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Your property won't sell? Free installment sale, the ideal solution

Your property has been on the market for a year. And nothing is moving.

Viewings follow one another without an offer — or, more worrying still, no one is visiting any more. You have already adjusted the price once, perhaps twice. You changed agencies, retook the photos, refreshed the surveys. The property is still there, immobilising a significant share of your estate and generating property tax, service charges and maintenance costs year after year.

This deadlock is neither rare, nor necessarily the fault of your property.

In 2026, a home stays on average around 98 to 100 days on the French market nationally before finding a buyer. That average masks considerable differences: in well-located major metropolitan areas, sales complete in under two months; on properties deemed less liquid — poor energy performance, ill-positioned price, atypical layout, remote location — timeframes stretch to quarters, sometimes to years. Negotiation, meanwhile, is once again the norm, with margins commonly observed between 3 % and 7 % of the asking price.

The market is not blocked: it has become selective. If your property does not tick every box, a conventional sale can cost you dearly — in time, and above all in discount.

There is another route, notarised and legally well-established: the free installment sale.

Why your property isn't selling: the seven real causes

1. Your buyers' financing, not your price. This is the most common cause, and the most unfair. Your visitors want your property, but their bank refuses the file: debt ratio, irregular income, age, self-employed status, non-resident, insufficient deposit. You are not losing buyers for lack of desire, but for lack of credit.

2. The energy performance certificate (DPE). The French Climate and Resilience Law of 22 August 2021 introduced a progressive schedule banning rentals of the worst-performing homes: properties rated G can no longer be let on a new lease since 1 January 2025, F-rated properties will follow on 1 January 2028, and E-rated on 1 January 2034. Investors therefore turn away from thermal sieves, and private buyers negotiate the cost of renovation works — often well beyond their real cost.

3. A "market price" that no longer exists in your micro-market. A correctly priced property sells. But on certain segments — large country houses, character properties, high-end second homes, family flats on upper floors without a lift — the pool of solvent buyers has contracted considerably.

4. An atypical property. Longère (traditional Norman farmhouse), maison de maître, property with outbuildings, town mansion, property with substantial land: the target audience is narrow, and therefore slow to appear.

5. Strong seasonality. In the Gulf of Saint-Tropez as in the Gulf of Morbihan, a large share of demand concentrates on a few weeks per year. Missing a season means losing a year.

6. A complex legal or family situation. Joint ownership (indivision), inheritance, divorce, protection measure: each decision requires several agreements, and buyers sense the fragility.

7. Time itself. A property that lingers loses value in the market's perception. Beyond a few months, the age of the listing becomes a negative signal, and the offers received are those of opportunists.

Conventional solutions, and their limits

This is precisely the blind spot the free installment sale fills.

What is a free installment sale?

The installment sale is a conventional French real estate sale whose price is paid in two stages: an initial capital sum paid on signing the notarial deed — the bouquet — then monthly instalments paid over a predetermined term written into the deed. The full mechanism is detailed here.

The qualifier "free" means that the seller retains no right of occupation: they leave the property, of which the buyer takes full enjoyment from the day of signing. The buyer may live in it, rent it out or renovate it.

The word "term" means the duration is fixed and known to both parties from day one. This is the fundamental difference from the French life annuity.

In concrete terms:

• The buyer becomes owner as soon as the notarial deed is signed. Nothing is suspended, nothing is conditional.
• All charges transfer to the buyer: property tax, service charges, works, maintenance, insurance.
• The seller receives an immediate bouquet, then regular monthly instalments, indexed each year on the anniversary date of the contract to an INSEE index specified in the deed.
• No banking institution is involved. Payment is made directly between individuals, before a French notary, without interest or borrower insurance.

There is also an occupied installment sale, in which the seller retains a right of use and habitation for an agreed period, in exchange for a discount on the price. But if your objective is to sell and vacate, the free formula is the one that concerns you.

Why this formula unlocks a sale that was going nowhere

The free installment sale does not undervalue your property. It widens the pool of possible buyers.

In a conventional sale, your buyer has to convince a bank. In an installment sale, they must convince the seller and the notary. That opens the door to profiles who are perfectly solvent but excluded from bank credit:

• Self-employed professionals, independents and business owners, with high but irregular income;
• Expatriates, cross-border workers and non-residents, often turned down by French banks;
• Active adults aged 55 to 70, who have the means but no longer the loan duration;
• Patrimonial investors wishing to preserve borrowing capacity for other operations;
• Households with a substantial deposit but whose debt ratio blocks the file;
• Buyers who refuse debt as a matter of principle.

For them, your property becomes accessible again — without a bank file, without interest, without borrower insurance. This route to ownership is presented here. This is why a property offered as an installment sale usually negotiates at its real value, where a conventional sale was only producing discounted offers.

What the seller gains in concrete terms

1. Sell at market value, not at the price of constraint. The discussion no longer revolves around a "weariness discount", but around the split between bouquet and instalments.

2. A specific tax treatment. The instalments of an installment sale are not life annuities: they constitute the staged payment of the sale price. They therefore fall outside the tax regime for life annuities and its age-based abatement (art. 158-6 of the French General Tax Code). The taxation of the transaction sits at the level of French real estate capital gains, and depends on the nature of the property — main residence or not — and on the holding period. This point deserves to be precisely quantified upstream, with your notary.

3. The end of all charges. Property tax, ongoing charges, façade renovations, roofing, co-ownership calls for funds: all fall to the new owner from the day of signing.

4. A property removed from your estate. You are no longer its owner; it no longer enters the base for the French wealth tax (IFI).

5. A regular, indexed additional income, over a term you choose — to fund retirement, accommodation, a new project, or to support your children.

6. Secure transmission. If you pass away before the term, the instalments do not stop: they are paid to your heirs until the deadline set in the deed. This is the fundamental break with the life annuity, where death ends the annuity.

Points to watch, said plainly

We do not present the installment sale as a universal solution. Here is what to know before committing.

• The real estate capital gain is calculated on signing, on the full price, even though you only receive part of it that day. If the property is your main residence, exemption applies. Otherwise, you must ensure the bouquet covers the tax due.
• The bouquet is lower than the full price of a conventional sale. If you need the entire price immediately to finance another acquisition, the installment sale is probably not the right formula.
• The choice of buyer is decisive. This is at the heart of our work: analysis of payment capacity, income stability, patrimonial consistency and project coherence. A poorly selected counterparty means deferred litigation.
• The sale is final. The instalments are a payment of the price, not rent: you do not recover the property at term.

How the seller is protected

This is every seller's first question: what if they stop paying? The notarial deed organises a stack of cumulative guarantees.

• The special legal mortgage of the seller, which replaced the former "seller's privilege" following the reform of security law introduced by ordinance no. 2021-1192 of 15 September 2021, effective 1 January 2022. Registered with the land registry, it secures payment of the balance of the price.
• The resolutive clause, which allows the sale to be declared resolved in case of payment default and the seller to become owner again.
• The penalty clause, which sets in advance the compensation retained by the seller in case of resolution.
• Where appropriate, additional guarantees tailored to the buyer's profile.

These guarantees registered on the property make it, in practice, difficult for the buyer to obtain a bank loan secured on the same building — which explains why the installment sale addresses buyers with genuine self-financing capacity. All these clauses are drafted and secured by the notary, who guarantees the balance of the arrangement.

Free installment sale, life annuity, conventional sale: the comparison

Key takeaway: the free installment sale is open at any age. This is what radically distinguishes it from the life annuity, and why it applies equally to a forty-five-year-old couple unable to sell their house in Normandy and to a seventy-five-year-old owner in Paris. Detailed comparison with the life annuity.

Numerical example (illustrative)

Consider a house valued at €500,000, on the market for fourteen months, having received two offers — €430,000 and €445,000 — one refused, the other abandoned for lack of bank approval.

A possible free installment sale structure:

• Bouquet on signing: €150,000 (30 % of the price)
• Balance: €350,000, paid in 180 monthly instalments (15 years)
• Monthly instalment: around €1,945, indexed annually

The seller receives €500,000 in total, i.e. €55,000 more than the best conventional offer received, cashes €150,000 immediately, stops bearing all charges on the property, and receives close to €2,000 per month for fifteen years.

This example is purely illustrative. Every structure — bouquet / instalments split, term, indexation, guarantees — is built to measure according to your patrimonial, tax and family situation.

Our territories

Ma Vente à Terme operates across France, with in-depth knowledge of several markets where the formula responds particularly well to the deadlocks observed.

Paris and Île-de-France. Price levels increasingly exclude households from bank credit. The installment sale restores access to solvent buyers on family flats, upper floors without a lift or units requiring refresh works, where conventional resale is stalling. See also Capital Viagers Paris.

Normandy. Longères, maisons de maître, properties with land, coastal properties from Pays d'Auge to the Cotentin peninsula. Often remarkable properties, whose buyer target is narrow and DPE penalising — a profile particularly well suited to the installment sale. See also Capital Viagers Caen-Deauville.

Gulf of Saint-Tropez. Sainte-Maxime, Grimaud, Port Grimaud, Cogolin, Gassin, La Croix-Valmer, Cavalaire. A high-end second-home market, highly seasonal, where international buyers and non-residents struggle to secure French bank financing. The installment sale lifts precisely this blockage. See also Capital Viagers Saint-Tropez.

Gulf of Morbihan. Vannes, Arradon, Baden, Larmor-Baden, Sarzeau, Auray, Rhuys peninsula. A sought-after but narrow market, rich in character properties and family houses whose sale frequently meets joint ownership and succession delays.

Pays de la Loire. Nantes, Angers, Le Mans, La Baule, Pornic and the coast. A large territory where suburban and rural properties suffer most from lengthening sale timeframes.

Frequently asked questions

What is a free installment sale?
It is a definitive real estate sale signed before a French notary, in which the buyer pays a bouquet on signing then pays the balance of the price in monthly instalments over a fixed term agreed in advance. "Free" means the seller vacates the property and the buyer takes immediate enjoyment.

What is the difference between an installment sale and a life annuity?
The life annuity relies on a life-contingency risk: the annuity is paid until the seller's death. The installment sale carries none: the duration is set on signing, and if the seller dies, the remaining instalments are paid to the heirs. The tax regimes also differ: the life annuity falls under article 158-6 of the French General Tax Code, whereas installment-sale payments constitute the staged payment of the price.

Do I need to be a certain age to sell via installment sale?
No. Unlike the life annuity, generally reserved for sellers aged seventy and above, the installment sale is open at any age.

Are the instalments taxed as income?
No: they are the staged payment of the sale price, not income. The taxation of the transaction sits at the level of French real estate capital gains, calculated on signing, and depends on the nature of the property (main residence or not) and on the holding period.

What happens if the buyer stops paying?
The deed provides for a special legal mortgage of the seller, a resolutive clause and a penalty clause. The seller can obtain resolution of the sale, become owner again and retain, as compensation, the sums received under the conditions set in the deed.

Who pays the property tax and charges?
In a free installment sale, the buyer: they are owner and occupant from signing. The seller no longer bears any charge related to the property.

What duration should I choose?
Most often between ten and twenty years. It is determined by your cash needs, your age, your tax situation and the buyer's capacity.

Are the instalments revalued?
Yes, generally each year on the anniversary date of the contract, using an INSEE index specified in the deed.

Can a property with an unfavourable DPE be sold via installment sale?
Yes, and this is one of the cases where the formula is most relevant: the buyer, owner from signing, carries out renovation works at their own pace, without you having to finance them.

Can a property still burdened by a loan be sold?
It is possible, subject to prior review: the bouquet must be enough to repay the existing loan and secure the release. This is one of the first points we check.

How long does the operation take?
Once the buyer is identified and their file validated, the calendar is that of a conventional sale: preliminary contract then authentic act, generally two to three months.

How can I contact you to have my property assessed?
By phone on +33 6 88 64 16 83, or via the contact form on the site. The assessment is free, confidential and non-binding, and we operate across France.

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Ma Vente à Terme is an initiative of the Capital Viagers network. We operate across France, by appointment, with a particular presence in Paris and Île-de-France, in Normandy, in the Gulf of Saint-Tropez, in the Gulf of Morbihan and in the Pays de la Loire. This article is for information purposes. Every installment-sale project is a tailor-made arrangement, formalised by authentic act, with the French notary validating the guarantees and the taxation applicable to your personal situation.