Looking for a suitable (second) home to buy in France, Ibiza or Portugal is not easy. Thousands of homes are offered for sale online, and you often have no idea where exactly that home is located. That is why using a purchasing agent, such as Living on the Côte d’Azur, is nice.
With our local knowledge and experience, we can quickly make a selection for you and assess the advertisements you have encountered yourself. Our purchasing guidance service is free of charge* because the broker shares the commission with us.
You will then receive the support of an excellent English-speaking notary on the Côte d’Azur. And our network with professionals in the field of loans, tax structures, and renovations.
Selection process
A house in the South of France can be different for everyone; it might be a studio near Rue d’Antibes in Cannes, a family villa in Sainte Maxime, a one-bedroom apartment in Nice, or a seasonal rental investment close to Monaco.
We are always happy to listen to your motivation and expectations. We will then let you know the best way to find the home that’s right for you. Does the ideal home exist? Not really. There is always something you have to give up to gain something else. Near the sea, in peace and serenity? Then you still get a train. Within walking distance of the bakery? There is a good chance that the main road is nearby. Or a tram.
Search, View and Buy Houses in France, Ibiza or Portugal
Once the collaboration and our working process are clear, the selection process begins. From long list to shortlist, from 25 possible contenders to a Top 5 of homes that you would almost want to buy ‘blind’. Unfortunately, photos are not always accurate, and you cannot experience smells or sounds. That is why a visit is so important. You won’t know until you walk through the house and admire the view. This will be your new home in the South of France.
Where is the house located on the French Riviera?
Unlike the rest of the world, the addresses of the homes in France are kept carefully secret. The proverb ‘as the innkeeper trusts his guests’ seems to apply here. The fear is that you will ring the residents’ doorbells and try to reach an agreement without an estate agent. Funnily enough, only the French are trying to do this because French people generally hate real estate agents: ‘They do nothing and make way too much money’. The fact that a real estate agent sends information all day long and, in 9 out of 10 cases, organizes a visit for nothing is forgotten.
Anyway, it would be nice if you knew the address of the house that you might want to view. Thanks to our network and the proven reliability of our foreign customers, we can provide you with the address. In some cases, you sign a ‘bon de visite’ that lets the owner and the selling agent know who you are and that you have visited the house at street level. Even if only via Google Earth.
Scheduling visits
Now, making visits is not always easy. Anyone hoping for a fun weekend of house hunting often comes home disappointed. Many real estate agents do not consider Saturdays important and make excuses for not having a key. Or that the owner is gone.
In many cases, the French seller would also prefer not to have visitors on weekends. And certainly not on Sunday because that day is still holy in France. Family visits and extensive dinners take priority over a tour of a potential buyer’s home. “If they are interested, they will return,” they think.
That is why planning your visits during the week is more effective. Then everyone is available, and you don’t have to worry about everything having to be planned on one Saturday morning. The selection of homes to visit usually contains as many different real estate agents as there are homes. It is our logistical task to book all agents on the same day and ensure that the visits run smoothly from one open door to the next.
Found a house, what now?
If you have the right feeling about the home, we will enter into negotiations for you. Sometimes, a house is so popular that there is little room for negotiation. Outbidding is an unknown phenomenon in France. You can bid on the price; This trumps all lower bids. The seller is obliged to accept your offer, provided no document, such as a Promesse de Vente, has been signed.
Are you ready?
Please get in touch with us at [email protected] for an initial conversation by telephone or Zoom. We would love to hear your plans and will do everything we can to help you as best as possible with your purchase of a house in the South of France!
*If you are looking for something ‘small but nice’ under 300,000, we charge a 2% commission for our guidance from A to Z.
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