Are you dreaming of a stone vigneron's cottage in Burgundy, a Provençal mas, or a half-timbered townhouse in Alsace, window boxes dripping with geraniums? Time to get moving on your plan. But like everything else in France, the process will be an experience.
Americans often ask me: can anybody buy a house in France? The answer is yes, anyone can, and you can stay as long as you like, if you have the proper visa. To get that you’ll need to show them that you have adequate income without needing to work (getting a work visa in France is a whole other story).
Entire books have been written on the subject of French house buying (see below), so I can only make a dent in the topic here. If you’re puzzling over which region is best, see my previous post, Where Would YOU move to in France?. Otherwise, read on. Photo: Where will your search take you? Above, a village in the Jura.
Today we shall learn about only one aspect of this process: the curious way that real estate agents operate. We find it inefficient and illogical, but try to tell the French that and you will only get the famous Gallic Shrug.
In the States of course we have the Multiple Listing Service; any realtor can show you everything on the market. Or you can shop online.
There is no MLS in France; realtors don’t share and are very protective of their listings. Their mission seems to be to keep you from finding houses for sale. Those pictures of houses in the real estate windows? Often they picture the back of the house. They will typically not have an address, a village name, nor will most agents give out that info. They must take you there themselves. And “Maison à Vendre” signs are rarely posted in France. At right, a provençal mas, or farmhouse.
This becomes particularly inconvenient in the countryside. For a country home search, you will most likely be looking over a wide area; we had a radius that might take an hour to drive (since there are so few houses for sale, it’s useless to try and narrow your search to a particular village). So here’s what happens: you go to one realtor, maybe you look at four houses, it takes you the better part of a day to drive all around and see them. The next day you go to a different agence immoblière, and you drive around the SAME area and see 4 more houses–and some might be in the very same village as those of the previous day! Repeat, with all other agencies in the region. So what might have taken a day has now taken you a week or more. The good news: you will get to see ALL the area and to know it very well!
You can look online, but of course the listings will just tell you just a general area the house is in, to assure that you can’t locate it on your own. To complicate things, a house may be listed with two or more realtors—with different prices for the same house!
The only solution is to go with the French flow, and enjoy those drives around the beautiful countryside while practicing your French on the agents. And once you’ve found a house you like, the process of buying is pretty straightforward. Photo left, half-timbered houses in the Alsace.
Last bit of advice: follow that dream and just do it! Now, fellow expats: any house hunting experiences to share?
In the COMMENTS: Virginia, you cracked me up, talking about the pimento cheese! I will cheat with the onion as well. Hampton is nostalgic over the little Kraft jars it came in, remember those? Colleen, love the Broncos color theme idea. Mary-James is grilling pimento cheese sandwiches, which I've never thought of doing.
Meanwhile, comments are still coming in from the post of a couple of weeks ago, Reflections from the Middle of the Pond. Kris notes that her bilingual kids speak English louder than French—fascinating! Are the French quieter because their language lends itself to that?
Favorite Reads: Speaking of Charleston mystery series (as we talked about last week), loyal reader Hampton recommends another one, the Charleston Tea Shop mysteries series, by Laura Childs. Try the first one, Death by Darjeeling (A Tea Shop Mystery)
14 thoughts on “How to Buy a French House”
For anyone wanting up to date information on taxation, house-buying and general information the Newsletter of French Property.com is extremely useful.
The Useful Links on Survive France Network are also helpful.
Also, many French buy their houses privately, so have a look at Le Bon Coin for the area in which you are interested and you will find houses which are not listed at the agents, and cheaper.
Yes, this describes our experience of over 5 years of searching in La Charente pretty well. Also, after a while, we got a lot more specific about what we wanted…vague ideas lead real estate agents astray and you can be brought to see wholly unsuitable properties.but it can take a while to figure out what IS suitable! I found that after we knew the types of houses available in the area we wanted, it became much easier to see online what was a possibility and what wasn’t. Be specific…if you don’t want to be isolated or live on a busy road, etc, make your wishes known from the start and you will be less likely to be taken to see properties that are not a good fit. There is actually an awful lot for sale these days, at least in our area, and prices are still falling. And don’t fall for the myth that the French will be insulted by a low, but reasonable, offer. Finally, make sure the roofs are good or if not, be very well off!
Sounds like the system in Italy. But here, a lot of houses aren’t listed with ANY agency, in order to avoid agency fees. it is all word of mouth. We found our house by asking at the local coffee bar, and after many complications and a lot of reluctance, we were shown a house. Which we bought!
I worked in real estate sales in Nice, so would like to comment that there is indeed an MLS in France but agencies can opt out of being on it. I sold many apartments through the MLS listings of participating agencies. Bon weekend!
My husband and I had been talking for years of buying an apartment in Dijon because he worked there for extended periods. He was tired of trying to coordinate apartment rentals and open time in his schedule and his French colleague’s schedule. A couple of summers ago while we were over there he started thinking that now was the time to buy. He would have a year’s research sabbatical coming up and didn’t want to mess with making rental arrangements every time he wanted to fly to France. With about two weeks before we left the country we had a friend hook us up with her agent friend. Since we had no preparation for this entire process (totally spur of the moment) we had only two criteria – historic centre ville and lots of light because these medieval/Renaissance apartments can be dark. We looked at one Hausmann apartment and were on the fence. The second apartment had windows on three sides and was completely updated with an American-size bathroom. We were sold even though we still had not a clue about how to buy property in France.
The whole process of being a second home-owner in France is so confusing. We’re still learning all the ins and outs of being a co-proprietere in an apartment building and the French tax system. Remember, one day we said we should buy an apartment and the next day we had done it. However, when the sun streams through the 10-ft windows of the living room or the stained glass on our enclosed balcony, life is good. I don’t even mind carrying my shopping up the winding staircase to the deuxieme etage.
The one thing that I didn’t like about the process was that when we looked at the apartments, the owners were there. I like to be able to speak freely about all my concerns when house hunting. I don’t know if this is standard. One thing that made us able to decide so quickly, though, is because we had rented several apartments in town before, so we had a realistic idea about what a French apartment offered. We weren’t looking for something just like we’d find in America.
I enjoyed reading the experiences of those who bought properties in France. I have noticed also that several websites will have the same house listed with different prices. I don’t know if I will ever have a home in France, but it has been wonderful entertaining the idea. For now, I feel fortunate to arrange some long rentals. Lynn, are you back in France now?
We go to France every year to visit French friends who are practically family. It’s becoming clear that we need to have a place of our own near them so we can stay for a longer time. As one of our friends is a very successful notaire who would be happy to help us. We could purchase property with less fuss than many Americans. Nevertheless, we’ve decided to rent rather than buy. We are blessed with the ability to feel at home in any fairly decent, well located dwelling. When the water heater breaks–it’s not our problem. We can close the door when we leave and not worry about floods or break ins. We’ve run the numbers and it’s cheaper to rent if you aren’t afflicted with “pride of ownership”.
One thing that many non French house buyers aren’t aware of is French inheritance laws. You can’t leave your house and property to anyone you like, althought you’re free to will your money or your possessions to whomesoever you like. Any land or property, under French law has to be divided equally amongst any children. There’s no way out of this short of selling up before you die, renting accomodation and putting the money in the bank. This shouldn’t stop you buying a house in France but you you should be aware.
Thank you,Lynn,for a post that is not only informative but entertaining as well.(Beautiful pictures!)
Many years ago when we lived in Paris,we were contemplating such a purchase,and being used to real estate transactions in the US,became more than a little frustrated by the way things work in France.
As it turned out,because of our jobs,we were transferred to Montreal
and nothing ever came of it.
Reading your blog today brought back many memories which now are really humorous(despite how they were then!),and a part of our lives which we cherish more with each passing day.
You always find ways to keep your SFF readers both included and recalling their own experiences!What a pleasure!
I wish……..
Lynn- Thanks for the great info. We are planning a scouting trip to France this summer, so I went back and read the Where would you move to in France post of 3/10/11. My wife and I both speak a fair amount of french and one of our personal criteria would be to live in an area that would allow us to attain the “next level”. Would you or your readers kindly comment on the different dialects/accents and difficulty thereof in certain regions. We have been told that southern areas are more difficult due to the occitan accent. I do not recall if there was anything about this topic in your book. Merci en avance.
Hi Ken,
Good question, and I hope some of our other readers will weigh in on this too. I personally find that the accents can be different, but not so different that it’s an issue. After a few days in the south I get used to the ‘angue’ ending they tend to tack on everything, and then I’m fine. I would not worry about that as a criteria. What I would worry about, if tuning up your French is a problem, is buying in an area that is overrun with expats! And they do exist, esp. in the southwest, I’ve heard. I’ve also heard, by the way, that the Burgundy accent is the most neutral or pure, the best accent for radio or TV folks, for example. But that may just be the Burgundians telling me that! Best of luck with the search, very exciting.
Lynn….I do love reading your blogs or notes and responses. I am amazed at how you touch a chord with so many people. So interesting! Keep up the good work. Love.. mickeymr@att.net.
I’m so late here to comment Lynn but I must say this is so informative even if a person wasn’t in the French market to buy a home. I thought real estate buying in the US was frustrating but this is a bit much. I think living in France will continue to be in my dreams. Reality isn’t as much fun! You always make me smile when I see my name here with your posts. X