Tips on Buying a House in Provence

Buying a house is Provence is relatively straight forward. However, you do sometimes hear horror stories. Robin recently had a client that overpaid twice the worth of their house. The villagers told him that Accro metal poles were holding up the ceiling before they came to look at the house. Ah! 

When buying a house in Provence, there are some things that you should take into consideration. This is in no way a complete guide to buying a house here. Instead, these are some tips from our experience, and Robin’s experience as a project manager, for older properties in the countryside here in Provence. 

Deciding Where to Buy

Location, Location, Location

I have had a few people contact me asking where to buy a house in Provence. Well, I feel like that’s like asking “how long is a piece of string?” Everyone is different. Your choice depends on your budget, of course, but on so many other factors as well. If you’re thinking of buying a fixer-upper in the countryside you’ll have to do your research. The only way to do that is in person. Rent somewhere for a couple months, or travel around for a few months! Each village has a different “feel” here. You’ll have to decide the one that’s right for you. If you have a specific question, feel free to reach out. 

Looking for Houses 

Finding a house to buy in Provence was actually the trickiest part for us. If you’re not looking for a luxury home, real estate agents here, in our experience, basically just told us to look online. What can I say, the French aren’t known for their customer service. 

We spent hours scrolling through websites looking for properties. This is often entertaining as it seems like from the photos that some people would rather not sell their houses. Ha! We visited houses on the brink of falling down, with mud and straw the only assurance between the roof falling on your head. We visited old farmhouses that had been divided so oddly between the children that one room was for sale on the bottom floor, and then you had to go up an outdoor staircase to the opposite side of the house to get to the kitchen. Part of the difficulty, other than the sometimes odd division of old houses, is that there are so many real estate agencies. Each local agency only showcases their listings. Your best bet is to go onto a national real estate website or platform and search for your desired location there. This will lead you to a wider range of choices with local agents. Here are some examples (these are, of course, all French websites):

Seloger, Logic-immo, Paruvendu, Pap (De particulier à particulier’s/private owners), Century21, Orpi, Immobilier-France 

Le Bon Coin

If you’re ready to do the work yourself, Le Bon Coin is an excellent choice. Local agents as well as private owners advertise their properties on this website which is the equivalent to Gumtree, Kajiji or Craigslist. We found our house in Maussane through a local agency on Le Bon Coin and sold it to buyers that found it on Le Bon Coin. Our current house we found directly on a notaries’ website.

Specialised Agencies for Foreigners

There are many businesses here in Provence that can help you find your dream home here. If you have the budget this will save you a lot of searching! If you are one of such agencies, feel free to post your website info in the comments below.

Things to take into consideration

Don’t take technical advice from an agent.

For example, an agent may be able to quote what they think updating the electrical norms in the house may be. But the quote may be for one socket per room vs six. You can ask for quotes from builders or a project manager about your specific needs before you buy the house.

Is the property connected to town water/drainage?

Parisians are often astounded that so many houses here in the countryside still have their own wells and septic tanks. Technically, when you buy a house, it’ll be your responsibility to bring these connections up to norms within 18 months. This can be very costly and difficult if you need access through a neighbour’s property. That first baked tart you bring over better be amazing!

What is the condition of the roof? 

Terracotta roofs are incredibly expensive here. Leaks can sometimes be fixed by replacing a few tiles but take a new roof (if needed) into consideration when making an offer.

Do Your Research

When you buy a house in Provence you’ll go through your agent and a notaire (notary) not a property lawyer. You’ll need to have your wits about you if you don’t hire specialised help. 

Verify your Cadastre

Download the cadastre (land register) from cadastre.fr. We paid 14 euros to do this and thankfully we did because the plot information was not up to date. Half of our barn was shown as the neighbour’s property. This had to be sorted. When we brought up this issue to our Notaire, he asked the owner to employ a Geometre (property surveyor) to update the plan. 

Do you need planning permission? 

All villages/towns in Provence have different regulations dealing with historical properties. Your village may have numerous zones with different rules. If you have a real estate agent they’ll be able to guide you. However, the best thing is to go to the town hall and ask the planning officer (urbanisme) what you’re allowed to do. We received a lot of information from the town hall before we even bought the house. Some properties may be “constructible” but not “piscinable”. You can build, but not a pool! Generally, houses directly around the church have stricter building laws. Things like the colours of shutters, size of windows etc will need to be approved. If you’re in the countryside, things will be more difficult if you’re in a regional park. The planning officer can also direct you to local architects. You’ll need one if your house is larger than 150 square metres. 

Read the DPE Report!

The DPE report is the building survey that is paid for by the homeowner when selling a house. It is pretty comprehensive when it comes to the major issues such as the presence of asbestos, termites, lead paint, the energy efficiency of the property and electrical code being up to date etc. You would think reading this is obvious but many people do not. If you don’t want to translate the entire document, hire a translator at the notary office where they will go through the document with you, highlighting the problems.

Home records

For your own interest, you can access a lot of previous homeowner/planning information on the archives départementales website.

At the Notary

Not all Notaries are created equal in terms of service. We’ve worked with three different ones in St Remy, Arles and Orgon. Your Notaire should act as an objective party in the purchase of your home. For example, the previous owner of our house wanted to take the standing fireplace out of the home, the only heat source! Robin was fine for him to take it. Thankfully the Notaire was on my side! Here are a few things to think about. 

If you don’t speak good French, ask a translator to be at the notary with you. The Notaire can usually provide this service. Remember there will be a lot of legal jargon that you may not know.

Misbehaving Neighbours 

Probe the Notaire (and everyone!!!) about the neighbours. Are there any disputes? Even previous ones? The Notaire often knows every family in the area. 

Confirm and re-confirm the ‘droit de passage” or servitude laws with your neighbours as well as the exact boundaries of the property including ownership of boundary walls/fences and maintenance liabilities. We have a neighbour with a glass door onto our property. She tried to tell us that she’s allowed to use two metres outside of it (in our garden) when we moved in but we know that that isn’t the case. We’ll have to figure something out to placate her though.

Don’t be afraid to ask the Notaire to tailor the purchase to you

The notaire can help to insert clauses into your contract before you sign it such as if you’re only willing to buy the house if the heating is still there(!!), if you obtain your mortgage, if there is a signed document that there is no servitude to the neighbour etc. 

Visit the property before deed of sale. This can be done the morning of the sale and arranged between you, the agent and owner. This is to make sure things haven’t been ripped out that shouldn’t have been. We were a little trusting on this front but I did hear about olive trees that had been removed at a local home! The horror! 

Advice from a Tradesman and Local

Embrace the Local Architecture

In the south of France, there is a reason for the way that old houses are built and configured. Mas (Provencal farmhouse) traditionally face south, for the sun in winter. They have a plane tree planted in the courtyard for shade in summer. There are no windows, or only fenestron (small windows to allow for airflow) on the north side of the house to protect from the strong Mistral wind. If you come from a country where it isn’t 35 degrees Celsius for two months of the year you might be tempted to take down the trellising that provides a lot of shade in front of the house. Or, tempted to cut down the tree in front, or make a wall of windows. You can do this but just know- you’re either going to spend a fortune on air conditioning or you’re going to be hot hot hot! We know a few people that regret their decisions. 

Embrace Traditional Techniques

Rooms in old houses (especially French ones?) aren’t perfectly square or rectangle. This can be tricky for fitted kitchens or even the bathrooms that you’re used to in North America and Britain. Embrace the odd corners, the rounded walls. Work with them and you’ll create something more unique. Use the traditional materials of lime wash rather than paint (especially ion you have stone walls), terracotta floors, stones. These are there for a reason. Renovating an old house here in Provence takes a little more consideration and thinking time. 

But it’ll be worth it. 

Employ Intelligently 

There is a lot of lore about tradesmen all around the world, and especially in France. Peter Mayle brought this to light in his book A Year in Provence and there is a lot of truth to it.

However, you may want to hire a “jack of all trades” that does not have any qualifications in building work, or a decennale insurance. This will be cheaper but will most likely cost you more in the long run. The quality of work will also be of a much lesser standard. If you sell your house on, new owners will ask for a decennale guarantee, which is good for ten years.

Buying a House in Provence Resources: 

Expat’s Guide to Mortgages in France

Legal Process of Buying Property in France

Glossary of French Property Terms

Happy Hunting!!

If you’re curious to see the before/after of our previous little village house as seen on Househunters International check out Our Renovation in Maussane.