Most buyers arrive at their first viewing with one question lodged somewhere at the back of their mind: how long is this actually going to take? The honest answer depends entirely on which route you take — and the two main routes are very different propositions.
A resale purchase in the French Alps follows a predictable legal sequence: once your offer is accepted, you can typically expect to be at the notaire's office signing the final deed within three to four months. A new-build (VEFA) purchase begins with a reservation contract and ends — on average — 24 months later when the developer hands over the keys. Sometimes longer. Knowing which timeline applies and where the pinch points sit lets you plan properly rather than be caught out mid-process.
The Resale Buying Timeline
The French resale purchase has five distinct phases. Each carries a fixed legal minimum; most have a practical reality that runs somewhat longer.
Phase 1: Offer accepted to compromis de vente — two to three weeks
Once a seller accepts your offer, the notaire (or sometimes the estate agent) drafts the preliminary contract — the compromis de vente. Preparation typically takes two to three weeks from offer acceptance. The document is comprehensive: purchase price, any special conditions, a completion deadline, and the full dossier de diagnostic technique (DDT). Both parties need to be satisfied with the diagnostics before signing.
On a competitive mountain property, sellers sometimes push for a faster timetable — occasionally within a week — so it pays to have your identification documents, tax returns, and proof of funds ready before you make your offer. Our guide to making an offer on a French Alps ski property covers exactly what sellers and notaires need to see from you at this stage.
Phase 2: The statutory 10-day cooling-off period
French property law grants every buyer a 10-day right of withdrawal after signing the compromis de vente. Within this window you can walk away without penalty and recover any deposit in full. The seller has no equivalent right — this protection runs entirely in the buyer's favour. Use the period to review the compromis carefully, verify the diagnostics, and confirm your financing plan is realistic. Our guide to the compromis de vente sets out precisely what to check before and after you sign.
Phase 3: Notaire due diligence — 10 to 12 weeks
This is where the bulk of the resale timeline sits. After the cooling-off period expires, the notaire conducts a series of mandatory searches before the final deed can be signed. According to Notaires de France, the average gap between the compromis and the acte authentique de vente is approximately three months — a figure that reflects the volume of legal and administrative work involved.
The notaire must verify clear title going back at least 30 years, check for any mortgage or charge registered against the property, confirm there are no planning disputes, and obtain an état daté from the copropriété's syndic confirming no unpaid service charges or active litigation. In a ski resort — where apartment buildings typically have active rental management companies and complex copropriété structures — these checks frequently take the full three months to clear. Our guide to the notaire process walks through each stage in detail.
Phase 4: Mortgage approval — running in parallel
If you are financing with a French mortgage, the application runs in parallel with the notaire's due diligence. The compromis includes a standard condition suspensive de prêt (mortgage condition precedent), which protects you in full if the bank refuses your loan application. From application to formal mortgage offer, French banks typically take 12 to 14 weeks for non-resident borrowers — partly due to additional documentation requirements and the HCSF 35% debt-service ratio assessment.
Once you receive the formal mortgage offer, there is a mandatory 11-day cooling-off period before you can accept it — you cannot sign earlier regardless of how straightforward the purchase looks. This 11-day wait is frequently the reason a resale that appeared to be tracking for a three-month completion edges towards four. Plan for it rather than be surprised by it.
Phase 5: The acte de vente — completion
Both parties — or their representatives under a procuration (power of attorney) — attend the notaire's office to sign the acte authentique de vente. Funds transfer, title passes, keys change hands. The full resale sequence from accepted offer to keys in hand typically lands between three and five months. A cash purchase with clean title can occasionally complete in under two months, though this is the exception rather than the rule. Budgeting four months is the sensible working assumption for most buyers.
Run this timeline alongside our breakdown of the true cost of buying a French Alps ski property to ensure your finances are correctly staged at each phase — particularly the notaire fees and transfer taxes, which fall due on the day of the acte.
The New-Build (VEFA) Buying Timeline
Buying off-plan is a structurally different purchase — and a significantly longer one. The typical VEFA timeline from reservation to key handover is 18 to 36 months, with most current French Alps new-build projects in the 24-month range. The extended wait comes with meaningful compensation: a property built to modern energy standards (RE2020 from 2022 onwards), a legally protected staged payment structure, and statutory warranties that resale properties cannot match.
Step 1: The contrat de réservation
The process begins with a reservation contract (contrat de réservation) signed directly with the developer. Under French law, this is the only legally permitted preliminary contract in a VEFA purchase — no other form of pre-contract is valid. The reservation contract must specify the unit's approximate location, the number of rooms, the technical specification (set out in an annexed summary note), the estimated price, and the indicative delivery date.
The reservation deposit is capped by law: 5% of the sale price if the final VEFA deed is expected to be signed within one year, or 2% if it falls between one and two years from reservation. The funds are held in a blocked account — at a bank or at the notaire's office — and cannot be accessed by the developer until the sale completes. As Notaires de France confirms, buyers have a 10-day cooling-off period after signing the reservation contract, during which they can withdraw and recover the full deposit without any deduction.
Step 2: The VEFA acte de vente and staged payments
Several months after the reservation, you sign the formal VEFA deed of sale at the notaire's office. From this point you are the legal owner of the land and whatever portion of the structure has been built. Ownership of the building then transfers to you progressively as construction advances — and payment follows the same schedule.
Stage payments to the developer are strictly capped by French law at the following cumulative percentages of the total purchase price:
- 35% of the price on completion of the foundations, confirmed by an independent architect's certificate
- 70% on structural completion — roof installed, exterior walls finished, terraces in place
- 95% on completion of all works, with the property habitable and functional
- 5% balance on handover — payable once you accept the keys, or held in escrow if you formally record snagging items at the handover appointment
If you are using a French mortgage, the bank releases funds in tranches matched to these construction milestones. During the build phase you pay intérêts intercalaires — interest only on the amounts drawn down rather than on the full mortgage. Our guide to VEFA stage payments and intercalary interest explains how this works in practice and how to model the carrying cost across the construction period.
Step 3: Construction, slippage, and delivery
Alpine construction projects face genuine physical constraints: restricted working seasons at higher altitudes, limited road access for heavy plant, and planning regimes under the Loi Montagne that add administrative complexity. A slippage of two to four months beyond the original delivery date is common on French Alps new-builds — this is a normal feature of mountain construction logistics, not a signal that a development is in difficulty.
French law provides strong protection against more serious delays. Every VEFA developer must provide a garantie d'achèvement — a completion guarantee backed by an approved bank or insurer — which ensures the building will be finished even if the developer encounters financial difficulties. If delivery slips beyond agreed tolerance thresholds, buyers are entitled to financial penalties from the developer.
When the building is certified complete and you receive your convocation à la livraison, you attend the handover appointment with the right to inspect every room, test every fitting, and record any defects in a formal procès-verbal de livraison. Snagging items noted at this stage create a binding obligation on the developer to rectify within a specified timeframe. Our detailed guide to the VEFA handover process covers what to check and how to use your retained 5% as a lever.
Matching the Timeline to Your Plans
The gap between a four-month resale completion and a 30-month VEFA delivery is not a theoretical distinction — it matters practically. Buyers who need occupancy or rental income within one or two ski seasons should include resale properties in their search. Those with a longer investment horizon — particularly buyers purchasing into a new-build programme to benefit from VAT recovery under the LMNP (Loueur Meublé Non Professionnel) regime — can absorb the extended VEFA wait, and typically prefer it because the property arrives with a modern energy rating, a 10-year structural warranty (garantie décennale), and no immediate renovation exposure.
Browse current new-build listings and resale properties to compare what is available at your target resort and budget, or speak to the Domosno team about timing your purchase to match your personal and financial calendar.
What Pushes Timelines Out
Certain situations consistently extend the timeline beyond typical estimates. Non-residents applying for a French mortgage add documentation complexity and can stretch the approval track beyond 14 weeks. A copropriété with active litigation or a large planned works programme can trigger extended enquiries from the notaire. And properties with complex title — multiple inherited shares, a viager element, or a chain sale — take longer regardless of how clear-cut the rest of the transaction appears.
For resale purchases in Savoie and Haute-Savoie specifically, both départements raised their droits de mutation transfer tax from 4.5% to 5% in 2025. This cost is settled in full at the acte de vente — build it into your cash flow plan alongside the notaire's fees so there are no surprises on completion day.
The most reliable way to keep a purchase on track is to respond to document requests without delay, engage a mortgage broker before you begin viewing, and — in a competitive market — have proof of funds or a pre-approval letter ready before making an offer. A seller who knows your financing is in order is a seller who will accept a realistic completion date rather than hold out for a faster buyer.
