Michelleelise
9/27/2016 06:46 EST
Hi all. I've just joined Expat Exchange and have only been in France for 4 weeks. My English husband, my 10 year old son, and I (an American) just moved here from New Orleans in The USA. We're living in the Picardie/pas de calais region and we're looking for a 5 bedroom house to rent. We've tried real estate agents and word of mouth, but aren't having much luck. Does anyone have any suggestions on better methods/avenues? We want to live within 20 minutes of Montreuil sur Mer because my son is in school there.
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nanafaf
9/27/2016 09:16 EST
Hi,
you can check leboncoin,fr, it is like Craigslist. However it is in French.
I made a recherche, there is this one which may fit your criteria.
https://www.leboncoin.fr/locations/1021856565.htm?ca=17_s
Otherwise, there is seloger.com
http://www.seloger.com/list.htm?ci=620588&tri=initial&idtt=1&idtypebien=2
It may be a little difficult to find a house wtih 5 bedrooms. The french people have often less than 3 children.
Nan
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OldPro
9/27/2016 11:03 EST
What does, "not having much luck" actually mean? Have you been shown several properties or none at all?
It may be that your expectations as to what is available or what rent you will have to pay to get what you expect are not in line with reality. It is not unusual for someone from N. America to have quite different expectations and standards than a European. We don't know what your expectations are at all.
It may also be that the area you are looking in is not as suitable for finding long term rentals as you want it to be.
Here is one listing I found that I think most people would have trouble dismissing as unsuitable in any way other than location for example.
http://www.longtermlettings.com/r/rent/FR14253791/
One approach you might try as there are so many vacation rental properties in that area is to look for one of those and then see if the owner is willing to negotiate a long term rental. The approach would be, 'a bird in the hand is worth 2 in the bush'. I used just that approach to rent a vacation property long term in Greece.
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Michelleelise
9/27/2016 12:12 EST
Thanks for your reply. We've seen every available property --4 in one month and 3 of them really weren't habitable! The folks with the 4th decided they wanted to sell instead of rent. Careful-- It might be a bit of a stereotype to assume Americans are unrealistic about the realities of Europe and are used to high class living. We're of pretty modest means and all pretty well-travelled. The linked posting is mighty nice, but way out of our price range. We're looking for more of the 1,000-1,500 E range. My son is in school in Montreuil for this school year at least we need to remain in this general area. Although we've considered your suggestion about checking in with some of the owners of vacation rentals to see if someone might like a yearlong tenant, we haven't done it yet. I wonder in today's market if the offer
would be of interest to owners. I think the short term rentals bring in a huge amount of money...We will look into it, though. Thanks so much.
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Michelleelise
9/27/2016 12:57 EST
Thanks Nan. I've been searching those sights almost daily and though I'd seen the first ad, I didn't investigate that one because it had no photo. The second we'll follow up on. It might be a little small. We need a place big enough for 2 at-home offices. My husband and I are both writers...I appreciate your help!
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