How to sell a house in Morocco as a foreign or non-resident owner

If you live abroad, how to sell a house in Morocco comes down to a short sequence: confirm your title and papers, set a realistic price, reach buyers who may never meet you, agree a traceable payment, have a notary draw up the sale, settle the tax on your gain, and only then move the money out of the country. Each step has a Moroccan rule or institution behind it, and the order matters most at the end, because the proceeds can only leave Morocco once the deed is signed and the tax is paid. This guide walks through the sequence for foreign owners and owners living outside Morocco, and points to the official pages for every figure it gives.

It is a general guide, not legal or tax advice. Tax and exchange rules change, and your own case depends on how and when you bought the house. Confirm every point with a notary before you sign anything.

The sale at a glance

Step 1: check your title and gather your records

Before you look for a buyer, make sure the house is registered in your name as you expect and that you can find the papers from your purchase. For a registered property, the land registry agency (ANCFCC) lets you request a property certificate online, track the request with an SMS code, and verify the certificate's authenticity for three months after it is signed. Ask your notary which documents they need from you; requirements depend on the property and on your situation.

For a non-resident, the purchase file matters twice. It is the starting point for calculating the tax on your gain (Step 6), and it is what you will lean on when you ask to transfer the proceeds abroad (Step 7). Find the purchase deed, the price you paid, and the bank records showing how you paid for the house when you bought it. If those records are in a drawer in another country, collect them now rather than when the buyer is waiting.

Step 2: set the asking price

Pricing is harder to get right from abroad, where you cannot watch the local market week to week, and it is its own subject: our guide to property valuation in Morocco explains who can value a property, why price-per-m² figures differ between sources and a step-by-step method for setting an asking price.

One point specific to this guide: decide the price with the tax in mind. The tax on your gain is calculated from the sale price (Step 6), so an estimate of what you will owe, and of what will be left to transfer, belongs in the decision.

Step 3: reach buyers when you are not there

An owner living abroad faces a practical problem: every viewing needs someone on site, and you cannot fly in for each one. The two usual options are to give a local agent a mandate or to ask a trusted person to open the house. Either way, what buyers can see online shapes who asks to visit.

This is where remote viewing helps. Clear photos and a 360° virtual tour let a buyer in another city or another country walk through the house room by room before asking for a visit, so a visit, when it happens, is with someone who has already seen the layout. Our guide to 360° virtual tours for sellers in Morocco explains when a tour is worth it, when it is not, and how to prepare the house for one.

If you use an agent, read the mandate before you sign it: what the fee is, when it is due, how long the mandate lasts and how it ends. Ask for anything unclear to be written down. Our guide to choosing a real estate agent in Morocco covers what to check and ask before you give an agent that mandate.

Step 4: agree the price and how it will be paid

Once you have a buyer, agree three things before the notary drafts anything: the price, the method of payment and who handles which part of the paperwork.

The payment method has carried a tax consequence since the 2026 finance law (loi de finances 2026). According to the tax administration's note circulaire n° 737 on the 2026 measures, a supplementary registration duty of 2% applies to the sale of real property for a price above 300,000 DH when the deed does not state the payment method and its references, or when the price is not paid by an admitted method. The admitted methods include:

• a crossed, non-endorsable cheque;
• a bill of exchange;
• card payment;
• a bank transfer or another electronic payment;
• a documented offset (compensation), and a deposit into a bank account.

The extra 2% applies only to the part of the price paid in cash, and it does not apply when the deed states that the price is paid through a bank loan.

For a seller who wants to move the money abroad afterwards, a traceable payment is the sensible default anyway: the bank records of the payment are part of the trail you will rely on in Step 7. Agree with the buyer and the notary, in writing, that the full price will be paid by an admitted method and that the deed will record it.

Step 5: use a notary for the sale

Use a notary to draw up and sign the sale. A notarial deed gives both sides a formal record of the transaction, and the tax on your gain is declared and paid around the time of the sale; ask the notary how that is handled in your case. Choose the notary early and involve them before you sign any preliminary agreement with a buyer, so that its wording, deposit and conditions are checked before they bind you.

As an owner abroad, raise three questions at the first contact:

1. Signing. Will you need to be in Morocco to sign, or can someone sign for you? If you plan to be represented, ask the notary exactly what form the authority must take and how long it takes to prepare.
2. Documents. Which documents do they need from you, and in what form if they were issued abroad?
3. Funds. How will the price pass from the buyer to you, and when will the deed and the tax receipts be available? You need both for the transfer abroad.

Ask the notary for a written estimate of their fees and the other costs of the sale before you commit; this guide does not give fee percentages because no official scale was confirmed for it.

Step 6: the tax on your gain (profits fonciers)

The gain you make when you sell a house in Morocco is taxed as a property profit, or profit foncier, under article 61 of the General Tax Code (Code général des impôts). The tax administration's page on income and property profits sets out the core rules:

• Rate. The tax is 20% of the net profit, the difference between the sale price and the acquisition cost as the code defines them.
• Minimum. The tax cannot be lower than 3% of the sale price, even when there is no profit at all.
• Exemptions. The page lists exemptions, including sales whose total value does not exceed 140,000 DH in a year, certain transfers between ascendants and descendants, between spouses and between brothers and sisters, and the sale of a home occupied as the main residence, subject to a minimum occupation period. Whether any of them fits you depends on the facts, so check the current wording on the page and with your notary.

Because of the 3% minimum, a sale at a loss or at a small gain still costs tax. Here is how the two rules interact, as an illustration only: the figures are invented, and the real acquisition cost may include adjustments this simple example leaves out.

In House B, 20% of the profit is less than the 3% minimum, so the minimum applies. The difference matters for planning what you will be able to transfer.

Two cautions for owners abroad. First, this guide does not say whether a non-resident is taxed exactly as a resident in every respect: confirm how the rules apply to you with your notary or a tax adviser in Morocco. Second, your country of residence may have its own view of the same sale; ask an adviser there how it treats a gain on property abroad.

Keep the proof that the tax has been paid. It is one of the two documents the transfer abroad depends on.

Step 7: transfer the proceeds abroad

For non-resident foreigners, the Office des Changes, Morocco's foreign-exchange authority, sets out the conditions on its page about transferring income from investments. It covers the proceeds of selling real estate, including the capital gain. The transfer is made on presentation of:

• a copy of the sale deed;
• proof that the taxes due on the sale have been paid.

The page also ties the amount to the real value of the investment sold, and refers to how the original purchase was financed. That is why the purchase records from Step 1 matter: keep the evidence of how you paid for the house when you bought it, and give your bank the full file when you ask for the transfer.

If you are a Moroccan living abroad (MRE) rather than a foreign national, you fall under a separate category with its own Office des Changes page. Read the page for your category, not the other one, and ask your bank which documents it needs before the sale closes.

A checklist for selling from abroad

• Title and purchase records found, including how you paid for the house.
• Property certificate requested from the ANCFCC if your notary needs a recent one.
• Asking price set, with an estimate of the tax and the amount left to transfer.
• Presentation ready for remote buyers: photos and, if it suits the house, a 360° tour.
• Notary chosen before any preliminary agreement, with signing arrangements settled.
• Payment by an admitted method agreed and written into the deed.
• Tax on the gain declared and paid, with proof kept.
• Sale deed and tax proof sent to your bank for the transfer.

Let buyers walk through the house while you are abroad

When you cannot open the door yourself, the online presentation does the first viewing for you. ViewImmo produces 360° virtual tours for property owners and agents in Morocco, alongside HDR photography: buyers, including those living abroad, can explore every room remotely, and the finished tour is hosted online and opens from a link you can send to them directly. See how ViewImmo's 360° tour service works.