The cities that rent: Lyon, Montpellier, Toulouse
Student, active, attractive: France’s regional metropolises carry the rental demand. The analysis plays on the neighbourhood, the building and the charges before the price.
Buy a rental property that keeps its promises
A rental investment plays on a local market’s real figures: observed prices, rents, charges, regulation. Home Select hunts on the ground, audits every file and negotiates: the yield is built before the purchase.
Why a rental investment is a different kind of purchase
The yield is decided before the purchase
A rental property is judged on its real figures: observed rents, charges, co-ownership, works, local taxation. No listing gives them. Alone, you pay the asking price; accompanied, every line of the file is checked and negotiation is part of the yield: 6% obtained on average off the asking price.
Local markets you have to know on the ground
The neighbourhoods that rent, the layouts that let, the buildings to avoid: all of this changes from street to street, in Lyon as in Biarritz. Our network of 15,000 partners also surfaces properties before they go on sale, where the discounts are.
Our method applied to rental investment
The framing sets the real objective: yield, future use, holding horizon, seasonal share. The brief follows, with target figures attached.
The hunt happens on the ground: the local network surfaces properties, every file passes an economic audit (observed market rents, charges, co-ownership, foreseeable works) and a technical one before any viewing.
The negotiation builds on those figures: the purchase price is the first line of the yield, and the offer is defended with the complete file in hand.
The markets where we hunt for investors
The seasonal coast: Côte d’Azur, Basque Country, Atlantic
Seasonal letting there follows local regulations and short seasons: the right purchase is prepared out of season, when negotiation becomes possible again.
The mountains and weekend coastlines
Alps, Normandy, Brittany: dual-season markets or Parisian clientele, where value rests on precise technical criteria, from resort co-ownerships to seafront facades.
Micro-markets
City by city, what holds and what does not
Yield is decided on the micro-market, not on a regional average. Here, for each city, is what carries rental demand and what limits it. The city page goes further, with its medians, its five-year curve and its latest sales.
Provence
- Aix-en-Provence Aix is an investment market carried by its students and its professionals: the old centre and the streets around the universities let all year, without depending on the season.
- Marseille Marseille is the most contrasted market on this list: two streets can separate two different rental realities.
- Cassis Cassis is a market of scarcity, not of yield: supply is tiny and demand permanent.
- La Ciotat La Ciotat is one of the few addresses on the Provence coast where the rental equation still works: a town that works all year thanks to its yacht refit yards, a permanent population and more measured values than its neighbours.
- Avignon Avignon brings together what few heritage cities combine: a university, a court, a hospital and a festival.
- Bandol Bandol lives on its season: the marina, the beaches and the appellation vineyard draw visitors from April to October.
- Sanary-sur-Mer Sanary has what an investor looks for on the coast: a town that does not close in October.
- Saint-Cyr-sur-Mer Saint-Cyr is a second-home market before it is a rental one: demand is seasonal, carried by Les Lecques and La Madrague.
Côte d’Azur
- Nice Nice is the deepest rental market on the Riviera: students, professionals, conferences and the tourist season follow one another all year.
- Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat Cap-Ferrat is not a rental investment market: a few hundred properties, a strict framework for short-term letting and buyers who purchase to live or to pass on.
- Cannes Cannes is the most liquid market on the Côte d’Azur, and the most seasonal: conferences, festivals and summer sustain strong short-term demand.
- Antibes Antibes combines two rental demands: the permanent one from Sophia Antipolis and its executives, and the seasonal one from Port Vauban and Juan-les-Pins.
- Saint-Tropez The gulf of Saint-Tropez is a market of short, intense season: letting exists, tightly framed by the communes and the building regulations, and is prepared long in advance.
Alps
- Megève In Megève, short-term letting is an organised reality, framed by the commune and by building regulations: it is prepared before the purchase, not after.
- Courchevel Courchevel is the most prestigious Alpine market in France and its rental economy is global, highly organised and highly seasonal.
- Chamonix Chamonix has one feature that changes everything: the valley lives all year, with two full seasons.
Rhône-Alpes
- Lyon Lyon is the second heritage market in France and one of the safest for a year-round investment: universities, healthcare, corporate headquarters and demand that depends on no season.
- Annecy Annecy is a market stretched by permanent demand: local employment, the proximity of Geneva and tourist appeal.
- Évian-les-Bains The French Lake Geneva market is driven by Geneva: year-round rental demand comes from cross-border workers, which makes it very different from the rest of the Alps.
Basque Country
- Biarritz Biarritz is one of the tightest markets in France, with year-round demand carried by the appeal of the Basque coast and a long tourist season.
- Saint-Jean-de-Luz Saint-Jean-de-Luz is a family market, held by owners who sell rarely: supply is structurally scarce.
Atlantic Coast
- Bordeaux Bordeaux brings together a large student population, a solid employment base and two hours from Paris by TGV: year-round rental demand runs deep.
- Arcachon Arcachon is a seasonal market, carried by family demand from Bordeaux and Paris.
- Cap Ferret Cap Ferret is not a yield market: most fine sales are agreed privately, within a narrow circle.
- La Rochelle La Rochelle lives all year: a university, a major marina, a long tourist season.
- Île de Ré The Île de Ré is a closed market, where houses are handed down more than they are sold.
Occitanie
- Montpellier Montpellier is one of the deepest student markets in France, with demographics that do not falter: year-round rental demand is structural.
- Toulouse Toulouse brings together what makes a long-term investment hold: demographics among the most dynamic in France, the aerospace industry and one of the largest student populations in the country.
- Collioure Collioure is a miniature market, held by very strong tourist demand and a supply of a few streets.
Normandy
- Deauville Deauville lives on a long season and on weekends all year, which sustains a dynamic short-term letting market, framed by the commune and by the buildings.
- Honfleur Honfleur is a dense tourist market on a tiny supply: short-term letting works, within a communal and building framework to be investigated before the offer.
Brittany
- Vannes Vannes is a year-round city, carried by its employment area, its university and a long tourist season on the gulf.
Fees
Two offers, paid on success
- 2.5% of the net purchase price
- Exclusive offer The full service, at every budget. Minimum €10,000 incl. VAT.
- 1.5% of the net purchase price
- Confidential offer The same service, dedicated to off-market properties. Reserved for projects of €2m and above.
Home Select is paid 100% on success: nothing is due until you have bought.
Frequently asked questions
What we are asked first
Do you hunt rental investments beyond your listed cities?
Yes: each of our covered areas has its page, and any other city is handled tailor-made with the same method and network. Île-de-France is served by our dedicated website, homeselect.paris.
Do you analyse the yield before the viewings?
Yes: every shortlisted property passes an economic audit (observed market rents, charges, co-ownership, foreseeable works) before you travel. You only view the files that hold together, three on average.
What are your fees ?
Home Select charges 2.5% of the net purchase price (minimum €10,000 incl. VAT) on the Exclusive offer, or 1.5% on the Confidential offer for projects of €2m and above. Home Select is paid on success only: nothing is due until you have bought.
What happens next
- A property finder reads your request and answers within one working day.
- A first confidential conversation: how you will use the property, the real budget, the non-negotiable criteria, the timing.
- A written brief, and a search started within the week. Nothing is due until you have bought.
Your rental investment project
A first confidential conversation, with no commitment. A property finder answers within one working day.
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Takes 1 minute, free and no commitment.
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