Second home
Buying a Paris pied-à-terre from elsewhere in France, from London, Geneva or New York calls for a trusted pair of hands on the ground. Since 2011, Home Select has run the entire search remotely: pre-viewings, live video tours, detailed reports. Home Select finds the property in 45 days on average, negotiates 6% off the asking price and keeps it to three viewings, of which only one on site is usually needed.
Your search
Whether you live in Bordeaux, Geneva or Singapore, buying a Paris pied-à-terre should be steerable from a distance, with the same depth of analysis as a local search. Your hunter becomes your eyes and ears in Paris: viewing, filming, writing, negotiating. You make the decisions.
Your hunter pre-views every serious flat alone. The shortlisted ones are then walked through live over FaceTime or WhatsApp, with detailed coverage of the light, the noise, the view from each window, the ceiling height and the condition of the floors.
A full file on every flat: 30 to 50 high-definition photos, a two- to three-minute video, an annotated floor plan, detailed service charges, an analysis of the co-ownership and a study of the neighbourhood (shops, transport, noise). Readable in 10 minutes.
You only need to come to Paris once: for the final viewing of your chosen flat and the signing of the preliminary contract. Home Select coordinates your diary with the seller's and the notary's so the trip lasts no more than 24 to 48 hours.
One trip A single trip to Paris is usually enough for a buyer based outside the Paris region.
The Home Select method
Home Select has honed this method since 2011 on several hundred clients based elsewhere in France or abroad.
An hour-long first meeting by video sets the target arrondissements (the Marais, Saint-Germain and Saint-Honoré are the classic pied-à-terre choices), the total budget including fees and furnishings, and any constraints around parking, concierge or access. The mandate is signed remotely.
A weekly shortlist of pre-selected flats lands in your inbox. For each one, your hunter writes a file after their pre-viewing. You read at your own pace and flag the ones worth a live video tour.
Live FaceTime or WhatsApp tours at a time that suits you, time zones included. Your hunter films each room, opens the windows, tests the taps, opens the cupboards and measures the ceiling height. You ask your questions in real time.
When a flat earns the unanimous nod remotely, you come over for the final viewing, ideally with the preliminary contract signed 48 hours later. Your hunter arranges everything: the viewing, the notary, a hotel if needed.
Completion at the notary's office can also be done by video, using a notarised power of attorney, if you cannot return. Home Select coordinates the notary and the handover of the keys, and puts you in touch with its partners if you want to fit the flat out (kitchen fitters, upholsterers, concierge services).
Comparison
Home Select has observed these averages across 1,200 completed searches in Paris since 2011.
They bought remotely
As I do not live in Paris, Sophie viewed several properties for me, each time sending me a very detailed video. I made only one trip, and that was to view the property I bought!
Based outside Paris, I found the support for my apartment search met my expectations: attentiveness, responsiveness, availability, and all without any pressure.
Ms Sophie Rivière handled my search for an apartment in Paris while I was away. […] She then ensured perfect follow-up and gave me valuable advice, from the offer to the final signature.
Frequently asked
Yes; that is how a good share of Home Select's French regional and overseas clients buy. A final viewing in person is still wise to confirm the feel of the place, but it can be done in a single 24- to 48-hour trip, paired with the signing of the preliminary contract. Completion itself can then be handled remotely through a notarised power of attorney.
The classics are the 1st, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th, for their central position, their architecture and their easy access from the mainline stations. The 16th, the 17th and parts of the 9th offer a better balance of price and quiet. The right choice depends on how you intend to use it (weekends, business stays, housing a student child), how you travel (TGV, plane) and your budget.
In Paris, short-term Airbnb-style letting of a second home is heavily regulated. It requires a change-of-use authorisation, with a costly form of compensation (buying commercial premises and converting them into housing). In practice it is rarely viable. Letting your main home is still permitted up to 90 nights a year (the Le Meur law, in force since 2025), but that allowance does not apply to pieds-à-terre. A Paris pied-à-terre is therefore chosen for your own use and your family's.
Home Select holds its 45-day average between signing the mandate and the preliminary contract with remote buyers too. Add roughly 90 days between the preliminary contract and completion (a cash purchase can shorten this). All in: four to five months from mandate to keys.
Home Select, a property hunter in Paris, works with partner concierge services and managing agents who handle regular upkeep (cleaning, parcel collection, dealing with tradespeople in the event of a leak or breakdown). Home Select makes introductions after the purchase, depending on your profile.
For a ready-to-live-in pied-à-terre, allow €15,000 to €50,000 depending on size and finish. For bespoke work, Home Select's partner kitchen fitters, upholsterers and interior designers work at negotiated rates. It can all be organised remotely, with each decision signed off over video.
Home Select also searches in the French regions, with the same method and the same fees: a house in Deauville or Biarritz, a chalet in Megève, a villa near Saint-Tropez. Each town has its page on Home Select France, the Home Select website for second homes in France.
Home Select finds for you
Pre-viewings, live video tours, detailed reports. All handled remotely: a single trip to Paris is enough.
Describe your search
