Selling your property
Here is some essential advice on the sales process, as well as practical information to know before you get started.
The different steps to sell your flat in the 3 Vallées
Get a FREE VALUATION
Our estate agency is on hand to assess the value of your property in Méribel-Mottaret and Courchevel La Tania. To carry out an accurate valuation, it is best to have the following information and documents to hand:
- Title deed,
- Keys to all units sold (including the cellar),
- Key details regarding the co-ownership: service charges, minutes of general meetings, etc.,
- Technical reports (if available) to assess their impact on the sale.
Our valuation is based on actual sales, current market conditions (supply and demand), and the expertise we have gained over more than 30 years of operating locally.
Marketing a property for sale
The mandate
Once the price is established, the owners can choose 2 types of mandate :
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Exclusive mandate: the mandate is only given to one agency, which proposes a more complete range of services to sell the apartment. The sole-agent mandate values the apartment as it is not available in any agency. Moreover, this allows you to have only one contact person.
- Simple mandate: the mandate of sale is non-exclusive and thus the property can be sold in several agency. The agency fees are usually more expensive for this type of mandate.
In order to provide potential buyers with as much information as possible and to facilitate the preparation of the mandate, we require the following documents as soon as possible :
The ‘LOI ALUR’ file
The documents required vary depending on the type of property. In general, you will need to bring together the following items :
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Coproperty rulebook (Règlement de copropriété): this large book details the rules to administer the building. If it has ever been modified, the modification documents must be added too. Those documents can be asked to the syndic of co-ownership if lost.
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Coproperty charges over the last 2 years: this allows the buyers to know how much the coproperty charges cost in average.
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Minutes of the coproperty meetings : these documents are provided to inform of the latest topics discussed during the general assembly meetings, as well as voted works.
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Maintenance notebook (carnet d’entretien): this document sums up all the works that have been carried out along the time and the companies in charge of the maintenance contracts.
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Asbestos diagnosis for the common parts: just like for the apartments, this diagnosis informs the buyers on the asbestos state of the building.
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Early accounting sum-up (Pré-état-daté): often requested by the notary, this document states the current state of the owner’s accounting towards the co-ownership.
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Some other documents may be requested by the notaries
The technical diagnostics
The documents which compose the technical dossier depends on the type of apartment he owns, when the building was built etc. Those documents are provided by a certified surveyor (for around €300). Usually, selling an apartment requires :
- Surface notification (certificat "Loi Carrez"): this document informs of the apartment’s surface (only the square meters above 1,8m high are counted).
- Asbestos diagnosis (diagnostic amiante): this diagnosis is needed to establish whether there is asbestos in the apartment. The law has changed in 2013, so some recent diagnosis may not be valid anymore.
- Energy Consumption Diagnosis (Diagnostic de Performance Energétique or DPE): this document is supposed to rank the apartments in an energy consumption category from A (low energy consumption) to G (high energy consumption). The label is compulsory on the adverts and thus the documents must be established as soon as possible. It is notably based on the coproperty charges and electricity bills.
- Electric diagnosis (diagnostic électrique): this diagnosis checks the current state of the electricity network in the apartment. The seller does not need to undertake works : this is purely an informative document.
- State of the Natural, Natural, Mining and Technological Risks (Etat des risques naturels, miniers et technologiques or ERNMT): this documents states the risks that may threaten the building (flood, avalanches etc.)
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Depending on the property, other diagnosis may have to be carried out by a certified surveyor (gaz diagnosis, lead certificate etc.)
Other documents
Inventory: when sold with furnitures, an inventory of the apartment’s furniture must be drawn with the estimated price of each items.
- Other documents may be requested.
The preliminary agreement
The preliminary agreement is a draft contract summarising everything that has been agreed upon in the sale. It is signed by the parties: the sellers, the sellers’ solicitor, the buyers, the buyers’ solicitor and by us. The legal notices are set out, and the description of the properties and all relevant details must be included. The buyer pays a deposit to demonstrate their commitment.
In the event of a loan being a condition precedent, they must also provide evidence of their application for a mortgage.
The sale
Once the sale compromise is signed, the notaries are in charge of the administrative part. Once all the documents have been obtained, they take care of the change of ownership towards the State and co-ownership company.
The agency’s role
The agency’s role is to market the property, in particular through property listings on its website, arrange viewings, gather the necessary documents for the sale, liaise with the solicitor regarding the transaction, and so on. It acts as the central link between sellers, buyers and solicitors.
On site, the agent in charge of the sale can provide clients with more detailed information, particularly when the property is a second home located some distance from the sellers’ and buyers’ main residences.
The team at the Saulire agency has in-depth knowledge of Méribel Mottaret and Courchevel La Tania, their various neighbourhoods and, more broadly, the local property market.
