How to Find a House to Buy in France

After the heartbreak of a failed purchase right around Thanksgiving, Ralph and I took a little break from househunting for the holidays. In reality, it lasted about all of two weeks! And now as we embark on our third trip, I figured I’d start writing a bit more about the process since I’ve had a lot of questions about it from friends and family on Facebook. Please bear in mind I don’t know everything there is to know. I am just plodding along, learning as I go. Househunting in France is completely different than in the US. So even though I’ve bought and sold quite a few houses in my lifetime, the learning curve was steep!

There are two main reasons: 1 – there isn’t a Multiple Listing Service (MLS) in France, and 2 – buyer’s agents don’t exist.

A few websites like Green Acres and Belles Demeures aggregate properties from various immobiliers (real estate agencies), but there is no single site where you can view all the homes for sale. Some of these aggregators, like Le Figaro Properties or Espace Atypique, cater to luxury clients. Others, like Leggett Immobilier, cater to English speakers. And then there are the agencies that focus on a particular region, like Bordeaux & Beyond. It took me a while to figure out which sites had inventories most suitable to my needs. Now, whenever the mood strikes me, I check 4 to 5 of my favorite sites to see what’s new. Where possible, I’ve set up daily queries that email me new listings that meet my specifications to save time.

That leads me to expand on my second point – the “buyer’s agent” you might be familiar with from the US is a special service here, and the service is not free. One of the most famous is Adrian Leeds, whom you might have seen on House Hunters International. These agents typically work in a certain region and will have access to information on houses that may not have even hit the market yet, so if you know where you’re heading and don’t have time to do the research and multiple visits, it could be a worthwhile option. It can also be an expensive option, so I decided to do the legwork myself!

Here’s my process:

Once I find a house I like, I email the realtor for more information. Typically my questions are about location – How walkable is the property to shops and restaurants? Where is the nearest train station? Sometimes I hear back from the agent, and sometimes I don’t. Other times, they’ll ask me more questions about my “project” to see if any other homes in their inventory might be a fit. I drafted a list of our wants, needs, and specifications to save time answering these requests.

Here’s my list:

House of at least 200 m2 (approximately 2,150 sq feet)
Garden of at least 500 m2
3+ bedrooms
Period features (stone, tiles, wood floors, working fireplaces)
High ceilings and good natural light
Walkable to shops and restaurants
Within 1 hour of an airport
BONUS: outbuildings, pool, guest quarters, walkable to a train station

It is also helpful to mention if you are buying with cash. As a cash buyer, you’re much more likely to get an enthusiastic response, because mortgages are hard to get if you are a foreigner without French income!

If the house is a contender, I’ll set up a visit. Then I try to find several other possibilities in the same region with a targeted search. At this point, I start making a spreadsheet of properties to visit. Once I have a few homes on the list, I begin building an itinerary, which involves a lot of time mapping out the driving distance from house to house. This can be harder than you might imagine. Sometimes you can’t get the realtor to tell you the address of a property, let alone the town! The listing might include a phrase like “in a charming historical village near Laon.” And that’s it. You’ll find out where it is a day or two before. But I can often find a property using satellite imagery on Google Maps because I’m a ninja like that!

I was shocked by this until I realized two things. Sellers don’t have to work exclusively with one agent and are not obligated to sell through one of their realtors. This means they can cut their realtors out completely to make a private sale if someone approaches them directly. So for realtors, sharing the address is taking a chance that a seller will leave you high and dry after you put in the effort of marketing the property for them. The sales commission is typically around 5% of the purchase price, so it can add up.

That’s why you’ll also find many people selling their homes on Facebook. In fact, on my first househunting trip, 3 of the 4 homes were through private sellers. It’s such a different experience than walking through with a realtor. You hear people’s stories – their triumphs, their trials – and then you have to either negotiate with them to buy the house or politely decline. Sometimes the sellers are relocating for work, but other times, they may be going through a divorce or facing health issues. It can be an emotional experience, but also quite magical.

Memories like eating the best pizza with a lively British couple in a small bastide town have made this work rewarding. And it IS work. It takes a lot of time to review listings, learn the lingo, and find the patterns that help you rapidly assess if a house is worth a look. I thought about outsourcing it, but I’m glad I didn’t. I feel much more informed and invested in the process.

Plus, it’s given Ralph and I (and sometimes friends!) the opportunity to travel from place to place, enjoying the journey as we learn more about France. Because it’s not just about the house – you have to figure out which region suits you the best, too. Like this dreary weekend in January, we found ourselves in Villers-Cotterêts, less than an hour from Paris by train. Very convenient for air travel, but is this the climate we want? Or the vibe we want? Being there in person gives us many more data points to discuss and analyze.

But it’s not all about the analysis! During these trips, we intentionally carve out time to explore the local sites. Today, we visited La Cité internationale de la langue Française. It’s a brand new museum of the French language in a stunningly renovated palace bringing loads of tourists to the town. There were so many creative exhibits and my linguist self loved it. My favorite was one where you answered questions and a “magic librarian” recommended a book based on your answers. Very cool indeed, and a nice experience to break up the househunting. We also stopped by the Pierrefonds castle which is worth a visit if you’re ever nearby!