Succeed in your search: 3 tips from a real estate hunter in Paris

1) The base: budget and financing

I compare this step to putting in place the foundations of a house. Take some time for this point to be fully studied. Get help from your banker or use the services of a mortgage broker. In a nutshell, this moment is unavoidable and you must succeed. Do not panic, as Real estate hunter in Paris, expert buyers, I am giving you the unmissable recipe.

Two steps will have to be carried out: assess the cost of the dream property and validate your financing plan.

Estimate the price of the ideal home:

Whether you want to buy an apartment, a house, or a loft, the thorny question arises how much it will cost. You are not a professional, it is not your job. At first glance, you don't have the tools to do it. I am giving them to you. Follow the guide!

a) Prepare the specifications:

Indicate the characteristics of the accommodation you are looking for. Avoid including non-essential needs. Focus on the non-negotiable aspects. City, neighborhood, district, address, type of building, type of building, floor, elevator, exterior, clarity, calm, etc. All these criteria do not have to be included. Only keep what is very important to you.

b) budget evaluation:

The idea is not to find, to the nearest euro, the cost of your next apartment. It is to define an envelope that will allow you to be able to succeed in the search. I suggest you the Notaries price card as a work base. There you will find the references of average selling price by neighborhood in Paris. Once you have found the one that suits you, adapt it to your situation.

• Start by adding 3% to that amount. Indeed, the site has net seller values (excluding agency fees). Their commissions are generally between 2 and 5%. So you have to integrate them.
• Adjust the result to the specifications: In Paris, the average value can vary by + or - 30% depending on the quality or defects of an apartment. For example, you are looking for a top floor, elevator, unobstructed view, sunny, quiet and without work, add +30%. For a 2nd or 3rd floor with refreshment, average light and a bit noisy, the value is good. A dark and noisy ground floor to renovate, remove 30%. It is up to you to place the cursor.
• Add a margin of +10% to the surface. If the ideal property is a 50 m2, make your estimate on 55 m2.
• If you want a balcony or a terrace, know that they are valued between 30 and 50% of their surface area.
• ADVICE : be realistic and be wary of the natural tendency to undervalue. It is common to all buyers. Minimizing your budget will greatly reduce your chances of success. Over-evaluating it, on the other hand, will increase the success of the project.

Validation of funding:

Do not start the search until you have validated it with the bank or broker, specializing in real estate loans. It is an essential step What should be done in advance. They will validate that you are able to devote the established budget. Together with him, you will define the amount of credit you are going to use and the duration of it.

TIP : ask your broker or banker to write you a comfort letter. This attests that he has studied your request and that it is realistic. You will include it with the purchase offer. It will reassure the selling owner.

2) The search deciphered by a real estate hunter in Paris:

I'll show you tips to avoid wasting time and avoiding pitfalls.

Regularity:

It is better to invest 30 minutes a day than four hours only on weekends. Consistency is an important key to success. It will allow you to find the ideal home.

Announcements and alerts, but not only:

Check out specialized ad sites. Create alerts. However, it is not enough. You have to call the real estate agencies in the chosen neighborhood. Ask them to put you on their lists and to contact you when an apartment matches your criteria. A constructive call will take you at least 15 minutes. Again, consistency is important. Give yourself a super affordable target: one, see, two calls per day.

Focus:

Focus on your non-negotiable criteria. Above all, make it a goal not to make unnecessary visits. You may burn out. Only consult the ads of properties that correspond precisely. To avoid wasting time, learn to decipher presentations. Here are some tips that will help you:

Reading the ads:

Two main simple principles: 1) What sells is put forward. 2) Anything that is not sellable is hidden. For example, an ad that does not indicate the first floor: nine out of ten chances that it is a ground floor or a 1st floor. Very attractive elements such as the unobstructed view, a terrace, beautiful sunshine, are always mentioned. If they're not there, there's no need to call to check.

Visits:

Be direct with the agent or with the Parisian real estate hunter. Give your opinion, just say what you like and what you don't like. Thanks to this, professionals will be able to better understand the demand. The more feedback you give, the easier it will be to perfectly target your requirements.

When you like a property, you will know it very quickly. It's the famous “crush”. Be confident. Don't wait to send an offer. You will have several days to study the condominium documents and diagnoses.

TIMING : there is an average of 15 days to one month between the purchase proposal and the signing of the promise to sell. You will therefore have plenty of time to study the condominium documents.

3) The purchase offer:

How do you define the amount? Ask the agent about a possible negotiation. Trust your intuition. You can use the price evaluation method to give you an idea. Try to estimate if several buyers are going to position themselves or if you are the only one. At this crucial moment, seek advice from a Real estate hunter Parisian can be useful. He will offer you his knowledge to negotiate the best price. Guaranteed savings. He knows market practices and lets you benefit from them.

Request the last three minutes of general meetings, the last call for charges and the diagnostics. These documents can be difficult for a buyer to analyze. A notary or a flat hunter can study them for you. If your offer is accepted, ask for written confirmation. However, the seller is not required to provide it to you.

In the proposal, be sure to indicate funding. Accompany it with the comfort letter from the bank or mortgage broker. A validity date is also welcome. A week is a good suggestion.

The pluses:

You have the choice to write a formal offer or to detail it. These are options to take depending on how you want to reassure the agent and the seller.

• Profession and remuneration : CDI, well-known company, stable salary, important in terms of financing. These are all aspects that you can indicate, as they are a guarantee of the solidity of the proposal. It requires trust.
• Impressions about the house: sellers are attached to their property. Sharing your interest will make a difference for owners. The desire to pass on to people who will love the place where they lived can be very strong.
• The notary: If you know who will take care of the purchase file, indicate the name and contact details of your notary. This clearly shows the desire to acquire.

Conclusion

As a real estate hunter in Paris, I have been advising and helping real estate buyers for over ten years. I know their habits, their qualities, but also the counterproductive attitudes. All three aspects, funding, research, offer, are essential. They need to be done as best as possible. They will guarantee you will not turn the search for your future property into an obstacle course. If you want to know more about apartment hunting, ask for the opinion of a Real estate hunter in Paris. It will help you to prepare, but also to finalize your acquisition.

It's up to you to play. Good investigation. The rare pearl awaits you.