After the visit to the property, if you are really interested and want to proceed you must sign " LE COMPROMIS DE VENTE" (French preliminary contract to purchase), legally binding both the seller and buyer to the purchase, you will then have a 10 days cooling off period, in which you can pull out if want to. At the end of which you will need to transfer your 10% deposit by bank to bank transfer. You receive report regardinng the state of the electrics, asbestos, state of the septic tank(if spetic tank), lead in the paint, fungus(depending of area), state of the heating.
After, the notary will launch an enquiry with the civic office to find out if they have any requirements for this area and the property(any debts on the property; any plan for the civic office to buy the house; any plan for the department to make a road in the near future; if property with agricultural land the notary will contact the SAFER to ask if there is a farmer interesting to buy the house).
It should be noted that if you are paying cash for the property then the delay between "LE COMPROMIS DE VENTE" and the act of sale will only be approximately 2 1/2 months but if you require a mortgage then the delay will be approximately 3 months
After 2-3 months the buyer and the seller must sign a completion contract with the French notary.