How is the price of a viager calculated?

The starting point is the value of the vacant property. In an occupied viager, the value of the right of use and occupation kept by the seller is deducted. Part of the remaining value is paid in cash (the down payment), and the rest is converted into an annuity according to the seller’s life expectancy and a discount rate.

Who pays the property tax and works in an occupied viager?

The deed sets the split. Usually, the buyer pays the property tax and major repairs (article 606 of the Civil Code), the seller routine maintenance and their occupancy charges.

What happens if the buyer stops paying the annuity?

If the deed contains a termination clause, the seller can have the sale cancelled and take the property back; the deed usually provides that they keep the down payment and annuities already paid. Without this clause, they can have the property seized and sold to secure the annuity.

Can a viager be cancelled if the seller dies shortly after the sale?

Yes, in two cases provided for by the Civil Code: if the seller had already died on the day of the contract (article 1974), or if they die within twenty days of an illness they had at signing (article 1975).

Buying differently · anywhere in France

Buying a life annuity property (viager): principle, price, risks

A down payment on signing, then an annuity paid to the seller until their death: a viager lets you buy a property below its value, without financing it all at once, in exchange for some uncertainty. How the price is calculated, what you really pay, the risks and the rules, with a simulator.

The principle

A down payment, then a lifelong annuity

The down payment (bouquet) is paid in cash on signing. It is freely negotiated, often around 15 to 30% of the value.
The annuity (rente) is paid monthly to the seller (the annuitant) until their death. It is usually indexed each year.
So the total price is not known in advance: it depends on the seller’s lifespan. This uncertainty is what makes a viager a contract apart.

Two forms

Occupied or vacant

Occupied: the seller continues to live in the property, through a right of use and occupation or a usufruct. The value of this right is deducted from the price. This is the most common form.
Vacant: the buyer has the property from signing, to live in or to let. The price is based on the full value, and the annuity is higher.
With two sellers, a couple for example, the annuity is usually reversible: it continues until the death of the second.

The calculation

How the down payment and annuity are set

The starting point is the value of the vacant property, estimated from comparable sales.
In an occupied viager, the value of the right of occupation is deducted: the rent the property would earn, over the seller’s life expectancy.
The down payment is deducted, and the balance is converted into an annuity according to the seller’s life expectancy and a discount rate.

Simulator: down payment, annuity and probable cost

Simulator Example

Value of the property with vacant possession (€) Form Seller’s age Seller’s sex Two sellers (reversible annuity) Monthly rent of the property (€) Down payment (% of occupied value) Discount rate (%)

Rent: the property’s market rent if it were let (the town page gives the rent per m²). By default, 4% of the value per year.

Life expectancy
Value of the right of occupation
Occupied value
Down payment on signing
Life annuity
Total cost if the seller lives to their life expectancy
Total paid exceeds the vacant value

Indicative result. Life expectancy calculated from mortality tables for France 2018-2020 (whole population, from INSEE, Human Life-Table Database). Viager sellers live longer on average than the population as a whole: professional scales take this into account, and the final amount is set with the notary or a viager expert.

For the buyer: advantages and risks

Advantages

Buying below value, without borrowing it all

In an occupied viager, the value of the right of occupation is deducted from the price: you buy well below the vacant value.
Only the down payment is financed at once, in cash or with a loan; the annuity is paid month by month, with no bank interest.
The property is yours from signing: it becomes part of your assets and can be resold, occupied, with the annuity.

Risks

The uncertainty cuts both ways

If the seller lives a long time, the total paid can exceed the value of the property: the simulator shows from when.
In an occupied viager, you do not use the property while the seller lives there; you usually pay the property tax and major repairs.
If you die before the seller, your heirs take over the annuity: insurance can cover this.

Unpaid annuities

The annuity is secured by the property

The deed usually includes a termination clause: if payments go unpaid, the sale can be cancelled, the seller takes the property back and usually keeps the down payment and annuities already paid.
The seller also benefits from the vendor’s lien registered by the notary.
Before signing, check that the annuity remains affordable over time, indexation included.

What the law says

Civil Code

A regulated contract based on chance

A viager is a life annuity, governed by articles 1968 to 1983 of the Civil Code.
The contract is void if the seller had already died on the day of signing (article 1974), or if they die within twenty days of an illness they had at signing (article 1975).
Without real uncertainty, for example an annuity lower than what the property earns, or a seller whose imminent death the buyer knew of, the judge can cancel the sale.

Charges

Who pays what

The split is set by the deed of sale.
Usually: major repairs (article 606 of the Civil Code) and property tax for the buyer; routine maintenance and occupancy charges for the seller.
The full survey of the property (EPC, risk statement, asbestos, lead depending on age) is provided as for any sale.

Tax

On the buyer’s side

Transfer duties (notary fees) are calculated on the price: the down payment plus the value of the annuity.
The annuity is not deductible for a buyer purchasing for themselves; it is partly taxed for the seller, depending on their age.
If a vacant viager property is let, the rents are taxed normally.

Life annuity or instalment sale?

An instalment sale resembles a viager, without the uncertainty: the price and the term of the instalments are set from the start, and if the seller dies, their heirs continue to receive them. It suits a buyer who wants a known cost; a viager suits one who accepts uncertainty in exchange for a discount. Instalment sales, with their simulator →

Finding a viager

Viager properties are rare and many never appear on the big portals: they are negotiated through notaries, agencies and word of mouth. We look for them for you, anywhere in France, with local agencies, under a search mandate: you describe the property, the town and your budget for the down payment and annuity, we present the matching properties and check the calculation before any offer.

Describe my viager search Prices town by town →

Your purchase project

Interested in a property?

Before making an offer, you need to know what the property is worth here: actual recorded sales nearby, the effect of its energy rating (EPC), the cost of works, the planning rules for the plot. I go through this analysis with you, and an adviser from the network can visit it for you.

Asking price compared with nearby sales and the EPC
Cost of works based on local energy audits
Review of the local plan (PLU), easements and the plot's potential
Remote property search: viewing and checks by an adviser on the spot
After buying a rental property: finding a tenant, then management with Ma Gestion Locative

Frédéric Riot

Property search with Chasse.immo (solution.immo group), agence.immo network · Property data analyst · anywhere in France

Phone06 01 71 39 91

Emailcontact@allier.immo

Address5 Ter rue Notre Dame, 03100 Montluçon, France

City pages: Montluçon · Vichy · Moulins.