Paris 16 apartment hunter - Personalized and effective search

Found!

Our HOME SELECT apartment hunter Catherine Ziegler put her skills at the service of a couple, eager to find a property quickly, in an extremely limited research sector. Under his professional guidance and depending on the availability of Jim, their stepson, responsible for making the visits for them, they will manage to move on time. Better still, they will do it in a comfortable, completely renovated apartment, located less than 100 meters from their previous home, so that they do not have to change their habits!

What is Bob and Linda's real estate project?

Coming from a multicultural family with international branches, Bob and Linda have several places of residence in the world, but live at least 6 months a year in Paris, a city they particularly love. As a result, only Bob masters the French language. With age, the couple decided to sell their large 280 m² apartment, in favor of a smaller one in Paris. Surprised by a quick sale, they only have 3 months left to find the property they were looking for. Not very mobile, they rely on the good care of their stepson, Jim, to carry out this real estate project and carry out the visits for them.

Why does Jim choose HOME SELECT apartment hunter?

Living in the United States, Jim is a businessman who heads several investment funds, married to a woman (Bob and Linda's daughter) who is overworked. On the Internet, he discovered the HOME SELECT network and decided to ask for it, in order to quickly find the apartment of his in-laws.

Upon receiving the form, Jean Mascla asked Catherine Ziegler, who was fluent in English, to take care of the file. Beyond her appetite for real estate searches for expatriates, it turns out that she is available to try to complete this project, and in the allotted time.

What are the couple's search criteria?

Even though the property is intended for his in-laws, Jim is in charge of the transactions with Catherine. With him, they establish the specifications: with a surface area of 120 to 130 m², the apartment must have 2 to 3 bedrooms, with a high ceiling. Ideally, the couple wants to acquire a property in 1^Er floor, while being bright and without work, in an old building.

Since Bob, of very tall stature, moves with a walker, the lift must be spacious enough to accommodate 3 to 4 people. In other words, it cannot be the typical Parisian elevator, with its railings. More generally, the property must be accessible — without thresholds and without steps, from the street to the entrance of the apartment. A real difficulty, when you search in the old.

In terms of location, Bob and Linda want to stay in their sector, so as not to change their lifestyle: therefore, the search is limited to Victor Hugo Square and its immediate surroundings. Otherwise, it is possible to consider 16^E South arrondissement, up to Auteuil and the 17^E.

On the budget side, the envelope is a bit fair, but it is payable in cash (the fruit of the sale) — which is sure to weigh on the negotiations. Not to mention that it can be slightly enhanced for a crush...

How is our apartment hunter organized?

Catherine Ziegler is well aware of the specificities of real estate searches for expatriates: our apartment hunter will organize all visits around Jim's arrival in Paris. On his two stays of one week, spaced 15 days apart, it was then decided that he would reserve 2 days per week for visits. The ideal being that, at the end of his two visits to Paris, Jim found Bob and Linda's apartment, with a validated offer.

A few days before Jim arrives, Catherine Ziegler sends him a selection of available apartments: together, they sort out and make a list of those that deserve a physical visit. Naturally, this picture kept changing with the sales made and the arrival of new goods...

How did the first 2 days of my visit with Jim go?

For the first visit session with Jim, Catherine managed to schedule 7 appointments of 15 to 30 minutes in a single afternoon. The whole thing is cleverly orchestrated by our real estate hunter, so that everything fits together geographically well. Unfortunately, this first round did not lead to a crush. Catherine did not make pre-visits, because Jim did not consider them relevant: sometimes, apartments advertised as being easy to access were finally not...

The next day, there are only 3 properties left to visit, since 2 were sold the day before. Among them, an apartment is very promising. Located a stone's throw from Place Victor Hugo, it is accessible since it has no steps, but it is sold more expensive than the market price. Jim asks Bob and Linda to come see him: while they generally like this bright property, the small kitchen, with its furniture that is too tall, can affect Bob's mobility. They still decide to make a negotiated offer, with a validity period of 48 hours. The apartment will end up leaving at the price the next day. After the disappointment, Jim reaffirms his desire to find a property at a consistent and reasonable price — which was not the case here.

How did the second series of visits take place?

A few days before Jim's second stay in Paris, Catherine updated her visit chart, taking into account a limited location at Place Victor Hugo. Indeed, Bob and Linda do not want to go to the 17^E district or towards Auteuil.

For this resumption of visits, our real estate hunter managed to schedule 4 appointments. Although Catherine did not carry out pre-visits, she did her best to check the accessibility of the goods, to limit unnecessary trips. At the heart of these discoveries, a real crush...

What is the description of the property found?

In the space of 15 days, a new property, located on the first floor, arrived on the market: although the price is a bit high, everything was beautifully redone by an architect: all the partitions that could be removed have been removed and the ceiling is 3.40 meters high. As a result, from the entrance, it is a large open room of 40 m², which is open to the eyes, with a crossing dining room of 20 m².

The back of the apartment overlooks a garden full of flowers (which can be seen from the brand new kitchen!). The other side overlooks a one-way side street, a source of little traffic and little noise. The icing on the cake is that it is located 100 meters from their former apartment!

How did the negotiation go?

The only downside is that the owner of the apartment wants a long sale. With this in mind, they deliberately chose to offer it a bit more expensive. So Catherine spoke with the real estate agent to discuss this issue with him: timing is essential for Jim, Bob and Linda!

So he went to plead their case to his customers by praising the prospect of a great offer... Indeed, while Jim remained firm on the consistency of the price, he formulated a small negotiation — which remained a very good sale for the owners — especially for a property on the first floor (which can take several months or years to sell outside the rates...) After accepting the terms, Bob and Linda come, the next day, to visit the well and validate their interest.

At the same time, the owners realize that they will have to go through an intermediate rental since their new acquisition, requiring work, will not be ready on time. Now, having given up on a long (or even normal) sale, they propose to go faster and go directly to the authentic act, since payment is made in cash. Thanks to this unexpected boost, Bob and Linda have the keys quickly and can easily orchestrate their move.

“Organization, the key to a real estate search for expatriates”

Catherine likes to work with expatriates, because she appreciates the extreme rigor that is required to carry out their real estate search successfully. It is organized around a table, which continues to evolve over the days and hours. Appointments must be constantly reconfirmed and every detail checked so that everything remains smooth and professional on visiting days.

“Bob and Linda are thrilled! ”

Bob and Linda are absolutely thrilled with Catherine and Jim's work: the couple maintains all their lifestyle habits and improves their comfort, with a much more modern apartment than the previous one! All in less than 3 months — which allowed them to move more peacefully.