# How to find actual adress of a property for sale (South of France)?



## GadgetGuy

Hello all, we (family of 4) are preparing our move to the South of France (from Canada) - planned for late summer. To get an idea before our in person visit we are looking at possible properties from Canada. One challenge - the property adress is never provided so we cannot see the area on Google sat view. Is there any trick to get the actual adress of a listing? Thank you for any advice!


----------



## wvdthree

GadgetGuy said:


> Hello all, we (family of 4) are preparing our move to the South of France (from Canada) - planned for late summer. To get an idea before our in person visit we are looking at possible properties from Canada. One challenge - the property adress is never provided so we cannot see the area on Google sat view. Is there any trick to get the actual adress of a listing? Thank you for any advice!


My understanding is that exact addresses are never disclosed until you make an appointment to make a viewing with an agent. This combined with the fact there is no MLS (not sure if there is one in Canada), no buyers agents, and the fact that sellers can list with several different agents make the home search and purchase process more challenging than doing so in the US.


----------



## skyrocket123

Ask for a cadastral plan, sometimes you can piece it together from that. My husband has become almost semi professional at finding out where a property is from google maps (especially if the property has a pool!)


----------



## GadgetGuy

Thank you. This is helpful. We have MLS in Canada - very helpful when house hunting.


----------



## Bevdeforges

The agents guard their information very carefully. It's the basis on which they earn their commissions.


wvdthree said:


> exact addresses are never disclosed until you make an appointment to make a viewing with an agent.


This is because the first thing an agent will do is to have you sign a "contract" promising to pay the agent their fee if you wind up buying the property. If you should allow a second or third agent to show you the same property, you'll owe multiple fees to each agent involved should you buy the property. I'm not sure how you would determine the address of a property from the cadastral records.


----------



## travertine

We've played this game for quite a while. I found that searching for the same listing on other realtors' sites sometimes revealed additional clues about the location (descriptions, alternative images etc.). If the cadastral plan is provided with the listing you can compare that with online cadastral maps. The one I've used is:



https://www.geoportail.gouv.fr/carte



Not sure how good your French is, but you can click on the icon in the top right corner that looks like sheets of paper - it's used to select alternative layers. The menu slides out then select 'DE DONNEES' and 'Parcelles cadastrales' appears on the left. Select the cadastral layer. With the cog symbols you can then reduce the satellite image strength and make sure the cadastral layer is set to 100%. You then need to zoom in considerably before the cadastral starts to appear.

Google satellite images are great as well but if the listing provides a street view or views of significant land marks I've found Street View really useful. It's often convinced me to not pursue the listing (e.g. dairy farm, factory, busy road).

Another fantastic source of info is (DVF). It provides details about land/house transactions dating back to 2014. You could for instance find the most recent sale price of the very house you're interested in. The site is based on cadastral data as well.

When you say south of France I'm not sure which area you are specifically considering. I was in the Lot for 12 months until September last year so I might be able to provide thoughts about different localities if it's an area of interest.

Best of luck with the search.


----------



## GadgetGuy

travertine said:


> We've played this game for quite a while. I found that searching for the same listing on other realtors' sites sometimes revealed additional clues about the location (descriptions, alternative images etc.). If the cadastral plan is provided with the listing you can compare that with online cadastral maps. The one I've used is:
> 
> 
> 
> https://www.geoportail.gouv.fr/carte
> 
> 
> 
> Not sure how good your French is, but you can click on the icon in the top right corner that looks like sheets of paper - it's used to select alternative layers. The menu slides out then select 'DE DONNEES' and 'Parcelles cadastrales' appears on the left. Select the cadastral layer. With the cog symbols you can then reduce the satellite image strength and make sure the cadastral layer is set to 100%. You then need to zoom in considerably before the cadastral starts to appear.
> 
> Google satellite images are great as well but if the listing provides a street view or views of significant land marks I've found Street View really useful. It's often convinced me to not pursue the listing (e.g. dairy farm, factory, busy road).
> 
> Another fantastic source of info is (DVF). It provides details about land/house transactions dating back to 2014. You could for instance find the most recent sale price of the very house you're interested in. The site is based on cadastral data as well.
> 
> When you say south of France I'm not sure which area you are specifically considering. I was in the Lot for 12 months until September last year so I might be able to provide thoughts about different localities if it's an area of interest.
> 
> Best of luck with the search.


----------



## GadgetGuy

Thank you Travertine. This is helpful. We are considering at this point the Pau area. Will follow your advice to try to find details about the location! Thank you


----------



## Franco-Belgian Brit

travertine said:


> We've played this game for quite a while. I found that searching for the same listing on other realtors' sites sometimes revealed additional clues about the location (descriptions, alternative images etc.). If the cadastral plan is provided with the listing you can compare that with online cadastral maps. The one I've used is:
> 
> 
> 
> https://www.geoportail.gouv.fr/carte
> 
> 
> 
> Not sure how good your French is, but you can click on the icon in the top right corner that looks like sheets of paper - it's used to select alternative layers. The menu slides out then select 'DE DONNEES' and 'Parcelles cadastrales' appears on the left. Select the cadastral layer. With the cog symbols you can then reduce the satellite image strength and make sure the cadastral layer is set to 100%. You then need to zoom in considerably before the cadastral starts to appear.
> 
> Google satellite images are great as well but if the listing provides a street view or views of significant land marks I've found Street View really useful. It's often convinced me to not pursue the listing (e.g. dairy farm, factory, busy road).
> 
> Another fantastic source of info is (DVF). It provides details about land/house transactions dating back to 2014. You could for instance find the most recent sale price of the very house you're interested in. The site is based on cadastral data as well.
> 
> When you say south of France I'm not sure which area you are specifically considering. I was in the Lot for 12 months until September last year so I might be able to provide thoughts about different localities if it's an area of interest.
> 
> Best of luck with the search.


I'm going through the house-hunting thing at the moment, but it's too early for us to get involved with estate agents Still looking at areas - Aveyron is next). 

Thanks for these tips.


----------



## ccm47

Until recently the French have had a very singular game called "hide my house" which every household outside of the town and village centres played and of course the estate agents joined in by not publishing exact details.

Houses in the centres have road names and numbers, everything else joined a group called a Lieu-dit. These might, or might not, have a named road but they certainly didn't have numbers to display at the entrance or even on the post boxes which might be gathered together in one place to make the postman's life easier. It certainly didn't help a delivery man.
These Lieu-dits were given names from centuries ago and may resemble each other e.g. Baros, Buros, Baratet, Barradat etc.but all are within the same village. They could be assigned to houses either side of a field but not include the houses on the opposite side of the road and might extend in to another unnamed residential road to add to the confusion.
Hence the houses were successfully hidden in plain sight.

When postcodes were introduced the same one included all of a principal town together with its satellite villages. Houses thus remained hidden.

GPS coordinates , when introduced, began to lift the veil of enabling a property to be found but might leave a driver 600 metres down the road. GPS use has been haphazard and many people helped their genuine callers by nipping down to the local mairie, poste, église and then leading them up or down the lanes.

The age of "hide my house" is now in its death throws as communities get fast fibre installed. The small community councils have been forced to name every road, and then to assign each property a number. Numbers follow a logic, working out from the centre evens go on one side, odds on the other. They are not sequential but reflect the distance from the start of the road. Each property is then given a change of your address letter and an adhesive number plate.

Bliss for those who use internet shopping as standing out in the scorching sun or rain waving at vans is not required in order to ensure each and every delivery arrives within half an hour of the driver arriving at a locality.


----------



## Befuddled

_"The age of "hide my house" is now in its death throws as communities get fast fibre installed. The small community councils have been forced to name every road, and then to assign each property a number. Numbers follow a logic, working out from the centre evens go on one side, odds on the other. They are not sequential but reflect the distance from the start of the road. Each property is then given a change of your address letter and an adhesive number plate."_

I heard about this initiative a few years ago. If it exists it must be somewhere other than the cold, wet, unfashionable northwest of France where fibre and other such modern miracles like mobile network coverage are but the stuff of dreams.


----------



## Keri22

Befuddled said:


> _"The age of "hide my house" is now in its death throws as communities get fast fibre installed. The small community councils have been forced to name every road, and then to assign each property a number. Numbers follow a logic, working out from the centre evens go on one side, odds on the other. They are not sequential but reflect the distance from the start of the road. Each property is then given a change of your address letter and an adhesive number plate."_
> 
> I heard about this initiative a few years ago. If it exists it must be somewhere other than the cold, wet, unfashionable northwest of France where fibre and other such modern miracles like mobile network coverage are but the stuff of dreams.


I am in Côtés d'Armor, in the Tregor and a tiny commune. I was on a lieu-dit until 2 years ago when we were given numbers. And, fibre optique arrived (about 2 years behind schedule), 7 months ago. However, I have not signed up because I get good reception with a clé and on my phone.


----------



## FireRaider

Try using Google Earth if there is any identifying details like a pool or next to a river etc.
I found one place we wanted to view by getting the metadata off some drone shots the agent had sent us. They had the lat/long right in them.
I also spent several days pouring over google Earth looking for one on a river we really liked but eventually found it. Unfortunately it sold before we ever got to France last year.
Interestingly, we were never asked to sign anything for any of the properties we viewed.


----------



## eairicbloodaxe

Befuddled said:


> _"The age of "hide my house" is now in its death throws as communities get fast fibre installed. The small community councils have been forced to name every road, and then to assign each property a number. Numbers follow a logic, working out from the centre evens go on one side, odds on the other. They are not sequential but reflect the distance from the start of the road. Each property is then given a change of your address letter and an adhesive number plate."_
> 
> I heard about this initiative a few years ago. If it exists it must be somewhere other than the cold, wet, unfashionable northwest of France where fibre and other such modern miracles like mobile network coverage are but the stuff of dreams.


We are in the Lot and our Lieu Dit became Route de... about 2 years ago, with numbers handed out last summer. Fibre arrives in the next few weeks.

Kind regards



Ian


----------



## ccm47

eairicbloodaxe said:


> We are in the Lot and our Lieu Dit became Route de... about 2 years ago, with numbers handed out last summer. Fibre arrives in the next few weeks.


Our fibre won't be live until some time late in 2023 but dishing out addresses made everybody think it was imminent. Notably Enedis still notify the village of expected power cuts by quoting Lieu-dits to us and these get posted on Facebook. Any others being mainly attributed to the weight of starlings on the lines and therefore come via Twitter, or not!

The ADSL link here is atrocious so I think there will be numerous subscribers next year but we ditched the landline some 8 years ago by going the 4g router route and see no reason to go back to any type of landline.


----------



## Bevdeforges

As I understood it (from a piece on the 20 h news a few days ago), the current push to convert the various lieu dit neighborhoods or other areas without street names or house numbers to modern addressing standards is largely due to the pandemic and the ever increasing popularity of (and need for) ordering stuff online for delivery - from Amazon parcels to fast food delivered by Deliveroo or Uber Eats. 

But for those here in France to look for a house or rental unit, the "traditional" method for avoiding the agency fees is to drive around and find a place with a "for sale" or "for rent" sign up. Around here, you'll get places for sale with two signs - one for a local estate agency and the other a hand-lettered sign with the owner's mobile phone number on it. I really wonder why anyone would bother calling the estate agency under those circumstances.


----------



## ccm47

The move to numbered and named addresses preceded the pandemic around here. Indeed the lockdown delayed the erection of the road signs.

Amazon may be able to find us now but Uber and co don't even accept an order. What go 5km each way, no way!


----------



## jakethepeg

Just for the record, it is "throes" and "poring"


----------

