Owning a property in France without living there: inspections, mail, managing agent, claims, insurance
A property held from abroad does not look after itself: it needs a regular eye, followed mail, a managing agent who answers and someone able to act on site within five days of a claim. This guide says what distance changes, how often to inspect, and what Home Select organises so that the property waits for you in good condition.
By Jean Mascla, founder of Home SelectUpdated · 8 min read
What does owning a property from afar actually mean?
It is a cruising regime, not neglect: the property stays alive between stays, its mail handled, its papers tracked, its managing agent heard, its repairs triggered. In practice the absent owner delegates four gestures: looking on site at regular intervals, being represented where a human is required, handling paperwork remotely, and maintaining before anything breaks. The table below maps these tasks and their rhythm.
The first year sets habits for a decade. It starts with the owner’s inventory: dated photos, meter readings, weak points noted (roof, boiler, tiling, seals), and a property file where everything is recorded. Then the network goes in: a trusted local contact or a caretaking service, the managing agent identified, the insurer told the property is unoccupied, utilities switched to the right plan. Last, the calendar is set: visits, seasonal opening and closing, periodic servicing.
Local network: caretaking or a trusted contact, managing agent’s details, insurer’s references.
Insurance moved to the fitting regime: occupied, unoccupied, or alternating, with the insurer told.
Utilities set to the seldom-occupied plan: water, energy, internet, as usage dictates.
First-year calendar: inspection visits, seasonal opening and closing, periodic servicing.
Under what conditions does a property stand alone, with no resident?
Three conditions separate a property that ages well from one that decays. Insurance first: an empty home falls under a specific contract, and a vacancy running past what the contract allows can suspend the cover. Climate next: in cold regions, a boiler on standby and drained pipes avoid the catastrophic winter; by the sea, exterior upkeep doubles its pace. Co-ownership last: rules may impose works voted at the general meeting, where absence excuses neither voting nor paying.
How much does it cost to keep up a property from afar?
Two kinds of costs stack up. The recurring charges, incompressible: property tax (and second-home residence tax where it applies), utilities, insurance premiums, co-ownership charge provisions. Then the action costs: inspection visits, interventions, periodic servicing, repairs, billed by time spent and at providers’ actual rates.
Cost lines of a property held from afar
Line
Nature
Who prices it
Local taxes (property, second-home)
Recurring, set by local authorities
The tax administration
Insurance, utilities, co-ownership charges
Recurring, contractual
Your contracts
Visits, attendance, periodic servicing
Time spent, on quotation
The partner Home Select introduces
Repairs, fixes, works
Providers’ actual rates
The partner Home Select introduces
At what rhythm to check, and within which deadlines to act?
How often to visit is chosen with the property: a flat on a courtyard is not visited like a house with a pool and garden. Deadlines, though, are law or contract: water damage is declared within five working days, burglary within two working days of discovery, a natural disaster within ten days of the decree’s publication. The table below keeps the calendar.
The deadlines that matter for an owner abroad
Event
Legal or customary deadline
Where to declare
Water damage
Five working days after discovery
Insurer (joint report if a third party)
Burglary or attempt
Two working days after discovery
Insurer, and a police report
Natural disaster
Ten days after the decree’s publication
Insurer
General meeting of the building
Notice sent at least three weeks ahead
Proxy or mandate to a third party
What exactly does distance change?
Distance changes three things, and only three. Reaction time: water damage on a Friday night is handled in hours, not on waking in another time zone; hence the value of a local contact who sees, shuts off and relays. Signature: representing someone in France requires a written proxy, sometimes apostilled depending on the country; it is prepared before the emergency. Mail last: the French administration speaks to the property’s address, taxes and managing agent included; without forwarding or follow-up, notices become surprises. The rest, water, power, tradespeople, is run remotely today without difficulty.
Èze, Côte d’Azur
What should every inspection visit check?
A useful inspection visit always follows the same protocol, otherwise it comes down to staring at walls. The table below is that report’s frame.
The visit protocol, zone by zone
Zone
What gets checked
Warning sign
Water and damp
Meters, shut-off valves, water marks, seals
Damp patch, smell, mould
Roof, facade, outside
Tiles or covering, gutters, vegetation, shutters
Missing tile, blocked gutter, crack
Heating and power
Boiler or heat pump on standby, freezer, breakers
Silent failure, gas smell
Mail, locks, security
Letterbox emptied, locks, shutters closed, alarm
Piled-up mail, signs of break-in
What happens to a property left with nobody?
The trouble with an empty property is that it decays in silence. Water damage unnoticed swells floors within weeks; an undrained pipe freezes and bursts at the first cold; pests settle as soon as power and footfall stop; a home that looks empty invites unlawful occupation. And the final fall: the insurer may refuse or reduce compensation if the contract requires periodic visits or precautions nothing can prove.
Having it watched or visited: what options exist?
Three arrangements are used, and they are not equal. The neighbour or relative: humanly precious, legally fragile, nothing written, no report.
What mistakes should you avoid when holding from abroad?
The distant owner’s classic mistakes, and their answer
Mistake
Answer
Letting mail pile up in the box
Forwarding or tracked pickup; box emptied at every visit
Discovering the general meeting after the vote
Proxy prepared ahead, or a caretaking mandate
Cutting water and power "to save"
A plan fit for a seldom-occupied home, not a total shutdown
Waiting for the emergency to find a tradesperson
The partner Home Select introduces
What Home Select organises for a property held from afar
The search ends at the keys; ownership begins. Before the signing, Home Select introduces you to the partners who take over on site: a concierge service for the inspection visits and the mail, a trusted tradesperson, an insurer who knows non-occupying owners.
Each acts under their own responsibility, with a written report you receive wherever you are. Your property finder remains your contact when a decision goes beyond routine: works, a claim, a sale.
Frequently asked questions
How often should an unoccupied property be visited?
There is no single legal frequency, but three markers set it: the insurance contract, which may require a periodic visit to keep certain covers; the seasonal rhythm (before and after winter, before and after summer); and the property’s use. Common practice ranges from monthly to quarterly, always with a written report.
Can a neighbour stand in for professional caretaking?
A neighbour does a favour, they do not answer for it: without a written commitment or a report, nothing proves the visit, and that is exactly the proof the insurer demands after a claim. The right arrangement combines both: the neighbour alerts day to day, the caretaking visits, documents and acts within the deadlines.
How do I track mail from abroad?
Three routes combine: temporary forwarding for tracking, pickup and scanning by the caretaking at each visit, and going paperless with the contacts that allow it (managing agent, insurer, tax administration all offer online spaces). The critical point is the letterbox itself: piled-up mail signals absence, to the tax office as to the ill-intentioned.
How do I get represented at the general meeting?
The law of 10 July 1965 offers three routes: voting by written proxy given to another owner or a third party, standing representation by the spouse or partner, and remote voting where the rules provide it. The managing agent must send the notice at least three weeks before the meeting, with the agenda and documents.
Should water and power be cut when leaving for long?
Shut off, yes; switch everything off, no. Water closes at the meter before a long absence, and pipes drain before winter: that is the answer to frost. Power stays on sensible standby: freezer, alarm, boiler in frost-protection and smart home need the current, and a total cut can do more harm than an avoided claim. The departure protocol in our securing-your-property pillar details the right settings.
What should be done when a third party finds water damage?
Three gestures in order: stop (shut the supply, call the repairer), record (dated photos, marks, likely origin) and declare to the insurer within five working days, a statutory deadline. If a third party is involved (neighbour, co-ownership), the joint report is filled in by both.
How long can a property stay unoccupied without trouble?
No rule forbids vacancy, but two clocks run. Insurance: many contracts cover prolonged absence up to the limit they define, beyond which certain covers (theft especially) lapse; the declared use must stay accurate. The building: past a few months without visit or upkeep, small failures add up.
Who pays what when the co-ownership votes works?
Every owner shares by their lot’s fractions, and absence at the meeting changes neither the vote nor the call for funds. Major works split under article 14 of the 1965 law, sometimes with special clauses for particular-use lots.
How do you keep a pool or garden from afar?
Through contracts and visits: a pool lives by its servicing rhythm (testing, chemicals, filtration, winterising), a garden by the seasons, and neither tolerates improvisation. The arrangement that holds combines a local provider on a schedule and inspection visits that record, price and report.
Preparing a purchase in France from abroad? Describe your project: a Home Select property finder answers within one working day, and the file starts with the right partners, in the right order.
Your request is already sent, simply pick what suits you.
A property finder calls you back within one working day.
🇫🇷+33
An error occurred. Please try again.
Then answer 3 quick questions to be matched with the right hunter.
Home Select processes your data (name, email, phone, project) to handle your request and contact you. It is recorded in our follow-up tool and read by the hunter in charge of your project. Our technical providers access it for hosting, email and checking that your email and number are real, some of them from the United States under the safeguards set by the GDPR. We keep it for three years after our last exchange, or five years after the end of our assignment if you entrust it to us, as French anti-money-laundering law requires. To access, correct or erase it, or to object to its use: contact@home-select.fr. Details in our privacy policy.
Your hunter calls you back within one working day.
Resume your request?
You started a request recently. Pick up where you left off, or start over.
Your answers are kept for 24 hours.
What is your project?
Takes 1 minute, no commitment.
Where are you looking?
Select one or more cities or areas
Your budget?
€
You pay only when Home Select finds it.
Anything to add?
Optional. Add any useful details: specifics about your search, constraints or your availability.
This helps your hunter prepare for your call.
An expert will contact you shortly
Your brief
Confidential search: your file goes to a senior hunter.
60 rue François 1er, 75008 Paris · FCI member
FeesOne month’s rent excluding charges, plus VAT, with a minimum of €2,000 including VAT. Payable only when the lease is signed. No application fee.
Step 1 of 2 · Your search
What are you looking for?
Furnished, unfurnished or both?
In which city?
One or more cities or areas.
€ / month
Charges included, as in the listings.
You would like to move in
Two minutes, no documents needed at this stage.
FeesOne month’s rent excluding charges, plus VAT, with a minimum of €2,000 including VAT. Payable only when the lease is signed. No application fee.
Step 2 of 2 · Your situation
Your situation
These answers let Home Select tell you quickly, and frankly, whether your search can succeed on the market in your city.
You are applying
€ / month
Before tax, regular bonuses included, for everyone applying.
Main applicant’s employment
Your company is based in France
Number of annual accounts filed
To strengthen your file
Optional for your profile. A guarantee reassures landlords.
Guarantor’s situation
€ / month
Who it is for, why you are moving, what matters to you. Do not include sensitive information (health, origin, religion, family situation).
Your contact details
🇫🇷+33
Reply within 24 business hours.
Home Select processes your data (name, email, phone, project, employment, income, guarantee) to review your rental request and contact you. Your answers are compared with the criteria landlords apply, then read by Home Select’s rental hunter. A request that cannot succeed receives a written reply within 24 business hours, and you can ask for it to be reviewed again at contact@home-select.fr. Our technical providers access it for hosting, email and checking that your email and number are real, some of them from the United States under the safeguards set by the GDPR. A request that does not lead to an assignment is erased after three months; otherwise, we keep your data for three years after our last exchange, or five years after the end of our assignment if you entrust it to us, as French anti-money-laundering law requires. To access, correct or erase it, or to object to its use: contact@home-select.fr. Details in our privacy policy.
FeesOne month’s rent excluding charges, plus VAT, with a minimum of €2,000 including VAT. Payable only when the lease is signed. No application fee.
Your file
Your file matches what landlords expect
Book your meeting with Stéphane Martins, rental hunter. He confirms it after reading your file, within 24 business hours.
Choose your time slot
Times shown in Paris time.
Confirmation arrives by email and text message.
FeesOne month’s rent excluding charges, plus VAT, with a minimum of €2,000 including VAT. Payable only when the lease is signed. No application fee.
Your request
Your request is in good hands
Stéphane Martins, rental hunter, is reviewing your file and will reply within 24 business hours.
You will receive a confirmation email.
You arrived through one of Home Select’s ads or campaigns.Ad measurement.Do you agree to Home Select measuring how well it works? Home Select will know which campaign brought you here and, if you get in touch, the ad platform will only learn that its ad worked, without receiving your contact details.Do you agree to Home Select measuring how well its ads work? If you arrive through one of them, Home Select will know which one and, if you get in touch, the ad platform will only learn that its ad worked, without receiving your contact details.Learn moreYour current choice: .
