How to sell your home yourself in Bordeaux

Yes, without exception. In France the transfer of ownership only becomes legally binding when a notary (notaire) records the acte authentique at the land registry (service de la publicite fonciere). You are free to find your own buyer, negotiate the price and draft the preliminary contract (compromis de vente) yourself, but you cannot skip the notaire for the final deed. The buyer pays the frais de notaire, which run around 7 to 8 percent on an older property. If you and the buyer each want your own notaire, both can attend, and the fee does not increase because it is shared between them.

You must hand over a complete dossier de diagnostics techniques (DDT) when the compromis is signed, not at the acte. The mandatory reports are: DPE (energy rating), lead exposure report (CREP, required for any building with a permit before 1949 which covers most of central Bordeaux and the Chartrons), asbestos (any permit before 1997), gas and electrical installation checks (required if the systems are over 15 years old), a termite certificate (etat parasitaire, required in Bordeaux because the Gironde department is classified a termite risk zone), and the natural and technological risk statement (etat des risques, valid for six months). For a typical Bordeaux apartment of 60 to 80 square metres, a bundled diagnostics package from a certified operator costs roughly 300 to 500 euros. The termite survey is the one Bordeaux-specific report many sellers forget to order. A missing or expired report can let a buyer walk away from the compromis or demand a price reduction.

Allow roughly four to five months in total for a financed buyer. Listing to accepted offer varies by price accuracy, but a well-priced property in a sought-after quartier like Chartrons or Saint-Michel can go under compromis in two to four weeks. After signing the compromis, the buyer has a statutory 10-day cooling-off period (delai de retractation) during which they can withdraw without penalty. The three months following are driven almost entirely by the buyer's bank obtaining a mortgage offer and the notaire gathering the title documents (titre de propriete), co-ownership records if applicable, and cadastral plan. A cash buyer can reach the acte authentique in six to eight weeks after the compromis. The seller receives the net proceeds by bank transfer the same day the acte is signed.

No, not as it was from 2015 to 2022. Prices peaked and have softened, particularly for larger apartments and houses that sat at stretched valuations. The mid-2026 range is roughly 4,300 to 4,500 euros per square metre on average across the city, but prime quartiers (Chartrons, Pey-Berland, Saint-Pierre) hold higher, while Bordeaux Nord and outer zones are weaker. The TGV link to Paris still draws buyers from outside the region, which underpins demand, but buyers are now price-sensitive and will wait rather than overpay. Overpriced listings commonly sit for three months or more before a price cut. Pull actual sold prices (valeurs foncieres) for your exact street on the government's Demande de Valeurs Foncieres tool before setting your ask.

List directly on owner-to-owner portals. PAP (De Particulier a Particulier) and leboncoin both accept private seller listings for a flat fee that is a fraction of an agency commission, and they are the sites buyers use when specifically searching for no-agent sales. For a slower market like Bordeaux, verified buyer contact (available on Anyone.com through an identity check) helps you spend time on genuine interest rather than casual browsers. You set your own asking figure, handle viewings, negotiate directly and engage a notaire for the acte. Your unavoidable costs are the DDT (300 to 500 euros), optional representation at the notaire (a few hundred euros), and any outstanding mortgage discharge fee if you have a loan to clear at completion.

Three things come up repeatedly. First, the termite certificate: Gironde is a classified termite zone and the etat parasitaire is mandatory, but sellers new to the process often omit it and have to scramble to order one before the compromis can be signed. Second, the DPE rating: a poor energy label (F or G) now must be disclosed in the listing itself, not just the DDT, and it significantly affects buyer appetite and negotiating position in Bordeaux's older stone stock. Properties rated F or G are also subject to a rent freeze if rented, which can deter investor buyers. Third, co-ownership (copropriete) sellers often underestimate the volume of syndic documents the notaire will request: the last three years of general-assembly minutes, the building's maintenance fund balance, and any ongoing litigation must all be provided, and chasing a slow syndic is the most common reason completions are delayed.

Yes. From 1 May 2025 the Gironde departmental council raised its share of the transfer tax (DMTO) from 4.5 percent to the 5 percent ceiling, in force until 31 March 2028. On an existing home this lifts the total transfer taxes inside the buyer's frais de notaire from roughly 5.80 percent to about 6.32 percent of the price. You do not pay this (the buyer does), but it raises their all-in cost, so price-sensitive Bordeaux buyers will factor it into what they offer. First-time buyers of a main home who have not owned their main residence in the previous two years are exempt from the 0.5-point increase. Sources: Chambre des Notaires de la Gironde and Service Public.

Bordeaux sells more slowly than most large French cities. The Meilleurs Agents barometer put the city at about 85 days on average to reach a signed compromis (1 March 2024), among the slower large metros, behind Paris (about 68 days), Lyon and Toulouse (about 70). A well-priced home in a sought-after quartier like Chartrons or Saint-Pierre can go under compromis in two to four weeks, while an overpriced one commonly sits three months or more before a price cut. After the compromis, allow roughly three more months to the acte for a financed buyer, so plan for about four to five months end to end.

Use notaire data as your anchor: the median for existing (ancien) Bordeaux apartments was about 4,240 EUR/m2 in Q3 2025, down roughly 1 percent year on year, while existing houses sat near a 345,000 EUR median (up about 0.4 percent). Broader portal averages put the all-types figure near 4,400 to 4,500 EUR/m2 in mid-2026. Prime central quartiers hold higher, Bordeaux Nord and outer zones lower. Before setting your ask, pull the actual recorded sale prices for your exact street using the government's Demande de Valeurs Foncieres (DVF) tool and the notaire price tool on immobilier.notaires.fr. Sources: Syage Notaires and MeilleursAgents.

Yes. Bordeaux applies the maximum legal surcharge on the residence tax for second homes, set at the 60 percent ceiling since July 2021. That ongoing charge directly dampens demand from pied-a-terre and investor buyers, so the second-home buyer pool in the city is smaller and more price-sensitive than for main residences. Factor it into your pricing and marketing. Separately, capital gains tax (plus-value immobiliere) applies to a second home (your main home is exempt), with relief that tapers over the holding period, so confirm current rates before you sell. Source: Bordeaux Immo9.

The termite certificate (etat parasitaire). Gironde is a classified termite-risk department, so the termite report is mandatory for a Bordeaux sale and must be in the diagnostics file (DDT) attached to the compromis. Sellers new to the process routinely overlook it and then have to scramble to order one before signing. The other Bordeaux pressure point is the DPE: a poor F or G rating must now appear in the listing itself, not just the DDT, and weighs heavily on price and buyer interest in the city's older stone stock. A bundled DDT for a typical 60 to 80 m2 apartment costs roughly 300 to 500 euros.