedent is not met? The sale becomes void and the deposit is returned, provided the buyer has carried out the required steps, in particular applying for loans matching the stipulated terms.

Can the deed be signed remotely? Yes, the electronic deed of sale is permitted, with the parties received via video conference using a dedicated system. A power of attorney remains the other option for a party who cannot attend.

Key takeaways

The notary does three things that nothing else can replace: they verify that the seller can sell and that the property can be sold, they draw up a deed that provides conclusive evidence and is enforceable without a court judgment, and they register the sale to make it binding on everyone. The two-to-three-month timeframe is not administrative sluggishness: it is the time needed for these checks, which depend on third-party responses.

As for fees, the bulk is non-negotiable because it does not go to the notary. The only room for manoeuvre concerns a fraction of the fees, and the real lever lies elsewhere: choosing your notary, involving them from the preliminary contract stage, and anticipating the points their checks will bring to light. The rest of the process is detailed in our article on the legal and financial process of a property purchase.