In Paris you do not only buy an apartment, you join a building. Before the offer, a careful buyer reads the co-ownership as closely as the floor area, gauges the works ahead, budgets acquisition costs that follow the raised Paris rate, and checks that the intended use, main home, pied-à-terre or letting, is allowed by the City’s rules.
Choosing the address
A bank of the Seine, a neighbourhood, then a building, with the floor and the aspect shaping value. The Golden Triangle and the Faubourg Saint-Honoré, Saint-Germain-des-Prés and Invalides, the Marais and the Île Saint-Louis, Passy and Trocadéro offer neither the same life nor the same market. We start from your use to target the right streets.
Reading the co-ownership before the offer
- The general meeting minutes for the last three years, which record the works voted and the debates under way
- The multi-year works plan, mandatory since 1 January 2025 for buildings more than fifteen years old, which schedules the next ten years
- The running charges and the works fund, which give the true cost of ownership
- The co-ownership rules, which set the permitted use of each unit
How calls for funds for works already voted are shared between seller and buyer is settled in the preliminary contract, and the notaire accounts for it in the deed.
Acquisition costs in Paris
Transfer duties follow the raised departmental rate Paris applies, plus the municipal tax and the collection fee, making 6.32% of the price for an existing property under the French tax administration table applicable from 1 June 2026. Add the notaire’s regulated fees, disbursements and the land registry contribution. A first-time buyer purchasing a main home remains outside the raised rate.
The City’s pre-emption right
Once the preliminary contract is signed, the City of Paris receives the declaration of intent to sell and has two months from receipt to exercise its urban pre-emption right. Its silence counts as a waiver, and this period sets the timetable to the deed.
Living, letting or hosting
A main home can be let as a furnished tourist rental for 90 days a year at most, and a second home only after a change-of-use authorisation compensated within the same neighbourhood. A year-round let is subject to rent control, and a home rated G on the energy performance certificate can no longer be let since 1 January 2025.
The real estate wealth tax
Above €1,300,000 of net property wealth, a Paris apartment falls within the IFI, including for a buyer domiciled outside France. Our estimator gives an order of magnitude before the offer.
Liberty House leads your search in Paris, from the first viewings to the signing at the notaire, from its head office on the avenue des Champs-Élysées.
This guide describes the general framework for information, based on service-public.gouv.fr, paris.fr and the French tax administration transfer duty table, reviewed on 28 October 2026. Your notaire establishes the exact costs.