France is a perennially popular tourist destination with beautiful and varied countryside, plenty of space, and a rich gastronomic heritage.

If you've ever considered buying a holiday home in France, here are some tips to help you out.

[edit] Steps

Start by researching on the Internet. This will enable you to begin to get a general feel for what sort of price you should be paying relative to size, location, and condition of the property, as well as learning about how the house buying process works in France.
Make a list of your criteria. The list could relate to criteria such as: maximum traveling time to the property, maximum price, preferred location, minimum number of bedrooms, structural condition, services connected, etc. Following a list of criteria is a good way of remaining objective about your purchase.
Pay particular attention when making your list to what sort of location you require.
- A detached house surrounded by beautiful empty countryside may be your ideal, but don't forget that you will have to use your car to get everywhere.
- Living in a village or a small town will mean you can walk to get your newspaper and fresh croissants every morning and walk to the bar or restaurant and have a drink. However, you may have to put up with traffic noise, and many small shops and bars are closing down in France so you may find that having picked what seemed like an ideal location you are left with no local amenities and still having to use your car.
- If you want to be near the sea be aware that in France, as with most countries, you will pay a premium. In general, the further inland you go the cheaper the prices.
Use your holiday breaks to explore different regions of France and find out which region suits you the most. France is a big country and the scenery and climate vary from region to region so you need to experience some of it first hand to get a feel for where you would like to buy. View prospective French properties in the winter. The fares tend to be lower at that time of year and it will give you an idea of what the property and the district are like out of season.
Book appointments through Internet agents before you go if you have limited time to view, as they can arrange for you to see the properties from the books of several agents immobiliers, (french estate agents) in one short visit. If you have more time, it makes sense to go visit the agents immobliers individually as otherwise you will be restricted to the limited number of agents immobiliers that the Internet agent has an arrangement with. French Estate agents' offices are now so common in France that you will find them even in some of the smallest towns. As the purchaser, you will normally have to pay their fees but they are often included in the asking price. If they are included, the price should have the letters F.A.I. attached, (Frais d’Agence Inclus).
Understand how the conveyancing process in France works. The legal aspects of the house purchase are handled by a notaire. He or she is a state employee, responsible to the government for the correct transfer of ownership and collection of associated fees and taxes. The vendor will certainly have their own notaire, but you should always appoint your own notaire to act on your behalf. The fees do not change, and the two notaires will split the work and the fee, so there is no reason at all not to have two notaires involved. While it is true that notaires are in theory impartial, it should also be recognised that a notaire who has dealt with a vendor for some years will be more likely to lean towards the vendor's interest than that of the purchaser. As with the agent immobilier, the purchaser normally has to pay the notaire's fees. Keep in mind that, although you are paying their fees, neither the agent immoblier nor the notaire are working for you or exclusively representing your interests. Notaire fees will typically be around 8% of the purchase price of the property.
Employ a chartered building surveyor if you require a survey. The French do not generally have a tradition of having surveys done when purchasing a house, but you can engage a chartered building surveyor to give you a report on the condition of the property. There are some British surveyors working in France, type chartered building surveyors France into any search engine for a selection.
Use a foreign exchange company to transfer the funds for your purchase. This will normally give you a much better deal than using a high street bank.
Familiarise yourself with your rights under the French system. After signing the initial contract, the compromis de vente for instance, you as the purchaser have a seven day cooling off period during which you can change your mind and withdraw your offer unless you are considered to be investing in property as a business. You should also ensure that there are clauses in the compromis de vente that will disolve the contract in case of problems.
Visit the property on the way to the notaire's office to check that nothing has changed before you sign the final contract, (acte de vente). The acte de vente states that the property is sold as it exists on the day of the signing.

[edit] Tips

You will receive a much better reception from the French, and understandably so, if you try and learn the language and speak to them in French. You will also find that it will augment your enjoyment of the project.
Beware of the french "No". Often no does not mean no, it simply means that further discussion is required (and indeed expected) before an agreement can be reached.

[edit] Warnings

You should seek proper paid legal advice if you are purchasing in France. Information presented here is based on personal experience; it is not expert advice to be relied on in your purchase.
Be very wary of information given to you orally when doing your research at the mairie on plans to build nearby.
Any person may call themself a 'Surveyor' or 'Building Surveyor' and may offer a 'Surveying Service'. Many exploit this free use of the word surveyor and mislead the public - and it is often at the expense of those purchasing a French property. To make things worse, there are some 'surveying organisations' operating in France fraudulently claiming that they are members of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS).

With technology as it is, the crooks see ways of taking advantage and there are a fair few websites that fraudulently use the RICS logo and describe the business proprietors as RICS members. Before engaging any 'RICS' member check direct with the RICS (email: contact@rics.org) and ask the RICS to verify the RICS membership number and that they are Chartered Building Surveyors (a RICS member must give their registration number if you ask them).

Then there are architects, engineers, project managers, semi-retired construction/property industry workers, carpenters, jobbing builders and even farmers all offering 'surveying services' in France so beware of comments such as "35 years of experience" because it may not be in building surveying! These individuals may, of course, be knowledgeable about buildings and their problems. However, the chances are that many will have limited or no formal/accredited building surveying training and they will not have been assessed on their building surveying knowledge by a professional body specialising in building surveying.