© Audrey Meriochaud
– The so-called notary fees represent 2% to 3% of the sale price if you buy new, and rise to 7% to 8% for old properties.
Nearly a quarter. This is the proportion of households that could take the plunge and buy a property by the end of the year, due to the drop in credit rates, according to the barometer. “The French and real estate” published by the Laforêt agency network on September 24. Are you part of this 23% of French people but the prospect of paying “notary” fees is still holding you back? It must be said that they represent 2% to 3% of the sale price if you buy new, and climb to 7% to 8% for old properties. Capital gives you three tips to reduce the bill.
Did you know that it is possible to negotiate notary fees ? Since 2021, notaries have been authorized to grant their clients a maximum discount of 20% on their fees, provided that the transaction amounts to at least 100,000 euros. Don’t expect hundreds and thousands of dollars, though. Because what are commonly called “notary fees” are more precisely “acquisition” fees. Let’s take the example of a property purchase of 200,000 euros. Based on a rate of 8%, the acquisition fees amount to 16,000 euros. But this sum does not go entirely to the notary, far from it. The largest part is made up of registration fees – the famous transfer taxes for consideration – paid to the departments, the State and the municipality where the property purchased is located. In our example, only around 3,000 euros will go into the notary’s pocket. The notary will therefore be able to grant you a maximum discount of 600 euros, which is always good to take.
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Another way to save on notary fees, deduct the furniture from the sale price. Have you fallen in love with an apartment in which the sellers leave the kitchen fully equipped and the chandeliers? This is a chance for you, beyond the equipment expenses that it saves you! Indeed, “Everything that is movable can be deducted from the sale price to reduce notary fees, which are calculated solely on the real estate value“, underlines Eric Allouche, general manager of the Era real estate agency network. Kitchen hood, oven, dishwasher, washing machine, refrigerators, bedding, tables, … LThe list of furniture deductible from notary fees is long. “If you buy a house and there are 50 cubic metres of firewood in the garden, don’t hesitate to deduct them from the sale price.”smiles Eric Allouche. Let’s imagine that the property in question is worth 500,000 euros. If the furniture it contains is valued at 30,000 euros (based on invoices, not offhand, otherwise watch out for possible fines from the tax authorities!), the price of the apartment alone falls to 470,000 euros. You will therefore pay your 7% notary fees on 470,000 euros, and not on 500,000 euros. The key is a saving of 2,100 euros!
Finally, you can reduce your notary fees by taking the real estate agency fees into your charge. Granted, it’s counterintuitive. But, just as the buyer doesn’t pay notary fees on the furniture, he doesn’t pay any on the agency fees either, since these aren’t real estate in the strict sense. So look at ads that say “€188,000 net seller, €12,000 agency fees” rather than those that say “€200,000 agency fees included”. Of course, in both cases, you’ll pay €200,000. But in the first case, the €12,000 agency fees are your responsibility: the notary fees are therefore calculated on €188,000. Based on an average of 7%, they amount to €13,160. In the second case, the agency fees are the responsibility of the seller. The notary fees are therefore calculated on 200,000 euros and thus amount to 14,000 euros. In the first case, you therefore realize a saving of 840 euros, all the same!
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