French Property Consultant - An Angel, A Necessary Evil, or Worse?

If you're looking to buy property in France, whether as a holiday home, investment or permanent move it's almost inevitable that you'll eventually come across a strange creature called a French property consultant. A difficult beast it can be to categorize too!

First things first. In France there is no such job as a French property consultant. There are real estate agents (agents immobilier) who may offer to do more for you than just help you buy your French house, but that's it. A French real estate agent is a qualified, licensed individual, almost invariably well trained and highly professional.

This is certainly not the case with the French property consultant.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm not suggesting that all French property consultants are uneducated or that they're out to rip you off. The fact remains, however, that you can't qualify to become one. There is no course you can go on, no training to be undertaken and none of them are licensed.

I've yet to meet one who is actually French.

In my experience they are all expats.

So if there's no "job description" as such, what exactly do they do? Well that varies considerably and it's something that you have to be very careful about.

For a start, a French property consultant, operating in France, may not sell you a house. It is absolutely illegal. That's not to say they can't help you find a place but they must not act as an agent.

What they can do is act as a go-between. Depending on their particular practice they may attempt to pre-select houses for you, given certain criteria. They may make appointments for you with French agents and accompany you on viewings. They may get paperwork translated, help with negotiations, seek quotes for building work required, go to the notaire with you, help get services connected post-purchase... any number of things. For a fee, of course. I've yet to meet one who was doing it as a charity!

Getting back to our headline then, angels or demons?

I wish it were as simple as that. If you don't speak French, a good consultant can offer valuable assistance and reassurance. Alternatively a bad one will simply cost you money and waste your time. The problem is that because of the lack of regulation there's no sure-fire way of finding the good ones.

Perhaps you're fortunate enough to have one recommended to you. If you haven't, you need to look very carefully at exactly what you'll get for your money. Is there some kind of written agreement between you or is it a case of "oh yes, I can help you with that", followed by a larger than expected bill or a failure to deliver.

Perhaps you should also think about improving your French language skills. If you're going to be spending considerable time here, it will not only serve you well but also save you money.

Then again there are an increasing number of French agents who speak perfectly acceptable English - even have English staff. I've been approached twice myself (I declined politely, proper French agents work far too many hours for me!).

The other consideration might be the time you have available. A good French property consultant can save you a lot of time if you both understand the requirements. If they've been doing it for some time they'll know the little nuances of the French system and be able to guide you through a lot of them and potentially save you some frustration.

If you're expecting my personal recommendation, one way or the other, I'm afraid I'm going to disappoint you. It depends on your circumstances and your budget. Anyway, having bought our French home without using one, I'm a bit biased.

It would be unfair of me to categorize all French property consultants as unnecessary. I couldn't recommend one either.

Jeff Seems is the author of the highly regarded French Property Buyer's Guide which has more on French property consultants and vital information on all aspects of buying a French house.