How long does a Paris purchase take?

Typically two to three months from compromis to acte, longer with a mortgage offer or a communal pre-emption right. The ten-day cooling-off is the buyer's, and it is not negotiable away.

Is the deposit at risk?

The dépôt de garantie, usually 5–10%, is held by the notaire. You recover it if a suspensive condition fails — a refused mortgage, for instance — and lose it if you simply change your mind after the cooling-off.

France · EUR

Buyin Paris

Buying in Paris is two contracts and a notaire, not a checkout. Sign the compromis, take the ten statutory days, then complete at the acte authentique weeks later. Budget roughly 7% on top — most of it departmental tax.

Lyon Marseille Bordeaux Nice Toulouse

Notaire-verified path

DPE & diagnostics

3D map

≈7%acquisition costs on an existing home

2contracts: compromis, then acte authentique

10 daysstatutory buyer cooling-off (loi SRU)

DPE A–Genergy label required in every file

What a purchase really costs

€400,000 home in Paris

Droits de mutation (DMTO) (5.8%): €23,200
Émoluments du notaire (≈0.8%): €3,200
Formalités & débours (≈0.4%): €1,600
Cash needed at the notaire: €428,000

≈ +7% over the price. Roughly +7% on an existing home — that is the famous frais de notaire, most of which is departmental tax rather than the notaire’s fee. A new-build runs nearer 2–3% because VAT is already inside the price. Several départements, Paris included, applied the 2025 uplift toward ~6.3% DMTO — confirm the rate on your acte, not on a blog post.

Rentals run on rules

The rent side, in three lines

Deposit caps at one month’s rent unfurnished and two months furnished (loi du 6 juillet 1989).
Encadrement des loyers fixes a reference rent per m² in Paris, Lyon, Lille, Bordeaux, Montpellier and Marseille — a lease above it is challengeable.
A DPE rating of G has been barred from new lettings since 2025 and F follows in 2028 — the energy label is a rentability test, not a sticker.

Qualitative anchors only. Live reference rents come from the préfecture’s published grid, never a hardcoded table.

Cities

Six metros, one notarial machine

The deed is national; the money is not. DMTO is voted département by département, and rent control only bites in the designated zones tendues. Each city guide carries its own number.

The compromis fixes the deal and the price; the acte transfers title. Between them sit the diagnostics, the pre-emption right of the commune where it applies, and the bank's offer period if you finance. Weeks, not days.

The copropriété file is where a Paris purchase is won or lost. The état daté, the last three assemblée générale minutes and the fund balance tell you which works have been voted and who pays for them — the answer is the new owner.

Non-residents buy on the same terms with no extra foreigner tax, but French banks ask for more equity and a settlement account. Paris applied the 2025 DMTO uplift, so confirm the rate on your own acte.

FAQ

How long does a Paris purchase take?: Typically two to three months from compromis to acte, longer with a mortgage offer or a communal pre-emption right. The ten-day cooling-off is the buyer's, and it is not negotiable away.
Is the deposit at risk?: The dépôt de garantie, usually 5–10%, is held by the notaire. You recover it if a suspensive condition fails — a refused mortgage, for instance — and lose it if you simply change your mind after the cooling-off.

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