Paris apartment hunter for a first-time expat couple

Found!Discover a research conducted jointly and rapidly by Marie Esmieu-Fournelet and Frédéric Girard, our apartment hunters specialized in Paris. Bruno and Nathalie are first-time buyers living in Tokyo: they have entrusted our Home Select experts with the task of organizing their return to France as best as possible, by tasking them with finding the apartment of their dreams.

What were Bruno and Nathalie's intentions?

Bruno and Nathalie currently live in Tokyo and plan to return to France during the month of September. To prepare for their return, they agreed to a week, in March, to find their apartment. Both first-time buyers, they benefit from a comfortable budget with a good contribution.

Why consider entrusting a search mandate to a real estate hunter?

Living abroad (more than 12 hours away by plane), they decided to call on an apartment hunter to benefit from his expertise and advice and thus make a wise purchase.

From what perspective did the couple contact HOME SELECT?

Coming from the Internet generation, Bruno and Nathalie had the instinct to do their research on the Internet: however, Home Select benefits from a good ranking — especially thanks to you, dear readers! — From the first contact, established with our real estate hunter, Frédéric Girard, the latter advised them to test our services over a week: “and you'll see! To try is to adopt us” !

Research mandate: how to define it? With what criteria?

Given the distance, the search criteria were constructed using Skype. From the start, Nathalie emphasized her fear of noise: the future apartment must therefore be located in a quiet environment. Then, the couple wanted a property of at least 90 m², bright, on the top floor of the building, with 2 bedrooms overlooking a courtyard or a low-traffic street, an office space (or extra bedroom), parquet floors, high ceilings, high ceilings, exposed beams... All for a budget of €1,250,000. It should be noted that although Bruno and Nathalie did not want work at the beginning, during the discussion with Frédéric, they did not completely close the door to this eventuality, provided that they were well advised in this field. In terms of the search area, their only criterion was to benefit from easy access to public transport, to quickly get to their offices, located near the Lyon train station.

How did two hunters work together to meet very short deadlines?

After studying this file, and taking into account the geographical coverage, our real estate hunter Frédéric Girard decided to be helped by a colleague, Marie Esmieu-Fournel. This help was all the more useful, as they only had one week to convince them! Our two professionals then divided the districts, since they covered from the 1st to the 8th, with part of the 9th, the North of the 16th, the 17th, on the Parc Monceau side and the 10th, on the Parc Monceau side and the 10th, on the Canal Saint Martin side. A week before the couple arrived, they started their search with some pre-visits, in order to be able to schedule appointments as soon as they arrived. The idea was that when one of the two hunters went on visits with Bruno and Nathalie, the other set up others for the next day. With this action plan in mind, Frédéric and Marie began their investigations, by looking at the results on the HS application, then by involving their contacts in the agencies, while stressing, with insistence, the qualities of the file: a guaranteed purchase in one week, accompanied by a good budget and motivated first-time buyers.

What experiences marked this period of research?

When they arrived, Frédéric made an initial visit to an apartment in the 5th arrondissement, which Bruno and Nathalie enjoyed a lot. Sold for 1.4 million euros, they took the time to think: unfortunately, in the meantime, the property sold out. After a short re-motivation session and numerous unsuccessful visits, Marie Esmieu-Fournel took them on another visit the following Wednesday, which would arouse their interest: located near the Champs-Elysées, the apartment was quiet, but required a lot of work. So they decide to make a much lower offer, to include them in their budget... While waiting for the owner's response, our two real estate hunters continued their investigations, aware of the weakness of their luck on this initiative.

How to react to an off-market opportunity?

On Thursday, a Home Select colleague tells them about an off-market property (belonging to a friend of a friend), which seems to offer excellent benefits. After a short exchange, Frédéric and Marie organize a visit, with their couple of buyers, for Friday afternoon. When they leave, Bruno and Nathalie are enthusiastic, but what should we do? They are still waiting for their first offer...

How could this exclusivity please the purchasers?

Located in the 10th arrondissement of Paris, near the Saint Martin Canal, the building is impeccable, with completely redone common areas. On the 4th floor, the 113 m² apartment has 3 bedrooms, overlooking either a mansion or a courtyard. It meets absolutely all the criteria of a couple, even more! Indeed, Nathalie, of German origin, wants to raise her children with a double language: a practice that will be facilitated by the French-German school, located nearby.

How was the sale completed?

Our two apartment hunters talk to the owner and manage to convince her to wait until Saturday noon, to officially put her property up for sale. In any case, she is not yet completely ready, since she lacks the photos and the diagnoses. In other words, they benefit from a small window of 3 to 4 days... At the end of the deadline and with no news of their first offer, the couple writes a proposal slightly below the displayed price, namely 1.120,000 million euros (instead of 1.150,000), immediately accepted by the owner! For the record, the latter was expatriating to a Nordic country and needed this sale, to serve as a contribution to her next acquisition...

How did HOME SELECT advise the couple for the work?

As a former architect, Frédéric Girard was able to advise Bruno and Nathalie well on their development needs. Our apartment hunter even accompanied their interior designer, to draw up the surveys and give the structural details of their property.

Real estate hunters happy to feel useful

Our apartment hunters particularly appreciated Bruno and Nathalie's politeness, attentiveness and motivation. With them, they really felt like they were being used for something!

Full support appreciated by purchasers

Completely reassured about their acquisition, Bruno and Nathalie were able to take their plane back to Tokyo, with the assurance of an apartment, in which they could plan and organize their return. While maintaining competent and professional contacts on site, to meet the various needs: Marie found a notary for them, Frédéric told them the name of the HS broker, to build their loan and advised them on the desired transformations. A total support, which they are very happy with and which contributes to not regretting having requested the skills of Home Select!