Provence & French Riviera real estate investment - The stages

A real estate purchase in Côte d’Azur is an important investment which required good guidance. Whether you look for an apartment in Cannes, a studio in Nice, a house in Issambres or a villa in Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, Engel & Völkers is the real estate expert in Côte d’Azur and guides you through your real estate purchase. Find your dream property through our selection of prestigious real estate in Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur

Discover which steps you should follow to make a successful investment in real estate and read some information that will help you save time and avoid possible traps.

Which location to choose for my real estate investment?

To identify the location for your future real estate investment in Provence and Côte d’Azur, several criteria must be considered. First of all, the type of property can vary if you plan an investment to let, or if you decide to buy a vacation house or your main residence. Other criteria are also important, such as your budget, the distance from your workplace (depending on your professional activity), accessibility (nearby roads and public transport), type of neighborhood (based on your lifestyle), nearby stores, distance from nearby schools (if you have children), etc.

The type of property you decide to buy (studio, 2-bedroom, family apartment, house, villa, etc.) and its features (terrace, balcony, garden, modern or traditional design, etc.) will impact your neighborhood choice for investment.
Each town has specific characteristics which you need to consider when buying a property in Provence and Côte d’Azur. Moreover, attractivity and, therefore, sale prices significantly vary depending on the neighborhood.

Real estate agent, your best council for a wise real estate investment

You probably already thought that when you decide to buy a house or an apartment in Côte d’Azur, you probably won’t call a real estate agency. In that case, you’re one of 30% of buyers who buy each year between individuals or 13% of those who go through other channels (family, friends, notary, etc.).

But if you decide turning to a real estate agent, like 70% of investors in France do, you’ll benefit from professional follow-up and support in the area where you want to buy your property.

Your real estate agent will handle the research for you, and their expertise on the local market enables them to offer you properties adapted to your criteria.

They will also warn you of potential work to be planned in the home or neighborhood that you selected. They will handle legal aspects around your property purchase. They will give you relevant and detailed information about the apartment or house that you intend to buy: potential renovations, energy diagnosis, possible hidden flaws, etc. They will guarantee that price negotiation goes well, as it’s the most important part of the real estate purchase cycle.

Purchase offer on your dream house or apartment – Tips 

You found a property in Côte d’Azur in which you would like to invest. Now, you need to make a purchase offer, which can be informal (no commitment) or written, which is binding and unconditional.

You need to make sure that you included the expiry date. It will send the message that your offer is serious. If the seller refuses your offer, you’re free of any commitment. On the other hand, if they accept, you have to sign a sales agreement.

Real estate purchase Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur – Signing the sales agreement

To draw up a sales agreement, the buyer and the seller can choose the same notary, or each have one of their own. As a buyer, the notary will offer you to send a down payment (via transfer) equaling 10% of the property price. There is a 7-day withdrawal period following the sales agreement signature.

Obligations for the seller of a property

The seller has to carry out some technical checks, such as : 

- energy performance diagnosis

- asbestos technical diagnosis

- lead exposure risk contract

- technological risk condition

- radon gas diagnosis

- certificate of non-collective sewage treatment facility control

- dry rot technical diagnosis

- parasite control report (termite or other)

- inside gas and electricity facility condition (more than 15 years)

Moreover, the seller has to provide a lot of information to the buyer:

- condominium rules;

- building maintenance report;

- condominium meeting minutes for the last three years preceding the public instrument signature;

- footage according to Carrez law;

- documentation on the condominium and the seller’s financial situation (running costs of the forecast budget);

- costs paid by the seller over the last 2 months;

- condominium summary sheet (awaiting the order which will set its content);

- information notice related to the rights and obligations of the joint owners;

- multi-year work plan.

When all of these documents are provided, the sales agreement can be signed.

Real estate purchase Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur – Select a real estate loan

Gather information from different banks as they often have different terms and conditions for loans. Moreover, it’s always interesting to put banks in competition to get the best interest rate.

You might also be advised (by your notary or your real estate agent) to include a ‘suspensive term’ in the sales agreement which gives you the right to get back your 10%-down payment from your notary in case one or several banks refuse a loan after the agreement has been signed. 

The buyer then has minimum 30 days to move forward in their procedures with the bank. If their loan request is accepted, there is a mandatory 10-day period for the bank to accept the loan offer.

Purchase public instrument

Your purchase request is complete. The buyer receives an invitation to meet with their notary, the seller, the seller’s notary, and the real estate agent. The seller hands the keys to the buyer when the document has been read, in exchange to the full payment of the purchase price to the notary.