Sophia Antipolis - Mortgage

To apply for credit, you need to have some guarantees. 3 types of loans are available:

- mortgage
- "le privilège de prêteur de denier", the privilege of money lender
- guarantee (private or professional)

A mortgage is a notarial deed which allows the bank to sell the house in case you no longer pay the monthly fees. Mortgage fees correspond to 2 % of the total amount of the loan. You have to pay 0.05 % of the selling price and 0.10 % when the mortgage is finished. 

If you buy a house or flat, which already has been built (not a project of construction), you are entitled to ask for a credit from money lenders. This is more interesting than a mortgage if the loan is higher than 76.225 euros, because you don't have to pay the "advertising fees" which corresponds to 0.615 % of the loan.

Guarantees can be provided from a private person (parents, husband, wife etc), from a company (especially in France for the civils servant) or from a specialized company. 
Examples of specialized companies are: "Crédit Logement", "Socami" for Bred bank, "Camca" for the Credit Agricole Bank etc. You have to pay a certain amount at the beginning, but at the end of your loan you will get back 80 % of this amount.