When you sell a property in France, the notary fees are paid by the buyer. These fees amount to roughly 7 to 8% of the sale price and consist mainly of taxes. The notary himself keeps only a small portion — he earns less than you might think. Unless he receives an official sales mandate and personally finds the buyer: in that case, you owe him an additional 3% as the seller, the so-called frais de négociation. You can calculate the exact amount of the mandatory notary fees using the French notary fee calculator on Immonot.com.
The seller pays the estate agent
Notary fees and transfer taxes are therefore the buyer’s responsibility. The estate agent, on the other hand, is hired and paid by the seller. If you list your property with an agency and they find a buyer, you pay the commission. That’s only logical: you signed the sales mandate. Agency fees vary considerably — some charge as little as 4%, others up to 10%. For properties under three hundred thousand euros, expect around 6% on average, though there is often room to negotiate.
The buyer does not pay the agent*
Here’s the paradox: many agents will try to convince you that it’s the buyer who pays their commission. The argument goes like this: “If you list with us, we simply add our fee on top of your asking price. That combined figure is what we advertise — so the buyer ends up paying our commission. It costs you nothing!” This line has been repeated so consistently across the French property industry that many people now believe it. To show why it’s misleading, I’ve put together three comparison scenarios.
The transaction from the buyer’s perspective
It always helps to think like your potential buyer. Let’s call him John. John has a fixed budget and is looking for properties listed within his price range. He knows he can probably negotiate 5 to 10% off the asking price. He also knows he’ll need to add around 7% on top for notary fees. The total must stay within his budget.
Say John has a maximum all-in budget of €215,000. He searches for properties listed at up to €220,000, hoping to negotiate down to €200,000. Add 7% notary fees and he arrives at €214,000. With his budget of €215,000, John can buy. Everyone’s happy.
1. A SALE WITHOUT AN AGENT
In this example, let’s assume you want to receive a minimum of €200,000 for your property. Knowing that buyers will want to negotiate, you add a 10% margin. You list on Immogo and other private sale platforms at €220,000. If everything goes as planned, you sell after negotiation at €200,000 — exactly what you were hoping for. From John’s side, your property fits his budget. Here’s how it looks:
| PROPERTY SALE WITHOUT AN AGENT | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| You want to receive: | € 200,000 | Buyer’s maximum budget: | € 200,000 |
| Negotiation margin: | + 20,000 | ||
| Your asking price: | € 220,000 | Listed price: | € 220,000 |
| After negotiation: | € 200,000 | After negotiation: | € 200,000 |
| You receive: | € 200,000 | ||
| SALE AGREED | |||
2. A SALE WITH AN ESTATE AGENT
Now let’s see how the same situation plays out with an estate agent involved. You still want €200,000 net. The agent says: “No problem — we simply add our 6% commission to your price, which gives us €212,000. With a bit of negotiation room on top, we’ll list at €220,000.” That was already your target price, so you agree. Here’s what happens:
| PROPERTY SALE WITH AN ESTATE AGENT (6%) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| You want to receive: | € 200,000 | Buyer’s maximum budget: | € 200,000 |
| Agency commission 6% | + 12,000 | ||
| Negotiation margin | + 8,000 | ||
| Listed price: | € 220,000 | Listed price: | € 220,000 |
| After negotiation: | € 200,000 | After negotiation: | € 200,000 |
| Agency commission | – 12,000 | ||
| You receive: | € 188,000 | ||
| SALE AGREED? | |||
John’s budget hasn’t grown by a single euro because you brought in an agent. He’s still aiming for €200,000. That makes negotiation much harder — there’s simply less room to move. John holds firm: he cannot go above €215,000 including notary fees. Take it or leave it. The sale closes at €200,000, but you still have to pay the agent. The €12,000 commission brings your net proceeds down to €188,000. That stings.
3. A THIRD OPTION: MORE MARGIN
Suppose the agent is realistic enough to build in a full 10% negotiation margin from the start. He takes your net price of €200,000, adds 10% to reach €220,000, then adds his 6% commission — another €13,200. Listed price: €233,200. On paper, your €200,000 net is protected. In practice, new problems emerge:
| PROPERTY SALE WITH AN ESTATE AGENT (6%) + EXTRA MARGIN | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| You want to receive: | € 200,000 | Buyer’s maximum budget: | € 200,000 |
| Negotiation margin | + 20,000 | ||
| Base price: | 220,000 | ||
| Agency commission 6% | + 13,200 | ||
| Listed price: | € 233,200 | Listed price: | € 233,200 |
| After negotiation: | € 210,000 | After negotiation: | € 210,000 |
| Agency commission | – 13,200 | ||
| You receive: | € 196,800 | ||
| SALE AGREED? | |||
First problem: John won’t even try to contact the agent about your property. The listed price is €32,000 above his budget. But suppose he takes the plunge anyway. After some back and forth, you agree on €210,000. John now has a real problem: with notary fees on top, he needs to find more than €226,000. If his financing falls short, the sale collapses. And you’re not happy either — you receive €210,000 minus €13,200 in commission, leaving you with €196,800. Still €3,200 short of your target.
ALL COSTS AT A GLANCE
As you can see, the mechanics are more complicated than they first appear. It’s worth mapping out these scenarios for your own situation: start with your minimum net seller price and work out what asking price and negotiation margin that requires. You can’t control John’s budget. But you can choose to list your property without agency commission and with a sensible negotiation margin of 5 to 10%.
Download a summary of all three scenarios here — print it out and keep it to hand when setting your asking price.
*An estate agent is legally permitted to charge their fees to the buyer, but only if this was stated clearly in the listing or at first contact at the agency. In practice: if an listing shows FAI or HAI (Frais/Honoraires d’Agence Inclus), the advertised price includes the agency commission, which the notary pays out to the agent after completion.
