A high-potential 3-room in the 10th: buying below market through renovation

A thirty-something couple bought a 58 m² 3-room flat in need of full renovation near the Canal Saint-Martin, Paris 10th, for 430,000 euros. Catherine Ziegler, property hunter at Home Select, saw the flat’s potential, costed the works at 70,000 euros and negotiated the price from 475,000 down to 430,000 euros, a 9.5% reduction. Once renovated, the flat is valued at 580,000 euros.

Mission details

• Property hunter: Catherine Ziegler
• Area: Paris 10th, Canal Saint-Martin / Jacques Bonsergent
• Property type: 3-room, 58 m², 2nd floor without elevator
• Initial budget: 550,000 euros (purchase + renovation)
• Listed price: 475,000 euros
• Negotiated price: 430,000 euros (-9.5%)
• Actual renovation budget: 70,000 euros (1,207 euros/m²)
• Total cost: 500,000 euros (purchase + renovation, excluding notary fees)
• Estimated post-renovation value: 580,000 euros
• Search duration: 8 weeks
• Buyer profile: thirty-something couple, second purchase

Why did this couple choose to buy a renovation project near the Canal Saint-Martin?

Because at 550,000 euros including works, a flat in perfect condition would have confined them to outlying neighbourhoods. They took the opposite tack: buy a flat to renovate in a sought-after area and create value through the works.

The thirty-something couple were selling their 2-room in the 19th arrondissement and looking for a 3-room for the first child on the way.

The 10th, around the Canal Saint-Martin, was their first choice. Renovated 3-rooms there were trading around 10,000 euros/m², above the 10th arrondissement median price of 9,400 euros/m² and beyond their budget as things stood. But unrenovated flats, often passed over by buyers in a hurry, were selling at discounts of 15 to 25%.

How do you spot a high-potential renovation flat in the 10th?

Through a technical assessment at every viewing: the state of load-bearing walls (whether rooms could be reconfigured), wear in the plumbing and wiring, the quality of parquet beneath the floor coverings, and the scope for more light once partitions came down. Catherine Ziegler took this approach, tailored to renovation properties, from day one of the search.

Catherine works with a network of partner contractors who provide quick preliminary estimates, sometimes within 48 hours, so an offer can be made with figures behind it before the flat sells.

The search targeted flats in original 1970s-to-1980s condition, with boxed-in rooms and dated layouts. These hold the most potential: opened up and renovated, they gain light and value.

Which 58 m² flat was found, and what did the works come to?

A 3-room on the 2nd floor of a 1900 building with no lift, 3 minutes from the Canal Saint-Martin, whose full renovation a partner contractor costed at 70,000 euros within 48 hours. The flat had not been touched in thirty years: a closed-off 1990s kitchen, a worn-out bathroom, carpet over the floor (period parquet beneath), and plasterboard partitions that had created a dark corridor and a tiny 7 m² bedroom.

The potential, though, was plain: load-bearing walls only around the perimeter (a free hand on the layout), salvageable old oak parquet under the carpet, two street-facing windows and a 2.85-metre ceiling height.

The estimate covered a full renovation: reconfiguring into 2 proper bedrooms plus an open-plan kitchen and living area, a complete electrical and plumbing overhaul, a new bathroom and sanding the parquet.

How much did the F energy rating and 70,000 euros of works take off the price?

45,000 euros, or 9.5%: the price went from 475,000 euros (8,190 euros/m²) to 430,000 euros (7,414 euros/m²) after two rounds. The opening offer of 420,000 euros rested on three things: the 70,000 euro renovation estimate, DVF comparables for unrenovated flats in the area (7,200 to 7,800 euros/m²), and the flat’s F-rated energy performance certificate, a future regulatory constraint.

The renovated market price near the Canal Saint-Martin was around 10,000 euros/m², putting the post-renovation value at roughly 580,000 euros. The deal therefore stacked up if the purchase price fell far enough.

In summary: purchase 430,000 euros plus renovation 70,000 euros, a total of 500,000 euros excluding notary fees. Estimated post-renovation value: 580,000 euros. A gross value creation of 80,000 euros.

What does a renovation purchase creating 80,000 euros of value teach?

Buying to renovate is a powerful way to build wealth in Paris. Here, 430,000 euros of purchase plus 70,000 euros of works produce a flat valued at 580,000 euros, 80,000 euros of gross value created. The price gap between an unrenovated flat and a renovated one in the same neighbourhood can reach 20 to 25%. When the cost of the works comes in below that discount, the buyer creates value from day one. It is a strategy our hunters know well, with a contractor network that supplies quick estimates before an offer goes in.

The 10th rewards buyers with nerve. The Canal Saint-Martin is one of the liveliest parts of Paris, with steady appreciation over ten years. But renovated flats there are dear and scarce. Unrenovated ones, overlooked by buyers who cannot judge the work involved, are the best value in the 10th arrondissement.

Technical judgement is what separates a property hunter from a mere finder. An estate agent sells what is there. A property hunter sees what could be there. The ability to picture a renovated flat in a run-down one, and to put a price on that projection, is expertise only an experienced professional brings.

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