Buy a Home on the French Basque Coast —
With Someone on Your Side
For Americans buying property in France, the hardest part isn't finding a house. It's doing it in a language, a legal system, and a market that weren't built for you. I remove that friction.
I’ve done this myself, on this coast (and Paris).
I'm not advising from a desk. I moved from San Francisco to France, navigated the buying, the notaires, and the paperwork firsthand, and I'm developing property on the Basque coast myself. I know what this market rewards, where it hides its costs, and how a purchase actually gets done here — because I've been the American on the other end of it.
I also know the person you are, because I was her: someone with taste, means, and a clear picture of the life they want — who just needs the path made navigable. My whole approach is built for the discerning anglophone buyer the French market underserves: relationship-led, discreet, appointment-based, and honest to a fault. If a purchase is wrong for you, I'll be the one who says so.
Buying property in France shouldn’t feel hard, confusing, or like communication friction.
f you've started looking, you already know the feeling. Listings that vanish before you can see them or offer incomplete information. Agents who call you without a heads up, any concern for how you like to communicate or conduct business when you’re searching for a primary or secondary residence—often not a small decision. A process — offers, notaires, diagnostics, mortgages — that runs entirely in French, with real money and real liability riding on words you can't fully comprehend.
The French property market wasn't designed for an American buying from four thousand miles away. Most agents represent the seller, work on their own clock, and don’t take into account your preferences and desires as a buyer.
I work the other way around.
I represent you—the buyer
I'm your advocate on the ground: I find the home, I represent your side of the table, and I coordinate the moving parts so the transaction actually closes without you losing sleep over a system you never signed up to learn.
That means:
Sourcing the right homes — including the ones that never make it to the public listings, through relationships built over years on this coast.
Representing your interests, not a seller's — advising on price, negotiating on your behalf, and telling you honestly when a property isn't worth it.
Coordinating the whole transaction — notaire, diagnostics, mortgage broker, translations, the compromis and the acte — so the French machinery runs behind the scenes while you stay informed in plain English.
Being reachable — by text, by email, on your timezone. Appointment-based, responsive, comprehensive, human. The opposite of the cold-call scramble. And perhaps most signifcant—your advocate.
You get one trusted person who speaks both languages — literal and cultural — steering the purchase from first look to keys in hand. And I can help you with this, even if you can’t make it to France to tour the property.
The home is one part of landing well
Most people buying here aren't just acquiring a property — they're moving a life. That's why buying and belonging are two halves of the same thing I do.
Alongside the purchase, I help you handle the move itself — the visa pathway, the setup, the sequence — and plug into the community once you're here, so you don't arrive to a beautiful house and an empty life around it.
If you're still earlier in the journey — figuring out whether and how to move at all — start with That French Life, my relocation advisory. Buying comes later, once you know the move is right.
The Basque Coast—and Beyond
My home ground is the French Basque coast: Biarritz, Saint-Jean-de-Luz, Bidart, Guéthary, Anglet and the villages between them — one of the most beautiful and quietly rising corners of France, and the one I know street by street.
It's where I live, where I've bought, and where my relationships run deepest — which is exactly why I can find you what a generalist can't. For clients drawn elsewhere in France, I work with a trusted network; but this coast is where I'm unmatched.
A Calm, Deliberate Process
We talk. An honest first conversation about what you want, what you can commit, and whether now is the moment. Sometimes it isn't — and I'll tell you.
We define the brief. Your real criteria, budget, and the life you're buying toward — not a fantasy version of it.
I source and shortlist. Public listings and the ones that never reach them, filtered so you only see what genuinely fits.
We view — in person or by video. For remote buyers, I'm your eyes on the ground.
I negotiate and coordinate. Offer, notaire, diagnostics, financing, translations — I run the transaction on your behalf.
Keys, and beyond. You get the home — and, if you want it, help settling into the life around it.
Working Together
This is a bespoke, high-touch service for a small number of clients at a time. Engagement is by inquiry — we start with a conversation to make sure it's the right fit on both sides.
Buying property in France — common questions
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Yes — there are no restrictions on foreign nationals owning property in France, and you don't need to be a resident or a citizen to buy. What changes for Americans is the process, the financing, and the paperwork, which is exactly where having someone on your side matters.
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No — and this is the misunderstanding I correct most often. Owning property does not grant you the right to live in France; that's a separate visa question. If living here is the goal, the property and the visa have to be planned together, not assumed to come as a pair. (That's where my relocation advisory comes in.)
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Often yes. French banks do lend to non-residents, though typically with a larger deposit and more documentation than you'd expect at home. I coordinate with mortgage brokers who work with foreign buyers so financing is lined up rather than left to chance.
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No. Purchases can be completed remotely, including via power of attorney, and for remote buyers I act as your eyes and hands on the ground. Plenty of my work is done for clients who haven't moved yet.
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Beyond the purchase price, budget for the notaire and transfer fees (often several percent, higher on older properties), ongoing property taxes, and any renovation. The full number surprises people — mapping it honestly is part of what I do before you commit.
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In brief: offer, then a signed preliminary contract (the compromis de vente), a legally required notaire overseeing the transaction, and the final deed (acte de vente) — typically over a couple of months. Every step runs in French, which is precisely why I coordinate it for you.
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Honestly, it depends on your budget, your work, and the life you're picturing — Paris, the southwest, the Basque coast, and the smaller cities each suit very different people. I moved from Paris to the Basque coast for reasons that may or may not apply to you. Part of the call is matching a location to your actual life rather than to a fantasy of it.
Ready to find your home here?
If you're serious about buying on the Basque coast — or just want an honest read on whether it's the right move — let's talk. A short conversation tells us both whether this is a fit.
