success stories

Alexandre and his parents

When Alexandre first contacted PAPATY, he was living in the 17th district (or ‘arrondissement’) of Paris. His parents lived in a suburb on the outskirts of the city. They wanted to live closer together so they could see each other more often.

A friend of Alexandre’s recommended PAPATY, happy with the service he’d received from Gilles and his team. Alexandre contacted Gilles and told him a little about his requirements. The team at PAPATY drew up a preliminary shortlist of properties and even pre-visited them before arranging viewings of the top candidates for Alexandre and his parents. They particularly liked one property on the shortlist which they were keen on visiting. Disaster seemed imminent, however, as it was quickly snapped up by another buyer when, due to a busy work schedule, Alexandre was unavailable for the arranged viewing. PAPATY decided to persist and continued to follow up on their clients’ chosen property and, luckily enough, the first buyer actually gave up! The team at PAPATY arranged for Alexandre to visit. Upon viewing, he and his parents fell in love with the property and immediately asked for PAPATY to negotiate and secure the deal. Gilles and his team were successful in securing the property, and Alexandre’s parents have been living in their new home in Rue Duret, on the north side of the 16th district, since 2006. They are happy to be living close to their son and grandson in an apartment, and neighbourhood, that they love!

A Lebanese family in St Germain des Près

Fadi, his wife and his three children are a Lebanese family who were living in Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates) when they first contacted PAPATY. They were enamoured with Paris, often visiting as a family to unwind, and had been looking for a second family home in the city for a while, to no avail. The estate agencies they had contacted before finding PAPATY had failed to show them anything they liked. The family also struggled to follow up with such agencies due to the distance.

A family friend, Richard, had found his dream property thanks to PAPATY and advised Fadi to contact Gilles to talk about his family’s much desired second home in Paris. PAPATY quickly began a search and found an apartment that was perfect for Fadi and his family! It was a property in need of some renovation but it showed excellent potential. Fadi was keen to quickly fly over to Paris to check out the property Gilles had found for him. To make the most of his trip, PAPATY arranged a series of visits to other properties, too, over two days. Fadi was pleased with this decision, as it meant he could get a good sense of the Parisian property market and compare all the properties he viewed. As it happens, Fadi made a good decision in deciding to travel abroad so promptly as the first apartment PAPATY found was the one the family wanted to buy! The team at PAPATY immediately began negotiating on the family’s behalf and secured the deal at a very good price. PAPATY then quickly appointed a notary to represent their client in carrying out a very specific duty: setting them up with a Société Civile Immobilière (SCI), a Property Purposes company which would hold this asset on their behalf, and deal with any future transmission of the property to Fadi’s children.PAPATY also introduced Fadi to Thomas, an architect, and Antoine, a contractor, who became responsible for modernising the apartment, particularly renovating the kitchen and bathrooms to a high standard. Today, Fadi and his family enjoy their wonderful second home right next to the Bon Marché department store and the Lutetia Hotel, in a splendid apartment boasting three-and-a-half metre ceilings and Versailles-panel parquet floors. The family are so happy with their new second home, they have guaranteed they will use PAPATY again for any future property investments.

Relocating to Paris with a family

Paul is a friend of Alexandre, the happy client described in our first success story. When he first contacted PAPATY, he was living in Marseille with his wife, Irène, and their sons. They dreamed of relocating to Paris as a family but, when searching themselves, struggled to find a property large enough to accommodate their family. Alexandre, knowing their requirements set the bar high, recommended they get in touch with Gilles at PAPATY to help them find their new home.

PAPATY readily accepted the family’s challenge: not only were they a big family who required many rooms, Irène also worked from home and it was essential they found a property with a home office. Moreover, the family were looking for a property where the living room overlooked the street so they could feel the energy of the city even when at home. The team at PAPATY were quick to find several properties fulfilling these requirements and they carried out a series of pre-visits on the family’s behalf, compiling detailed reports, including many photos, which they regularly sent to the family. Paul decided to take advantage of attending some work meetings in Paris to view a few of the best properties PAPATY had found. He visited one property Gilles had recommended which was located right next to the, very pleasant, Rue des Martyrs in the 9th district. Everything about the apartment appealed to him: its charm, its layout, its potential for development and even the building as a whole. Paul was eager to snatch up the property but there were a few issues which complicated matters. Firstly, such a property (a spacious family apartment in Paris, available for an attractive price) was in high demand. Secondly, the sellers had recently divorced and were waiting to move into their own new homes before they could complete the sale, and, finally, there were various other legal issues. PAPATY was quick to find a solution—the team appointed a surveyor, attended all the meetings with the notary and even attended a special meeting with the other apartment owners who managed the building. The issues were quickly resolved. Paul and his family were delighted with their new home. This Marseille–Paris move was a more complicated one, indeed, but was carried out smoothly thanks to PAPATY’s decisive actions.

An Australian’s dream

Daniel is an Australian who was living in Vancouver when he first got in touch with PAPATY. He dreamed of owning a pied-à-terre in Paris but, living so far away, found he didn’t have immediate access to the best offers and opportunities. Daniel found PAPATY and after a conversation with Gilles via Skype, he decided to hire the team to hunt for his new apartment.

Together, Daniel and Gilles reviewed real estate ads and PAPATY attended pre-visits at the most interesting of the properties they had found. Daniel was sent detailed reports following these pre-visits and was delighted to get a good sense of the properties through the many attached photos. After making a shortlist of his favourite properties, Daniel quickly booked his flights so as to attend a series of viewings arranged over a few days and spanning several districts. PAPATY ensured the viewings were conducted in a time-effective manner, knowing Daniel would be unable to return to Paris for a few months after his visit, owing to his busy schedule as a television producer in Canada. Luckily, PAPATY arranged a visit to one apartment which stood head-and-shoulders above the rest for Daniel: a one-bedroom apartment on the 6th floor of a charming building. While the building did not have a lift, it boasted the most breathtaking view of the Square Gardette—the most beautiful square in the 11th district, and maybe even the whole of Paris! The only drawback to the apartment was that it didn’t have a regular toilet, and was instead fitted with a ‘sanibroyeur’. PAPATY was quick to inform Daniel that, though not guaranteed, there was a possible solution: he could ask for co-ownership of the building so he could easily gain permission to plumb a regular toilet into the waste pipe situated on the building’s 5th floor. Daniel was pleased PAPATY was able to offer this solution and even more pleased that the team at PAPATY represented him at the co-ownership meeting and successfully obtained permission to go ahead with the plumbing work. PAPATY even ensured Daniel did not have to return to Paris just to sign the preliminary sales agreement, instead arranging power of attorney with a bilingual notary who frequently works with the PAPATY team. Happily, Daniel now own his own home in Paris and plans to spend time there this December, once renovations have been completed by a contractor—who was also introduced to him by PAPATY!