Advertisement

Readers' tips: Which website is the best for property hunting in France?

The Local France
The Local France - [email protected]
Readers' tips: Which website is the best for property hunting in France?
Photo: AFP

Each week The Local asks its readers to share their tips about various aspects of living in France. This week we asked their opinion on which website is the best for property hunting in France. Here's what they had to say.

Advertisement

Which website is the best for property hunting in France?

Our readers chose Le Bon Coin as the best website for property hunting in France.

What is Le Bon Coin?    

Le Bon Coin is France's most popular classified ads website so it came as something of a surprise to us that it was also our readers favourite property hunting website. 

It is a free website where people can place and read adverts for free and people use it to find anything from pets to lawnmowers to buttered toast and ski stations. 
 
Le Bon Coin was created in 2006.
 
Photo: AFP
 
Why is it so popular?
 
Readers said that the big benefit of using Le Bon Coin is that it "cuts out the middle man" meaning there are no agency fees and often no need to jump through the hoops necessary with the big property sites.
 
"We went through the agency route and it was massively complicated - they also charge a huge sum and need an exhaustive 'dossier'," said Christos Tiger from the Bordeaux Expats blog.
 
"Le Bon Coin was quick and simple - the owners posted photos on the site and we went to visit. We waited a few weeks and they lowered the price! We've been there now for three years."
 
Another reader said that it was an "interesting site" for property hunting that was "a lot less hassle to deal with than others out there". 
 
Were any other sites recommended?
 
Other readers mentioned that for Anglophones Leggett Immobilier was a good option with its English listings and English-speaking agents.  
 
Some also recommended Immonot a notaires (solicitors) listings site which, like Le Bon Coin, means there's no need to pay agency fees as there is with the more traditional property sites. 
 
One of our readers, Lina Agabani Puch advised that instead of sticking on site people should shop around. 
 
"I found my studio on seloger.com but I wouldn’t say it’s the best website," she said. "The trick is to try a bunch of sites, go on as many apartment visits as possible to increase your chances, prepare a good dossier, and then be annoyingly persistent once you’ve found “The One”.
 
If you would like to ask The Local's readers a question to hear their tips on life in France, email us at [email protected].
 
READ ALSO:
Readers' tips: Which bank offers the best account for foreigners in France?
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

More

Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.

Please log in to leave a comment.

Anonymous 2018/11/14 18:10
Surprised at no mention of the excellent pap.fr web site (pap = particulier à particulier, so absolutely no middleman there, just individuals dealing with other individuals). pap will also do evaluations of your property,and carry out the now-obligatory environment audit on your property (for a reasonable fee). They are extremely trustworthy both for buying and selling property.
Anonymous 2018/10/27 11:16
Many people around here are using iVendre to produce webpages of their properties for sale. They then use the links to their webpages in various places, e.g. Leboncoin as well as on posters. IVendre also show the properties on their website ivendre.com. Been very successful in getting houses sold

See Also