Notary fees & purchase costs in Paris, explained
Budget roughly 8% on top of the price for an existing Paris apartment. The so-called notary fees (frais de notaire) run about 7–8.5% — the bulk being transfer tax owed to the State and the City of Paris, not the notary's pay — and new builds carry reduced duties of 2–3%. Add financing costs if you borrow, and your adviser's fee. Here is the full breakdown, line by line.
What “notary fees” really are
The French term bundles three very different things. Transfer duties (droits de mutation) are the lion's share — a tax on the transaction, at a rate set per département; Paris applies the legal maximum since 2025. The notary's remuneration follows a tariff fixed by decree — around 1% of the price, degressive on large amounts. Disbursements cover land-registry filings and administrative documents the notary obtains for you.
None of it is optional and almost none of it is negotiable — which, seen from the buyer's side, has one virtue: the number is predictable from day one, and your notary provides an exact statement before signing.
Example: all-in budget for a €1,000,000 apartment
| Line | Approximate amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Purchase price | €1,000,000 | Asking prices are FAI — agency fee already inside |
| Acquisition costs (“notary fees”) | ≈ €75,000–85,000 | Mostly transfer tax; existing property |
| Buyer's agent (Comète) | €25,000 | 2.5% incl. tax, success only, paid at the deed |
| Mortgage guarantee & bank fees | ≈ 1–1.5% of the loan | Only if you finance; excludes borrower insurance |
| All-in, cash purchase | ≈ €1.10 M | Price + costs + buyer's agent |
Approximate orders of magnitude for an existing property, for planning purposes — your notary issues the exact statement before signing. Average Comète negotiation: −8% off asking, on the line that dwarfs all the others.
If you take a French mortgage
Financing adds three costs: the loan guarantee (a mutual guarantee company or a registered lien — roughly 1–1.5% of the loan), bank file fees, and the mandatory borrower insurance (assurance emprunteur), priced on age and health and paid monthly over the term. All three are known before you commit: they appear in the loan offer, and the financing condition in your purchase agreement protects you until it is issued.
After the purchase: the recurring lines
Owning in a Paris co-owned building means co-ownership charges (building services, heating, lift, caretaker — plus the legal reserve fund for works), taxe foncière (the annual property tax), and for secondary residences the Paris surcharge on the residence tax. Before you offer, we read the building's minutes and statements so these numbers are on the table — not discovered after the deed.
Frequently asked questions
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