Access the whole market, via one point of contact, in English.
Buying in France should not mean signing forty pages you only partially understand, or paying extra for a translator. I show you nearly every house on the market that meets your criteria, whichever agency lists it. If it's for you, I then walk you every step of the way, from your offer to the final signing, in English. At no extra cost.
Toulouse, and 100 km in every direction.
From the office at 16 Place du Salin, I cover the whole of Haute-Garonne and reach into the Gers, the Tarn and the Ariège foothills. Everything on this map is my working area, not a special trip: I show houses here, value houses here, and sit at signings here. It is simply the job.
Haute-Garonne · Gers · Tarn · Tarn-et-Garonne · Ariège
The life around Toulouse.
Whether you are moving here for work or for the rest of your life, the dream usually looks like one of these four.
How French real estate actually works.
One commission, split between agencies. Never two.
In France, estate agents commonly share listings under multi-agency agreements (mandats simples or inter-agences). When an agent brings a buyer to another agency's listing, the standard seller-paid commission is split between the two agencies.
The buyer does not pay a finder fee or double commission. Signing a bon de visite confirms you visited the property with that agent; it does not increase the asking price.
Paid by the buyer, and mostly tax.
In France the notaire's fees are paid for by the buyer, and represent between 7 and 8% of the agreed sale price for older properties, or 2 to 3% for a newly built property. These fees may seem high to a foreign buyer; however, they include stamp duty and the regional and local taxes.
I calculate the exact figure for any house before you decide anything, so the total cost never arrives as a surprise.
The seller pays the diagnostics. The survey is yours.
The seller pays for various obligatory diagnostic surveys, carried out by qualified independent diagnostiqueurs. These include:
- • DPE: the energy performance of the property
- • Plomb: lead in the paintwork, if any
- • Amiante: asbestos-containing materials, if any
- • The electricity installation
- • The gas installation
- • Géorisques: seismic, flood and clay-soil risks
- • The septic tank installation, if not on mains drains
- • Swimming pool safety
If, as a buyer, you wish to have a full building survey carried out in addition to the obligatory diagnostics listed above, I can put you in contact with an English-speaking RICS-qualified chartered surveyor (RICS: the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors). That cost is paid by you, and the survey results belong to you: circa €1,000 depending on the size of the property, and I can provide a more accurate quote for a given house.
One agent, in English,
from the first search to the last signature.
From the first shortlist to completion at the notaire's office, you deal with one person, and that person answers to you. Still there afterwards, when the electricity contract needs opening in a language you can check. And not just English-speaking: bilingual. Your side runs in English, the French side runs in native French, and a French sale is a different culture, not just a different language. I grew up in both.
I grew up watching my mother hand English families their French keys.
Fifteen years at Century 21 in Mirepoix, walking English-speaking buyers and sellers through French sales across the Ariège. She has retired; I carry the practice in Toulouse, in my first year of it, with everything she taught me.
Hers was Century 21. Mine is Orpi, and the choice was deliberate: Orpi is better represented across Occitanie, and for you that means more shared mandates, more open doors, more houses I can actually walk you into.
A guide to average prices, area by area.
Medians of what homes actually sold for, from DVF, the French state's open record of completed sales. Every area varies street by street: ask me for the detailed picture wherever you are looking.
| Commune / Sector | Apartment median (€/m²) | House median (€) | The draw |
|---|---|---|---|
| Toulouse Central (Carmes, St Étienne) | €4,762 | €752,000 | Historic core, pied-à-terre buyers |
| Toulouse East (Busca, Côte Pavée) | €3,976 | €541,500 | Family residential, gardens |
| Blagnac & Colomiers | €2,742 | €316,000 | Airbus relocations, strong letting |
| West ring (Pibrac, Tournefeuille) | €2,935 | €350,000 | International school access, quiet |
| Montauban · 48 km | €1,984 | €220,000 | Pink-brick riverside city on the Tarn |
| Castres · 64 km | €1,695 | €152,000 | Gateway to the Sidobre and the Montagne Noire |
| Albi · 68 km | €2,392 | €200,000 | UNESCO-listed old town, brick and river |
| Auch & the Gers · 69 km | €1,632 | €161,500 | Gascon farmhouse country |
| Foix & the Ariège foothills · 71 km | €1,545 | €135,000 | Where my family’s practice began |
| Carcassonne · 85 km | €1,288 | €150,000 | The medieval Cité and the Aude |
| Agen · 95 km | €1,719 | €160,000 | On the Garonne, between Toulouse and Bordeaux |
| Cahors & the Lot · 95 km | €1,542 | €151,000 | River-loop old town, vineyard country |
Describe the house you want.
Typed or spoken, in your own words. Where, what, roughly how much. Or start from the life instead: the market on Saturday, the terrace at seven, the school run under twenty minutes. I read every brief myself.
- ✓ A shortlist matched to your brief, from any agency's mandates
- ✓ The real cost on top of each asking price
- ✓ An honest no when nothing on the market meets your criteria yet
Two minutes, typed or spoken. I read every brief myself and reply within 24 hours. No automated feeds, no generic alerts.
Six questions every buyer asks me.
1. Will I actually understand what I am signing?
Yes. We go through the preliminary contract (the compromis) and the diagnostics together, line by line, in English, days before the meeting at the notaire's office. Not a whispered translation at the table. A proper read-through, at no extra cost.
2. Do I pay more because I am buying in English?
No. The commission on a listing is the commission, whoever the buyer is: an English-speaking buyer pays exactly the same as a French-speaking one. My English is included, at no extra cost.
3. Can non-EU and UK citizens buy property in France?
Yes: any nationality can buy and own property in France. Owning is not the same as living here, though. Since Brexit, most non-EU nationals, Britons included, can visit for 90 days in any 180 without a visa; staying longer needs a long-stay visa or residence permit. I will point you to the official guidance early, before you plan the move.
4. Do I pay extra to appoint my own English-speaking notaire?
No. The notaire's fee is fixed by the state, and when two notaires act on one sale, they share that single fee between them rather than each charging their own. Appointing your own English-speaking notaire costs you nothing extra, and I will introduce you to English-speaking notaires in Toulouse.
5. Can I complete a purchase without flying back and forth?
Yes. Both the preliminary contract and the final deed can be signed remotely by power of attorney (procuration), and the meetings themselves can be followed by video conference. I handle the checks on the ground and tell you which steps genuinely need you here, before you book anything.
6. How do I verify your credentials?
I operate under the carte professionnelle issued to Orpi Les Carmes by the Chambre de Commerce et d'Industrie (CCI) de Toulouse, with the mandatory professional indemnity insurance and financial guarantee behind every transaction. Ask me for the card number and check it with the CCI yourself: I will send it without being offended.
You do not have to email
thirty agencies.
Most houses around Toulouse are listed with more than one agency, and agencies here share mandates. Tell me what you are looking for, or send me anything you find, from any agency. You will get an answer in English within 24 hours, including when the answer is that it is not worth the flight.