Homes & property · Contracts

Preliminary contract and notary: what we would do differently today

Updated: 3 September 2026

By Frank Knabe · personal experience on Réunion Island

Our experience in brief

At that point, the house had been on the market through an estate agent for about two years without selling. Friends alerted us to the opportunity. We viewed the property immediately and dealt directly with the sellers, so no estate-agent commission was payable.

Time was pressing for the sellers: their bags were practically packed and their flight to mainland France was booked for twenty days later. After a year on Réunion Island in a house that was far too small for us, with numerous unopened boxes and furniture piled up, we too wanted finally to feel properly settled. With the sellers’ consent, we therefore moved in before the contractual arrangements had been completed.

We did not begin converting the former bungalows immediately. Only a few weeks later, after discovering water ingress there and after our final options for external yoga premises had fallen through, did we decide on a complete conversion.

During preparation of the preliminary contract, the compromis de vente, several important matters emerged. Despite their significance, the sellers had not mentioned them during the verbal negotiations, and they first had to be clarified. Because we had already begun stripping out the bungalow, our negotiating position was weak. Abandoning the purchase would have meant not only moving out again, but also dealing with the changes we had already made.

The path to final ownership became a period of uncertainty lasting more than five months. Three proposed appointments to sign the compromis de vente did not take place. It was finally signed at the fourth attempt in mid-October. The final notarised purchase deed, the acte authentique de vente, followed another two months later, shortly before Christmas.

What we learnt

Today, we would not occupy a house, and certainly would not begin alterations, until all essential sale documents were available and the contractual questions had been resolved.

When buying an existing property in France, these can include, depending on the property, title and cadastral information, any building and works permissions, and the dossier de diagnostic technique containing the required property surveys. The documents and checks required depend on the house, its age, equipment and location.

Extensions and outbuildings deserve particular attention: it should be established whether they were authorised and how they may be used. That mattered to us because the former garages or bungalows were intended to become yoga and massage rooms.

The compromis de vente and withdrawal

In France, a non-professional buyer of residential property generally has a statutory cooling-off period of ten calendar days. Subject to the statutory rules on service, the period begins when the preliminary contract is notified to the buyer. After it expires, withdrawal is no longer straightforward; among other things, the suspensive conditions agreed in the contract then become important.

A compromis de vente should therefore not be viewed as a non-binding reservation. The provisions appropriate to a particular purchase should be discussed with the buyer’s own notary.

Our conclusion

We do not regret the purchase. The main house, the land and the additional buildings offered exactly the development potential we wanted. We could, however, have avoided unnecessary pressure by separating moving in, starting work and the purchase procedure more clearly.

Our personal experience is no substitute for a notary’s examination of the documents or legal advice tailored to an individual case.

Official information

• Preliminary contract and compromis de vente – Service Public
• From preliminary contract to final deed – Notaires de France
• Property surveys and diagnostics – Service Public
• Termite report – Service Public

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