# Question related to buying a property in France



## DC12345

An agent told me about how "The city or the state have the right to refuse a deal if they want to buy the apartment for themselves. It's very rare but the notary has to request an official document to the city proving the apartment is OK to be sold."

Is this true? ...and what is the % of this happening???


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## SPGW

In my experience ( bought/sold 3 properties over the years), yes, this would be a bit like the “searches” in the uk the solicitor does to ensure a sale can go ahead. In practice, if the Mairie had claimed the property it would not be on the open market in the first place. I’ve seen this on “dodgy” properties, ruins for demolition, otherwise very rare.


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## ccm47

Our first house here was next door to a large field. It is rule here that SAFER, which is a farming organisation, must be told of the price that has been agreed for properties such as ours. They then have 2 months to reply saying that a farmer wants it. If they do want it they have to pay the seller the same price with no renegotiation.
No reply means that nobody is interested. Our purchase was completed on a Thursday which was a whole 48 hours after SAFERs 2 months ran out.
The same is true for town properties which can, and sometimes are, bought by the mairies.


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## mohsel

it depends if there are some development plans for the area and the city needs the building or the land for the project... 
usually it is a formality but it can happen.
May be if you check the government site which shows the history of purchased property in the same area (the closer to where you want to buy, the better) ... if there was a recent transaction for a neighboring property, then 99% your purchase will have no problems.. though without this check I think your purchase has at least 95% chance to pass !


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## DC12345

Merci beaucoup à tous!!


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## Juven

This can indeed happen, particularly when the properties have a certain value for French heritage. There are several such stories with castles abandoned because the state is reluctant to let them to foreign buyers and hinders the sale. But I think that's pretty rare.


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