A question for Paris dwellers ....

[Countingthegreyhairs]

Please could I ask your advice?

I'm posting on behalf of a very close friend of mine who is trying to buy an apartment in Paris as she wants to leave her current (temporary) rental.

She's fairly new to Paris and only really knows the 16th ... which is obviously out of her pocket.

She wants to buy a one (but preferably two-) bedroomed apartment within a fairly speedy commute of her office near the Trocadero. She often comes home alone late at night from work so the area she buys in must be safe and fairly respectable.

She has about 400,000 Euros to spend.

Is this a totally unrealistic proposition?

If not, where are the best areas for her to start her search?

Thanks a million for any help ....she works 16 hours a day and would really appreciate having a few specific areas to target ....

Btw, she does have a car and doesn't mind driving in Paris but train commute OK too ....

Not unrealistic at all - there are "trois pièces" around here (17th) in that price bracket, easily commutable to Trocadéro.

15th is also near her work and probably cheaper, but not as nice an area.

Thanks Anna 888.

Do you mind me asking whereabouts you (or anyone else willing to share advice) are in the 17th or which specific areas are the best for her to start looking in? She's working around the clock and doesn't have a lot of time to spare, nor does she have a very good knowledge of the locality.

She keeps saying that the only safe place is the 16th but I just know that cannot be true!! I keep asking her where ordinary, middle class people live and she can't tell me. (She's American and has only been in Paris 5 months and I think she's a bit fearful because Europe is completely new to her.)

Thanks again.

Btw, I've just looked at a property website which says,

"Due to current price levels in the Parisian market, our property searches start at about 500,000?, the price of a decent one-bedroom apartment in most areas of the city."

I'm

Is this true?

Don't look at any property websites in English - they will be rip-offs, sure as sure. Also they will be offering apartments that meet American/international decorative/fittings specifications - much, much cheaper to get the work done yourself.

I am in the 17th on rue de Courcelles and it is extremely safe, as is the 8th, the 6th, the 7th... in fact, I have never felt very vulnerable in Paris. Not sure the 16th is better than the 17th as the streets are much narrower.

Anywhere around parc Monceau is very good. Any arrondissement to the west of boulevard Sebastopol is OK.

How about the 9th? Definitely on the up, and plenty of smaller apartments - around Trinité or Place Saint Georges.

Oh that's absolutely brilliant Anna888 - thank you so very much for taking the trouble to post all the districts ... I'll forward to my friend a.s.a.p

am also reassured that prices - albeit steep - aren't quite as inflated as quoted on that property site

Really appreciate your help - merci!!

great estate agent sites (immobiliers) are century 21, logic-immo, and loads of others

How about Neuilly-sur-Seine? Which is the plush suburb bordering the 17th and 16th arrondissements.

The British tend not to like it, but a lot of Americans like it - it is extremely safe, middle-class etc with lots of luxury modern apartment blocks with all ameneties. Neuilly prices are not as inflated as Paris prices because it doesn't attract international (ie non-resident) buyers.

Thanks again Anna and to EachPeachPairMum. Will pass on that info too.

That's a particularly great tip about Neuilly!

15e accross the river would be good value.
I don't really like it but really close to Champs de Mars is very nice.

17e is very nice. I definitely prefer its mix of old school bourgeois and popular markets to nouveau riche 16e.

Neuilly very nice and green. Would probably opt for that if went back to live in Paris one day. But unlikely as the parisians would still be there

Definitely avoid english websites/relocation agents - garanteed inflated prices.

Particulier a Particulier is a listings paper. Very handy if your friends is a confidant french speaker and has time on her hands. No agency fee.

Thank you Slim 22. That's very helpful and I'll forward the info. right now.

I had a look in a few local estate agents' windows in my neighbourhood this afternoon at what was on offer at around the 400,000 euro mark.

Easy to get a "2 pièces" (ie sitting room plus one bedroom), and there are quite a few 3 pièces (sitting room plus two bedrooms or else sitting room, dining room and one bedroom - quite often you can be flexible about the dining room and whether it become a bedroom or not) at around the 60 square metre mark on offer for around 450,000 (so should be at a final price of around 400,000).

That's good of you Anna888 - many thanks - again will forward info on.

You don't exactly get tons and tons of space for your money do you, but heh, you get Paris ....

Most sales are done without an agent as they are so expensive - get her to look on seloger.com or particulieraparticulier

Thanks MrsFogi!