Selling a house or an apartment: what are the mandatory steps?

The sale of a property is not a trivial transaction and requires you, as a seller, a certain number of preliminary steps and obligations of all kinds. Below is a complete update to make it clearer!

Mandatory procedures: the seller's obligations

The seller's obligation to inform

This is the main constraint that weighs on the seller: to provide transparent and complete information to the buyer concerning the property offered for sale. Concretely, this translates into different steps to be taken.

Respect of the sales agreement

In addition to his duty to provide complete and fair information, the seller is bound from the signing of the sales agreement, and undertakes by this act to transfer the property concerned, at the agreed price and under the conditions provided for in the contract. This means that he can no longer withdraw or sell his house in Collioure (for example) to another buyer. He must also clear the house of his furniture and personal items before the date of the transaction.

Termination of energy contracts

Two to three weeks before signing the authentic deed, the seller must not forget to take the necessary steps to terminate his gas, electricity and water supply contracts, and take a meter reading before transferring the goods. housing keys.

The technical diagnostic file required to sell

The preparation of the technical diagnostic file (DDT) is compulsory before the sale. This step requires the seller to call on various professional diagnosticians to assess the condition of the property and provide complete and sincere information to potential buyers.

• The energy performance diagnosis (DPE) concerns all goods without exception.
• The "asbestos" diagnosis is mandatory if the building permit is prior to July ¹ , 1997.
• The "lead" diagnosis is mandatory if the property was built before 1949.
• The "gas" and "electricity" diagnostics are required if the respective installations are more than 15 years old.
• The “termites” and “dry rot” diagnoses are to be carried out only in the areas targeted by a specific prefectural decree.
• Finally, the state of natural, mining and technological risks (ERNMT) must be provided if the municipality is the subject of a prevention plan in this area.

Failing to have carried out all the obligatory diagnoses, the former owner exposes his responsibility in the event of discovery of latent defects, even after the finalization of the sale.

Box: non-prohibitive technical diagnostics for sale The various technical diagnoses are purely informative. This means that a bad diagnosis (for example poor energy performance or an outdated electrical installation) does not prevent you from selling if the buyer remains interested!

Sell your property: other documents or supporting documents to provide to the buyer

When the house for sale is not connected to a collective sanitation network, its owner must produce a certificate of conformity for his private installation. The validity period of this certificate is three years. More generally, it is recommended to carefully keep all the documents relating to the initial construction of the building and any extension sites that have subsequently arisen. You will need to be able to produce a copy:

• Building permit,
• Work declarations,
• Reception reports,
• Anything that can attest to the regularity of the work carried out over the years,
• A damage insurance certificate for all expansion, elevation and development sites whose delivery dates back less than ten years.

Is the house located inside a subdivision?

Do not forget in this case to attach the general regulations or the specifications, as well as the minutes of the last general assemblies. If finally the property sold is occupied by a tenant, the seller provides the original of the lease and the inventory of fixtures, and pays him the security deposit as well as possibly the pro rata of the rent that would have been paid to him for the period after the sale. Multiple regulatory obligations therefore weigh on an individual who would like to put his property up for sale. In this context, the use of a professional real estate agency can be perfectly justified to guarantee the regularity of the transaction and not to forget any formality. See also our article"How to sell a house".