What do notary fees cover?
Notary fees, more accurately called acquisition costs (frais d'acquisition), represent all amounts paid to the notary when purchasing a property in France. Contrary to popular belief, these fees do not constitute the notary's remuneration: the vast majority is paid to the State and local authorities in the form of taxes.
Notary fees break down into three main categories:
- Transfer duties (droits de mutation or droits d'enregistrement): this is the main component, representing approximately 80% of the total fees
- Notary's emoluments: the notary's regulated fee, approximately 10 to 15% of the total
- Disbursements and miscellaneous costs: administrative costs advanced by the notary (land registry, mortgage registration, planning documents), approximately 5 to 10%
Notary fees for existing properties
For the purchase of an existing property (over 5 years old), notary fees amount to approximately 7 to 8% of the sale price. This proportion has remained stable despite successive increases in transfer duties decided by the departments.
Let us detail the calculation for an existing apartment purchased for 250 000 euros:
- Transfer duties: approximately 5.80% (full rate applied in most departments) = 14 500 euros
- Notary's emoluments (regulated degressive scale): approximately 2 400 euros excluding VAT, i.e. 2 880 euros including VAT
- Disbursements: approximately 800 euros (land registry extracts, mortgage statement, revenue stamps)
- Property security contribution: 0.10% = 250 euros
Total notary fees: approximately 18 430 euros, i.e. 7.37% of the purchase price.
The total acquisition cost thus amounts to 268 430 euros. This amount is crucial for calculating the actual return of a buy-to-let investment.
Notary fees for new-build properties
For a new-build purchase (property less than 5 years old being sold for the first time, or off-plan/VEFA), notary fees are considerably reduced: between 2 and 3% of the sale price.
This difference is due to the replacement of transfer duties by the land registration tax at the reduced rate of 0.715% (instead of 5.80% for existing properties), since VAT at 20% is already included in the sale price.
For a new-build apartment at 300 000 euros:
- Land registration tax: 0.715% = 2 145 euros
- Notary's emoluments: approximately 2 700 euros including VAT
- Disbursements and miscellaneous costs: approximately 800 euros
- Property security contribution: 0.10% = 300 euros
Total notary fees: approximately 5 945 euros, i.e. 1.98% of the purchase price.
The saving compared to an existing property is 16 055 euros for a similarly priced property, equivalent to nearly 2 years of rent on a small apartment.
The notary's emoluments scale
The notary's emoluments are set by a regulated degressive scale, applied uniformly across the country:
- From 0 to 6 500 euros: 3.870% of the price
- From 6 500 to 17 000 euros: 1.596%
- From 17 000 to 60 000 euros: 1.064%
- Above 60 000 euros: 0.799%
For a property at 200 000 euros, the calculation gives:
- 6 500 x 3.870% = 251.55 euros
- 10 500 x 1.596% = 167.58 euros
- 43 000 x 1.064% = 457.52 euros
- 140 000 x 0.799% = 1 118.60 euros
- Total emoluments excluding VAT: 1 995.25 euros, i.e. 2 394.30 euros including VAT (VAT at 20%)
The notary may apply a discount of up to 20% on the portion above 100 000 euros. Do not hesitate to ask for it.
Notary fees on land
The purchase of building land (terrain a batir) is subject to full-rate transfer duties, as with existing properties, i.e. approximately 7 to 8% of the price. For building land purchased at 80 000 euros, notary fees amount to approximately 6 200 euros.
However, if the land is sold by a professional subject to VAT and the sale is subject to VAT, the new-build regime applies with reduced fees of 2 to 3%.
Tips for reducing notary fees
Several legal strategies allow you to reduce the bill:
Deduct the furniture from the sale price. If the property is sold furnished (fitted kitchen, furniture, appliances), the value of the furniture can be deducted from the base for transfer duties. For a fitted kitchen valued at 15 000 euros on a property at 250 000 euros, transfer duties are only charged on 235 000 euros, saving approximately 870 euros.
Separate the agency fees. If the estate agent's fees are payable by the buyer and clearly stated in the preliminary contract, they can be excluded from the base for transfer duties. For agency fees of 12 500 euros (5%), the saving is approximately 725 euros.
Negotiate the emoluments discount. Since 2021, the notary may grant a discount on their emoluments for transactions exceeding 100 000 euros. This discount can reach 200 to 400 euros depending on the transaction amount.
Impact on buy-to-let investments
Notary fees have a direct impact on the return of your buy-to-let investment. On a property purchased for 200 000 euros in the existing market with notary fees of 15 000 euros, the total cost is 215 000 euros. If the monthly rent is 800 euros (9 600 euros/year), the gross return drops from 4.8% (calculated on the price alone) to 4.47% (calculated on the total cost). Over 20 years, these fees represent a yield reduction of 0.33 percentage points per year, i.e. a cumulative shortfall of 6 300 euros.
This is why notary fees must systematically be included in your return calculation and your financing plan.