What are the main stages of a viager sale?
A viager sale is an estate operation that calls for a thorough study and tailored support.
Far more than a property transaction, it commits both seller and buyer for the long term. That is why every stage has to be handled with rigour, transparency and expertise.
There are five main stages in selling a property in viager. The first four lead up to the signature; the fifth begins on the day the deed is signed and lasts as long as the contract does.
From feasibility study to ongoing management
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Review of your estate and feasibility study
We carry out a full audit of your personal, property and financial situation: your needs and objectives, the open-market value of the property, the most suitable form of sale (occupied viager, free viager, bare ownership or instalment sale) and the financial terms — bouquet, annuity, rights retained, allocation of charges and tax. At the end of it we hand you a tailored study, so that you can decide fully informed.
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Marketing the property and finding the buyer
Once the project is agreed, we market the property to a carefully selected network of investors. Our job is not simply to find a buyer, but to identify an investor whose financial capacity matches the commitments of a viager contract: solvency, the ability to keep paying the annuity over time, their own estate strategy, and the guarantees they can offer. That selection is what makes the operation safe for the whole life of the contract.
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Signing the preliminary contract
When seller and buyer agree the terms, a preliminary contract is signed. It formalises both parties’ commitments and sets out every condition: price, bouquet, annuity, rights retained, allocation of charges, conditions precedent and the timetable. It is drawn up with the assistance of the notary handling the sale.
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Signing the notarial deed
Once the legal and administrative formalities are complete, the parties sign before the notary. On that date ownership passes formally to the buyer, the bouquet is paid to the seller, and the annuity begins on the agreed terms. The notary also registers the sale at the land registry and secures the whole operation in law.
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Following and managing the viager contract
Unlike an ordinary property sale, the signature does not end our work. The contract runs until the death of the seller, or of the survivor where it is set on two lives. Throughout that period there is the annual indexation of the annuity, the allocation of charges and works, the possible early release of the property and the increase in annuity that goes with it, help with administration and tax returns, and mediation should a question arise between the parties.
A contract that lives for years
To keep that period calm and secure, Viagéo Patrimoine offers support in managing the viager contract. Our aim is to make the formalities simpler for both parties, to see that the contractual commitments are met, and to keep the relationship between seller and buyer durable, transparent and untroubled.
Because a viager contract is above all a relationship of trust that lasts, our support continues well beyond the day the deed is signed.
