HOW DO WE BUY A HOUSE IN FRANCE?

Where do we start?

We asked these very questions some years ago when we sought a property in the Var region…and here’s what we found. We...

• Looked on the internet and magazines to find houses within our price range
• Enquired with many South of France agents who never replied
• Went to the area for a holiday and walked into local agents. Unfortunately, houses we liked were not being sold by English speaking agents and we couldn’t speak French
• Rented a house and our host kindly took us to the agent to interpret. But we couldn’t go any further as once again we came up against the language barrier – and initially we gave up.

We came home very disappointed having wasted a lot of time on our holiday. We tried again the following year and out of desperation put our name on the first house we saw. Then the problems started. We could totally bore you now, but think you're getting the picture. On this second year we wasted two weeks holiday and still ended up without a French house. It cost us a considerable amount of money to get nowhere.

However, we learned from the ordeal and didn’t give up. We felt that it was now or never in 2005. We started the same process but this time we were fortunate to find several very helpful professional experienced people, who were English, spoke fluent French, and do what we were looking for every day of the week. As they say “it's not what you know but who you know!”

By the way, we bought our own dream 4 bedroom house and have undertaken some pleasant landscaping and overseen the installation of a private pool. If you'd like to see where we are and what we’ve achieved please click here.

If you are seeking your own dream house in France then all of the issues that you will be faced with we have dealt with. In short “we’ve read the book, seen the movie…and been there!”.

This could be one of the biggest decisions you make…so our free advice is do it with help and do it cautiously.
Following our experiences we’ve established a small advisory consultancy with the sole aim of helping others professionally to save time, money and frustration in all aspects of their property search (fees on application).


BUYING A HOUSE IN FRANCE

Can we do it? ...Where do we start?

Our property finding services cover Provence Cote D’Azur. Please note that it takes a bit longer sometimes in France to find exactly what you're looking for. We have a number of specialist Estate Agents who will source houses to suit your needs

SERVICES ON OFFER
Our consultancy advice covers:
• Fact finding
• Finding the right property whether new-build, old or unusual
• Arranging property visits
• Arranging transportation to and from nearest airports e.g. Nice and Toulon for Provence
• Overview of French law
• The process of buying property
• Financial considerations, mortgage – insurance - furniture
• Looking after your house – security/maintenance issues when you aren’t there
• If you are renting out - providing peace of mind that all will be taken care of

In our capacity as advisers the first stage is to understand your requirements, and maybe your dreams. At the same time we'll guide you through each stage of the process. This will be achieved with as little inconvenience to you as possible by asking you to complete a simple questionnaire. This document will be your personal customised 'working template' for going forward.

Please note that we do not give financial advice as such. However, at all stages we’ll put you in touch with qualified professionals like English lawyers who speak fluent French and have dealt with this process many times before.


YOUR FIRST STEP
The first step is to Email us with your questions. We'll respond with enough information for you to decide your next step

We have made some great friends in our quest and it has been worth it. We'd like to think that if you proceed, then you'll become a friend also.