Buyer Guide

Buying property in Nice

Those purchasing property in Nice generally fall into two categories: holiday home buyers and private and professional investors. We have written two different guides, one for each category, as their priorities are different. Buyers sometimes fall into both categories, wanting to use the property a few weeks a year and then rent it out when not being used to cover costs. Feel free to read both guides. When contacting us, please let us know the importance of each category to you.

Residential buildings surrounding a pedestrian square in central Nice

Personal Profit

Personal

Sunlit terrace overlooking the Mediterranean

The Holiday Home

Finding a home rather than investment is about working out what you are looking for. What is most important to you. Would you prefer a larger apartment even though it is an extra five minutes walk from the beach? Some dream about a balcony to sit outside and sip a glass of wine. Others a cosy pied-a-terre. Each area of Nice has its own character, from the architecture to the amenities. Is the draw to be near the excitement of the Old Town? To be seconds from the beach? Or do you plan to eat and relax on a terrace.

To some extent your budget will dictate the area, and the extras you can get. A sea view can add 50% to the price of a property, a terrace can be an extra 25%. A nice building costs, as does if it is a top floor or on a prestigious road. If you do not mind a ground floor or do not mind walking several flights of stairs, then you can probably get an extra bedroom for the same price. Sometimes a must-have dictates the area, for instance you can have an apartment in the Old Town or an apartment with a terrace but not both.

Once you have decided on your budget, please read our guide and then put together a list of the most desirable characteristics you want your dream property to have. Even give each one an importance one to ten. Most importantly, decide which areas you like the look of the most. From this we can start to work on putting together your portfolio.

The Home away from Home

When you are buying a property primarily for yourself, the question is not simply which area performs best on paper. It is where you will actually want to spend your time. Two apartments at the same price can offer very different experiences depending on what is outside the front door. One may put you a minute from the sea but further from the restaurants and streets you enjoy most; another may sacrifice the view but make everyday life in Nice effortless. The right choice depends on how you imagine using the property once the search is over.

Think about the routines that matter when you are here. Do you want to walk to the beach each morning, buy food at a local market, return easily from dinner, or sit somewhere quiet away from the busiest streets? Some buyers want the energy of the Old Town, while others prefer a more residential neighbourhood, easier access, a lift, outside space or a building that feels calm when they return at the end of the day. These priorities can matter more than the characteristics that would maximise rental income.

This is why choosing the area comes before chasing individual properties. Once we understand how you intend to live in Nice, we can concentrate the search on neighbourhoods that suit that life and then judge each apartment within that context. A holiday home should ultimately feel like somewhere you are pleased to return to, rather than an investment decision that happens to have a bed in it.

Find that perfect holiday home

Profit

Renovated compact apartment interior in Nice’s Old Town

The Best Investment

Nice offers a very solid investment but the returns have changed over the years as laws and taxes have evolved. One of the best yields has always been holiday rentals but like other cities there have been ever tightening restrictions, even though the Mayor (and previous one) have come out as not being against AirBnb and similar sites. It is not unusual for French laws to be contradictory to the publicly stated Government aims or policy and so it is not wise to try and assume something because it appears logical or obvious.

DO NOT ASK AI ! I have lost count of the number of emails people have sent me with pasted responses from an AI engine. They are nearly all 99% wrong. Either go directly to the source, for national rules the web address will end with .gouv and for local to Nice ends with nicecotedazur.org, or get your estate agent to point you to an authorative source.

Location location location! But budget very much dictates which one when it comes to investment. There are great bargains in the Old Town at the budget end, plenty of apartments just behind the beach with some outside space in the mid range, and penthouse suites on the sea front with stunning views at the luxury end. You may walk into an apartment and think "Goodness this is small!" bit instead you need to think of it being advertised online and think "How much will this rent for?". If you are buying the apartment partly for yourself then you need to tell us as this will influence our choice of properties, otherwise we know which apartments will give you the maximum returns.

Properties turn over quickly in Nice and bargains can sell within days so you need to be more reactive than a casual holiday home buyer. What you see online and the properties we first send you are merely representative of what you can expect. Make sure you read all the guides on the site before you do your first viewing so you do not end up regretting "the one that got away".

Read the Property Investment Guide

Making the Numbers Work

Working out the net yield takes into account your purchase price, your fixed outgoings, your gross income, management charges, then how much in your pocket after tax. These calculations depend on your type of rental. In France you have a few, the key being: long term, student, and holiday lettings.

Financially, long term letting is dead. Holiday letting is very profitable and if you buy well you can expect around 10% gross yield and just under 5% net. However there are now restrictions on this which will be on another page as the rules are changing every year. Student letting is surprisingly good due to so many Universities in the city and a shortage of accommodation. The government has now introduced a new rental type called "Mixed" where if you rent 9 months to a student, at a market rate they decide, they will give you 90 days authorisation every summer for holiday lettings. This is viewed as an increasingly attractive option.

Your ongoing costs are surprisingly good value for money in Nice. For example if you have a one-bedroom apartment in the city centre you can expect your council tax to be around €70/month, water €20/month, fibre-optic internet €30/month, and "condo" charges around €100/month. Rough 2026 prices. You should also budget for maintenance, for instance touching up the paint every few years and emergency works on the building that you can be asked to contribute to.

To work out your pre-tax net yield for holiday lettings, I have created the Ultimate Rental Income Calculator which is linked below. The is an excellent way to start playing with the numbers and getting a feel for a realistic income from your investment property.

Play with the Ultimate Rental Calculator

Work out your budget

This is the most important step even before exploring the areas of Nice or working out what kind of property will make the most money there. The budget dictates the area and the optimal property. Whether buying with cash or credit, there are purchasing costs to consider and you will want to examine the buying costs section so you can work out the actual maximum property asking price you should be looking for during your search.

The good deals in Nice often sell within a couple of days and so when you arrive in Nice educating yourself in advance is your best weapon. Of course we will be by your side step-by-step from the start of the search until you get the keys to your new home but having the edge to be able to make a move quickly and get that offer in first will be a big advantage to securing that dream property at the best possible price.

Cash purchase

Yes you can often negotiate a better price if it is a cash purchase. It is always simpler and quicker. If you get a mortgage outside of France then this is still considered a cash purchase and so you cannot stipulate a clause making it subject to obtaining a loan.

Your total cash allocated should take into account the Notaire fees, around 7.8% of the purchase price, and furnishing the apartment as the asking price nearly never includes the furniture. Fixtures, however, stay so a fully equipped kitchen or light fixtures are not considered furniture. When speaking to your Nice estate agent, make sure you give the maximum property price you are prepared to pay after deducting the Notary fees and a small reserve for furnishing it.

It is possible to purchase in your own name or through a company but there are ramifications to each approach and so you will want to discuss this with your estate agent or Notary. The good news is that you do not need to decide this whilst securing the purchase, it can wait until closing a couple of months later.

What should my purchase price be?

Use the free calculator I have created to enter your total budget and it will tell you what property price range you should be looking for taking into account purchasing costs.

Calculate purchase price

French Mortgage

Getting a French mortgage is slow and time consuming but it can offer better rates than many other countries. No, you do not need to open a French bank account before buying a property or looking to get a mortgage. If you live outside of France then you will be better off going through a mortgage broker that deals with your country. For instance very few French banks will offer loans to buyers from the United States. Many are also reluctant to issue a loan for less than €250,000.

French banks do not offer equity release or secured loans outside of the asset being purchased. It is purely revenue based. The rules are the same whether you are a French resident or not: your mortgage repayment cannot exceed 1/3 of your net revenue. Net is your gross income after tax minus any major credit repayments such as other properties or vehicles.

Our mortgage calculator works both ways in real-time, where you can enter your income and it will display what property price you can afford or you can enter a property price and it will tell you what income you will need to declare.

Work out your monthly repayments

Use the calculator to try different property prices, interest rates, years of loan, until you find that monthly repayment that fits comfortably within your planned budget.

Calculate mortgage repayments

From making an offer to closing

Once an offer has been accepted, then we move to the "pre-contract" phase called the "Compromis de Vente". This is a comprehensive legal document that clearly lays out the responsibilities of both buyer and seller. Once this has been signed, neither side can renegotiate anything, including the price. Before this, it is important you work closely with your estate agent and Notary to understand what you are committed to and at which point.

The Notary is employed by the government and draws up the contract. Their legal fees are fixed by the government and included in the "Notaire fees" you see in the calculations above. You have unlimited consultations and advice for free. However, they do not visit the apartment or know the potential pitfalls specific to that property. This is where you need an experienced estate agent to communicate with the Notary and put in all the clauses to protect you that the Notary may otherwise not have foreseen.

The sales process is easy, safe and secure. Once you sign, you simply wait for the Notary to do their work. The full process takes roughly two months, and you then pay the balance at least 48 hours before the day of closing. On that day you are the owner and get the keys. It is as simple as that.

Local support after completion

After you buy

Getting the keys is not necessarily the end of the job. Having somebody local who already knows you and the property can be just as useful afterwards.

You may want to renovate, redecorate or make changes before your next visit, and finding reliable people from another country is not always straightforward. We can help introduce builders, tradespeople and other local contacts, help you understand what needs to happen next, and provide a familiar point of contact while you are getting settled into owning property in Nice.

There are also the less exciting parts of ownership: unfamiliar letters, a French tax bill you are trying to decipher, questions about the building or simply not knowing who to ask. We cannot replace the appropriate legal, tax or professional adviser, but we can often help you understand what you are looking at and point you towards the right person when specialist advice is needed.

Renovation: Introductions to builders and local tradespeople
French paperwork: Help understanding unfamiliar bills and correspondence
Ongoing support: A local point of contact after completion

Word of mouth is important to our business so we are happy to support our clients even after they have moved in. Feel free to ask for references from our happy clients or check out our online reviews

Ready to talk about buying in Nice?

+33 6 98 90 00 02 Contact us