How to Sell Your House Privately in France
Updated: 6 days ago
Thinking about selling your house in France without using an estate agent?
Yes — you can.
But private sale doesn’t mean doing everything yourself.
There are still diagnostics, legal documents, contracts, tax considerations and a notaire involved. The difference is that you take responsibility for marketing the property and dealing directly with potential buyers rather than giving an estate agent a mandate to do it for you.
And there are some genuine advantages to doing that — but there are also some downsides.
So let’s look at the whole picture.
🇫🇷 Can You Sell a French Property Privately?
Absolutely.
You can advertise your property yourself, handle enquiries, arrange viewings and negotiate directly with buyers.
You can then instruct a notaire to handle the legal side of the transaction.
In fact, French law allows a seller who has given an estate agent a simple mandate to retain the ability to sell the property themselves. (Service Public)
The important distinction is:
Selling privately doesn’t mean selling without professional help.
You still need the right professionals for the parts of the transaction that require specialist knowledge.
💶 The Big Question: How Much Does It Cost to Sell Your House in France?
This is usually the first question sellers ask.
And there’s a slightly annoying answer:
It depends.
There isn’t one fixed percentage that every French estate agent charges.
Estate agency fees are freely set by the agent and can be negotiated. They can also be structured so that they are paid by either the seller or the buyer. (Service Public)
As a broad indication, PAP reports agency fees commonly ranging from around 3% to 10%, with an average of approximately 5.2% HT cited from competition-authority data. (PAP - Particulier à Particulier)
So let’s put some numbers on it.
Example: A €300,000 property
If an estate agent charges 5%:
€300,000 × 5% = €15,000
That’s €15,000 in agency fees.
At 6%:
€300,000 × 6% = €18,000
At 4%:
€300,000 × 4% = €12,000
That’s a significant amount of money.
But remember: who pays the fee matters.
The fee may be charged to the seller or the buyer, and the way the property is advertised must make this clear. (Service Public)
So don’t simply look at the headline selling price.
Look at:
How much money will I actually receive after the costs of selling?
That’s the number that matters.
🏠 What Does a Private Sale Cost?
Selling privately doesn’t mean selling for free.
You’ll still potentially have costs such as:
Property diagnostics
DPE and other required reports
Possible energy audit
Repairs or improvements
Photography
Advertising or marketing
Professional advice
Mortgage repayment costs, if applicable
Potential capital gains tax
Moving costs
The diagnostics required for the sale are generally the seller’s responsibility. (PAP - Particulier à Particulier)
The notaire also deals with the legal side of the transaction and, where applicable, the calculation and payment of tax on a taxable property gain. (Service Public)
So a private sale isn’t:
“No estate agent = no costs.”
It’s more accurately:
“No estate agent commission — but I take on more of the work myself.”
⚖️ Private Sale vs Estate Agent
So which route should you take?
There isn’t a universal answer.
It depends on how much work you’re prepared to do, how confident you are marketing the property and how much value you place on having someone manage the process for you.
🏡 Selling Privately
The potential advantages
💰 You may save the agency commission
This is the obvious one.
On a €300,000 property, a 5% fee would be €15,000.
That’s money that could potentially remain with you rather than going towards an agency fee.
🎯 You control the marketing
You decide:
Where the property is advertised
How it is described
Which photographs are used
How much information you provide
Who you target
You can also market specifically to English-speaking buyers if that’s the audience you’re trying to reach.
🤝 You deal directly with the buyer
There’s no middleman between you and the person interested in buying your home.
That can make communication quicker and more personal.
📅 You control the viewings
You arrange appointments around your own availability rather than relying on someone else’s diary.
💬 You control the negotiation
You know exactly what you want from the sale and can talk directly to the buyer about price, timing and what is included.
But There Are Downsides
And this is where private sellers need to be realistic.
⏰ It takes time
Answering enquiries, arranging viewings, responding to messages and chasing potential buyers all takes time.
And not every enquiry will turn into a viewing.
Not every viewing will turn into an offer.
And not every offer will turn into a sale.
That’s property selling.
📸 You are responsible for the marketing
Good photographs, good copy and getting your property in front of the right people matter.
Simply putting your house on Facebook and waiting probably isn’t enough.
🌍 You may have a smaller reach
An established estate agent may already have:
A database of buyers
Local contacts
Property portals
Established marketing channels
Experience with international buyers
If you’re selling privately, you have to create that reach yourself.
That’s where a platform such as the Biz Où? Property Hub can potentially help by giving your property another place to be discovered.
🧠 You need to handle the enquiries
Some buyers will have lots of questions.
Some will ask questions you don’t know the answer to.
Some will want to negotiate heavily.
Some will disappear without explanation.
You need to be comfortable dealing with all of that.
🇫🇷 Language can be a consideration
If you’re selling to French buyers, you’ll need to communicate effectively in French.
If you’re targeting English-speaking buyers, English-language marketing can be a real advantage.
If you’re dealing with both, make sure your key information is available in a way both audiences can understand.
🏢 What Does an Estate Agent Give You?
An estate agent isn’t simply charging you for putting a photograph on a website.
A good agent can provide a package of services that may include:
Property valuation
Marketing
Professional photography
Listing creation
Portal advertising
Buyer enquiries
Viewings
Negotiation
Buyer qualification
Local market knowledge
Coordination with the notaire
French estate agents also have a legal duty of information and advice towards the seller and buyer. (Service Public)
So the agency fee is paying for time, expertise, marketing and convenience, as well as the introduction of a buyer.
The question is whether you need all of those services.
🤔 The Real Question Isn’t “Private or Agent?”
It’s:
What do I want to pay someone else to do?
If you don’t want to deal with enquiries, arrange viewings, negotiate or market the property, paying an estate agent may make sense.
If you’re comfortable doing those things yourself, a private sale could be an option.
And there is also a middle ground.
You don’t necessarily have to choose between:
“Estate agent does everything”
and
“I do absolutely everything.”
You can build your own selling team.
For example:
You:
Property presentation, marketing, enquiries and viewings.
Biz Où? Property Hub:
Additional property exposure and reaching people looking for property in France.
Diagnostiqueur:
Required property diagnostics.
Notaire:
Legal transaction and completion.
Tax professional:
Advice where your tax circumstances require it.
That’s a very different proposition from trying to do the entire transaction yourself.
💰 Compare the Numbers
Let’s imagine your property sells for €300,000.
Private Sale
Estate Agent
Sale price
€300,000
€300,000
Agency commission
€0
€12,000–€18,000*
Diagnostics
Notaire/legal process
Marketing
You manage it
Agent manages it
Viewings
You manage them
Agent may manage them
Negotiation
You
Agent
Buyer reach
You build it
Agent provides channels
Your time
Higher
Lower
*Illustrative 4–6% range only. Actual agency fees vary and should be checked against the individual agent’s current fee schedule. Agency fees are freely set and can be negotiated. (Service Public)
And there’s an important point here:
Don’t compare the agency fee with zero. Compare it with the value of the work you’re taking on yourself.
If you save €15,000 but spend six months dealing with endless enquiries, viewings and negotiations, you need to decide whether that trade-off works for you.
For another seller, saving €15,000 might be well worth the extra work.
📋 What You Still Need to Pay For
Whether you use an estate agent or sell privately, some costs don’t magically disappear.
You may still need to budget for:
Diagnostics
The appropriate property diagnostics are required as part of the sale, depending on the property and its circumstances. (PAP - Particulier à Particulier)
Notaire
The notaire handles the legal transaction. These costs are not the same thing as an estate agent’s commission. (Service Public)
Plus-value
If the property is subject to French capital gains tax, this needs to be considered. Your notaire handles the relevant calculation and formalities. (Service Public)
Mortgage costs
If you still have a mortgage, check whether there are any costs associated with repaying it early.
Preparing the property
You may decide to spend money on:
Decorating
Repairs
Gardening
Photography
Cleaning
Staging
Some of these costs are optional, but they may help the property present better.
🚨 Don’t Make “Saving the Agency Fee” Your Only Goal
This is important.
The cheapest way to sell isn’t necessarily the best way to sell.
If poor photographs mean your property sits unnoticed for months…
If an unrealistic asking price means nobody views it…
If you miss serious buyers because you don’t respond quickly…
If you struggle to negotiate…
You could end up losing more money than the agency commission would have cost.
The aim should be:
Get the best overall result for you — not simply the lowest selling cost.
🏡 And This Is Where Biz Où? Fits In
Biz Où? isn’t an estate agent.
That’s deliberate.
The Property Hub is about helping properties get seen by people looking for property in France.
For a private seller, that can mean another route to market without handing over control of the entire sale.
You remain the seller.
You decide the price.
You deal with the buyer.
Your notaire handles the legal transaction.
And Biz Où? helps put the property in front of another audience.
Marketing support without pretending to be your estate agent.
That’s the difference.
❤️ So, Should You Sell Privately?
Only you can decide.
But before you do, ask yourself:
Do I have the time?
Am I comfortable dealing with buyers?
Can I market the property properly?
Do I understand what paperwork I need?
Do I have access to the right professionals?
Can I handle negotiation?
Do I know what my property is realistically worth?
If the answer to those questions is mostly yes, private selling could be a route worth considering.
If the thought of dealing with all of that fills you with dread…
Well, that’s probably why estate agents exist! 😂
📝 Before You Put Up That “À Vendre” Sign…
Get organised first.
☐ Work out a realistic asking price
☐ Research comparable properties and recent local sales
☐ Gather your property documents
☐ Arrange the required diagnostics
☐ Check planning paperwork
☐ Prepare the house
☐ Get good photographs
☐ Write a proper property description
☐ Decide who you want to attract
☐ Decide where you’ll advertise
☐ Work out how you’ll handle enquiries
☐ Decide how you’ll arrange viewings
☐ Choose your notaire
☐ Understand your potential tax position
☐ Calculate your likely net proceeds
☐ Create your marketing plan
And then…
Get the property seen.
Because having a fantastic house for sale is only half the job.
The other half is making sure the right people know it’s there.
🏡 Selling Your House Privately?
Before you start advertising, download our
Free Private House Sale Checklist.
It will help you work through the things you need to have in place before you put your property on the market.
And when you’re ready to get your property in front of people looking for a home in France, take a look at the Biz Où? Property Hub.
You sell the house.
We help you get it seen.
The notaire handles the legal bit.
Simple.
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