If you decide to sell your second-home in France, you might be rejoicing that at least you are free of French bureaucracy - but not so fast.
The sales process has its own requirements, while there are also a few things to be tidied up in the months after the sale goes through.
Sale process - be prepared for the sale process itself to be quite different to anything you might have experienced in Anglophone countries.
If you decide to use a real estate agent, they should guide you through the process, and you can also find a guide to selling property in France here.
Putting a home up for sale requires you to obtain various certificates including the energy-efficiency rating known as the Diagnostique de Performance Energétique (DPE). This is a legal requirement in order to sell a property, while if your property is rated E, F or G, you will need to pay for an extra energy audit, which gives details to the buyer on the works needed.
You also need to put together the Dossier de Diagnostic Technique (DDT) - this is essentially a series of surveys including natural risks (such as flooding or industrial) and parasites (including termites, in certain parts of France), sewerage and septic tanks, lead and asbestos (for older properties).
Utilities - naturally you will need to close various accounts with utility companies, cancel insurance policies and change your address - the general rule in France is that if you subscribed to something online, then you should be able to cancel it online, thanks to the 'three clicks' law.
However, some companies require you to send a lettre recommandée in order to close an account or cancel a subscription.
READ ALSO: How to cancel subscriptions and close accounts in France
Property taxes - the two French property taxes (taxe foncière and taxe d'habitation) are calculated based on who owns the property on January 1st of the tax year.
Therefore if you sell in February, you will still get two sets of tax bills the following autumn.
It's quite a common practice when agreeing on the sale that the buyer agrees to take on the tax for the portion of the year that they own the property, but if this isn't specifically mentioned in the sale agreement, then you will have to pay the taxes.
Even if an agreement is reached, you remain legally liable for the tax, and the tax office will send the bill to you, as the registered owner on January 1st. The usual practice is that the buyer pays you an extra amount towards taxes, and then you pay the bill when it arrives, although it depends on what is agreed in the contract.
Capital gains tax - assuming that you made a profit when selling your home, then you may have to pay Capital Gains Tax (Impôt sur les plus-values).
The general rule of thumb is that you would pay the tax in France - even if you live in another country - because the gain is made in France. There are, however, quite a few groups exempt from Capital Gains Tax when it comes to selling property, including those who have owned it for more than 22 years, those who don't own any other properties, and those who are on a low income or have a disability - find the full list of exemptions here.
Income tax - if you rented out your home in France, even just for a few weeks of the year, then you have to pay tax on that income in France. The French income tax declaration is made in the spring, for income from the previous year.
So if you sold your home in August 2025 - and rented it out for any period between January and August 2025 - then you will have to complete the tax declaration in the spring of 2026, in order to declare your 2025 income.
Will update - if your second home is specifically mentioned in your will, don't forget to update it once you have sold. If you do not live in France and have no other assets in France, then selling your house here will completely remove you from the sphere of French inheritance laws and inheritance tax, which will likely make your will a lot simpler.
Redirect mail - because of the various official requirements that continue for some months after you sell up, it may be a good idea to arrange a redirect on your mail, in order to ensure that you don't miss a crucial letter. La Poste will set up a redirect on your post - more info here.
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