Author
Arthur Merlino
President of Liberty House Real Estate SAS
Arthur Merlino chairs Liberty House Real Estate SAS, the company that operates BRIVEO. He signs the 155 guides of the site.
LinkedIn profileWhat can be checked
Only facts that a public register confirms. The company's record is on the Annuaire des entreprises, and the licence is issued by the chamber of commerce named below.
- Role
President of Liberty House Real Estate SAS
Société par Actions Simplifiée à Associé Unique (SASU), trade register Paris B 952 992 634, registered office 34 avenue des Champs-Élysées, 75008 Paris. BRIVEO is its trading name.
- Professional licence (carte T)
CPI 7501 2024 000 000 155
Issued by the CCI de Paris Île-de-France to the company Liberty House Real Estate SAS, not to a person.
- Financial guarantee
GALIAN-SMABTP
120 000 €, 89, rue La Boétie, 75008 Paris.
- Nice establishment
195 Route de Saint-Pierre de Féric, 06000 Nice
Registered on 5 August 2026 with the Tribunal de commerce de Nice, file number 2026B02749. Same company, secondary establishment.
How the guides are written
- Every guide ends with the list of texts it relies on.
The texts cited by the most guides
- Code civil, article 1253 (Légifrance)6 guides
- Code de la construction et de l'habitation, article L271-4 (Légifrance)5 guides
- Service-Public.fr, crédit immobilier4 guides
- Code civil, article 1137 (Légifrance)3 guides
- Code civil, article 1641 (Légifrance)3 guides
The guides he signs
Financing your property purchase6
- What is the maximum debt-to-income ratio for a mortgage?
- What salary do you need to borrow 200,000 euros?
- How can you finance your purchase at 110% (without a down payment)?
- How do you obtain your mortgage?
- Minimum deposit: how much do you really need to buy?
- Land lease scheme (BRS): income caps, reduced VAT and combining with the zero-rate loan
Notary and the legal framework6
- How do you choose your notary for a property purchase?
- How are notary fees calculated?
- What is the withdrawal period after a sale agreement?
- What is the difference between a bilateral sale agreement and a unilateral promise to sell?
- What is a pre-dated statement in co-ownership?
- The ALUR Act: what it really requires of sellers and landlords
Selling Your Property8
- Which documents are mandatory to sell a property?
- Which surveys are mandatory to sell (energy performance, asbestos, lead, termites, natural risks, electricity, gas)?
- Open mandate or exclusive mandate: what's the difference?
- How do you set the sale price of a property?
- How do you calculate the seller's net proceeds (what you keep after the sale)?
- How long does it take to sell a property?
- Can you sell a rented or occupied property?
- Carrez law or habitable area (Boutin law), which one applies to your property?
Buying a Property7
- How do you make a property purchase offer?
- What is the mortgage condition precedent?
- How do you buy off-plan (VEFA): guarantees and payment schedule?
- What minimum down payment is needed to buy a property?
- What aid is available for a first-time buyer?
- What checks should you make before buying in a co-ownership?
- Can you withdraw after a purchase offer?
EPC and property diagnostics6
- Can you sell a thermal sieve (class F or G)?
- How much does an EPC cost and how long is it valid?
- When is the energy audit mandatory at the point of sale?
- What is the timetable for banning the rental of energy-intensive dwellings?
- What are the mandatory property diagnostics?
- What to do if the EPC is erroneous?
Co-ownership (copropriété)8
- How are co-ownership charges allocated?
- What is the role of the co-ownership managing agent?
- What are the majorities at a co-ownership general meeting (Articles 24, 25, 26)?
- What is the ALUR works fund in a co-ownership?
- In a co-ownership sale, who pays the charges: the seller or the buyer?
- Which co-ownership documents must be provided at the point of sale (Article L.721-2 of the CCH)?
- What is a co-ownership maintenance logbook?
- Article 26 of the Act of 10 July 1965: which decisions need the double majority?
Property Taxation13
- How is property capital gain calculated and its allowances for length of ownership?
- The capital gains exemption on the main residence: how does it work?
- What is LMNP status (non-professional furnished rental) and how is it taxed?
- Rental income: should you choose the micro-foncier or the actual regime?
- The property deficit: what is the principle and how is it offset?
- How is property tax calculated?
- How are a property gift and a property inheritance taxed?
- Malraux scheme (VIR): what tax reduction for restoring an old building?
- The Jeanbrun scheme (private landlord status): depreciation, caps and conditions
- Intermediate rental housing (LLI): 10% VAT, property-tax exemption, conditions
- 5.5% VAT for a new-build home in an ANRU or priority urban zone: conditions and penalties
- Buying bare ownership of a new-build home to invest, how does it work?
- The Denormandie older-property scheme: tax reduction, works, eligible municipalities
Agency Mandate and Real Estate Agencies6
- What is the difference between a simple, exclusive and semi-exclusive mandate?
- What is the Hoguet Act and the professional license (T license)?
- How do I terminate a real estate mandate (simple or exclusive)?
- What is the duration of a real estate mandate and how does renewal work?
- Agency commission: who pays it, how is it set and negotiated?
- The viewing slip: what is its real legal weight?
Residential Renting6
- Security deposit: what is the maximum amount and the return deadline?
- What notice period to leave your home: 1 month or 3 months?
- Which charges can the landlord recover from the tenant and how are they reconciled?
- How to revise a rent: the IRL index and rent control in tight-supply areas
- What is the duration of a rental lease and what must it contain?
- Move-in and move-out inventory of fixtures: rules, deadlines and consequences
Investing in the French Overseas Territories6
- Why and how should you invest in real estate in the French overseas territories?
- How does the Girardin tax-reduction scheme work in the French overseas territories?
- What are the legal specifics of a real estate purchase in the French overseas territories?
- Which tax-reduction schemes apply to a rental investment in the French overseas territories?
- How can you find out real estate prices in the French overseas territories?
- Does the overseas Pinel scheme still exist?
Hidden Defects in French Real Estate7
- What is a hidden defect in French real estate?
- What is the deadline for a hidden defects claim in France?
- What remedies does the buyer have for a hidden defect?
- Does the hidden defects exclusion clause always protect the seller?
- Hidden defect, fraud or non-conforming delivery: what are the differences?
- Do mandatory property surveys protect against hidden defects?
- Seller: how do you protect yourself against a hidden defects claim?
Selling and Buying en Viager6
- How does a viager sale work?
- How is the annuity of a viager sale calculated?
- How is the life annuity taxed for the seller?
- Occupied viager or free viager: what are the differences?
- What are the risks of a viager and when can the sale be annulled?
- Can a viager be resold, and what happens to the annuity if the buyer dies?
Preemption Rights and the DIA6
- What is the urban preemption right and which properties does it cover?
- What is the DIA and how long does the municipality have to respond?
- The municipality is preempting my property: can I accept, withdraw or challenge the price?
- What priority right does the tenant have when the landlord sells the dwelling?
- How does the SAFER preemption right work in rural areas?
- What are the risks of a sale concluded in breach of a preemption right?
Easements: rights and burdens between neighbours6
- What is an easement (servitude) in French property law?
- How do you obtain a right of way for landlocked land in France?
- What distances apply to a window or view over the neighbouring property in France?
- Can an easement be acquired by prescription in France?
- How do you check for easements before buying a property in France?
- How does an easement end, and how can it be challenged?
Joint Ownership and SCI7
- How does joint property ownership (indivision) work in France?
- How do you exit joint property ownership (indivision)?
- Can you sell a jointly owned property without every co-owner's consent?
- How do you set up an SCI to buy property in France?
- SCI or joint ownership: which should you choose to buy with others?
- Family SCI: how do you pass property on to your children?
- How is an SCI taxed: income tax or corporate tax?
Property Gifts and Inheritance6
- How much inheritance tax do you pay on a property in France?
- How do you gift a property during your lifetime in France?
- How do you gift the bare ownership of a property and keep the usufruct?
- How do you sell an inherited property in France?
- What rights does the surviving spouse have over the family home?
- What are the costs and deadlines of a property inheritance in France?
Neighbourhood nuisance6
- What is abnormal neighbourhood nuisance?
- Noise and sound nuisance: what does the law say and what remedies are available?
- Loss of view or sunlight: can you be compensated?
- Smells, smoke and encroaching vegetation: what are your rights?
- How can a neighbourhood nuisance be proved and taken to court?
- What sanctions and remedies apply to a neighbourhood nuisance?
Town planning and building permits7
- Building permit or prior declaration: which one do you need?
- How do you obtain a building permit?
- Which works require a prior declaration?
- How can a third party challenge a building permit?
- What is a town planning certificate for?
- What does a construction without a permit or non-compliant risk?
- Building permit and sale: what should you check?
Selling and buying from abroad20
- Non-resident, how is my capital gain taxed when I sell in France?
- Selling from abroad, do I need an accredited tax representative?
- How do I sign the sale of my French property without coming back?
- Non-resident, how is the rent from my French property taxed?
- Non-resident, am I liable to the French property wealth tax (IFI)?
- Inheriting property in France while living abroad, how does it work?
- Non-resident, which local taxes apply to a property in France?
- Selling from abroad, how do I get the DPE and the surveys?
- Buying property in France while living abroad, what are the steps and the costs?
- Non-resident partner in an SCI, how are rent, capital gains and wealth tax taxed?
- I live in Switzerland, how do I sell or buy property in France?
- UK resident, what did Brexit change when selling my property in France?
- I let a furnished home in France from abroad, which tax regime applies?
- Co-owner living abroad, how do I vote at the general meeting without being there?
- I am selling a house with land from abroad, can the Safer pre-empt?
- Usufruct holder in France, bare owner abroad, how do we sell the property and share the price?
- Gifting property in France to my children while I live abroad, how does it work?
- Non-resident, must I file a tax return in France, when and with whom?
- Antilles, Réunion, Guiana, what changes for a non-resident selling or buying in overseas France?
- In practice, how does a sale with Briveo go when the seller lives abroad?