Below is a general overview of how working in real estate is set up in France.
Note: rules change so to be up to date you need to confirm all this information with a French real estate licensing office.
One
An ‘Agent Immobilier’ or a French real estate agent is governed by a French law called ‘Loi Hoguet’ and new rules in a French law called ‘Loi Alur’. There are always additional new laws pending. Check with a French real estate licencing office.
Two
The laws are designed to protect people buying real estate in France from low standards of competence and ethics. Each agent immobilier / real estate agent must have a license called a ‘carte professionnelle’ .
Note: New rules came into place in 2015 that are adding increased standards for professional competency and integrity for French real estate agents. This is excellent news as it will raise respect for the French real estate professional. Here is an overview of the changes written in French.
Three
In contrast to the ‘Agent Immobilier’ (real estate agent) that is in charge of a real estate office, the ‘agent commercial’ (salesperson) does not have a ‘carte professionelle’ and instead operates under the license of the agent .
The agent commercial (negotiator) in general do not have to the same educational requirements or experience. They do have a special professional card that shows they are working with an agent immobilier.
NOTE: New changes arrived from Loi Alur that require the agent commercial to show they have the ability to work in the real estate profession in France and they now need to engage in formal training. See details in French here.
Educational requirement need to be kept current.
Four
As far as we are aware there are two types of ‘carte professionalle’ that can be obtained by a person wanting to become an ‘agent immobilier’ in France.
One allows the person to undertake the sale of property.
The other allows one to rent property.
They are not the same.
Five
We do recommend that if you actually want to earn money more rapidly as an ‘agent immobilier’ or ‘agent commercial’ in France you obtain as much professional training as possible, unfortunately, many new French real estate agents and agent commercial earn very little money because their knowledge and experience may be limited and they start to learn about how the real estate process works in France after they start in the industry.
To get up to date information and to learn more about becoming a real estate professional in France please contact the Préfecture (French administration office) in the department of France you wish to work in. Wikipedia list is here Please note services are provided in French.
