Buying a sea-view property in Antibes

The Cap d’Antibes first: the peninsula between the bay of Juan and the baie des Anges, great properties under the pines, the Garoupe lighthouse and its chapel. The view is the rule there and the sea often at the end of the garden; value depends on the proximity of the water and the coastal easements. A market of world rank, almost entirely off-market.

La Salis and La Garoupe, on the southern slope: villas and houses a few steps from the water, views over the cape and the bay, the most sought-after entry point to the cape market. Juan-les-Pins sells the sea in front, at sand level: 1930s and contemporary residences facing the beaches, an abundant market where the sorting decides everything.

Old Antibes and Port Vauban offer another view: the ramparts facing the open sea, the character floors looking at the port and the quays. The Antibes heights, finally: family villas in quiet, leafy districts, views over the sea and the Estérel massif. The sea there is a panorama, not a neighbour.

The first line has its downsides. In Juan-les-Pins, July and August saturate traffic and parking: a view over the beaches is judged with the windows open. Facing the sea, salt spray ages façades, ironwork and waterproofing fast, and an exposed render is paid through the charges. The meeting minutes, the maintenance log and the co-ownership rules are read before growing attached to a view.

Then the angle: between two buildings, a side view can close with a neighbour’s added storey, and overlooking is measured from each room, not from the balcony. On the heights the trap lies below: a plot still buildable, a permitted height, pines growing up; the view is secured at the local planning scheme.

On the cape the checks are of another kind: the public footpath easement along the shore, real access to the water and the loi Littoral; in exposed wooded zones, brush clearance within fifty metres of the buildings falls to the owner. Everywhere, the surveys are at the seller’s expense, and the works are costed before the offer: a view is never a reason to sign without a file.

Home Select works Antibes remotely, for the buyer’s sole account. The brief is set by video call or by phone: which degree of view, from which rooms, at what budget. Home Select’s management then steers the search with its network of 15,000 partners; Home Select receives more than 100 off-market properties every day and monitors 1,700 listing sites.

Each shortlisted property is qualified on documents: plans, orientation, floor, meeting minutes, co-ownership rules, planning below. Then comes the video pre-viewing, steered by Home Select with the seller’s agent: window by window, camera at eye level then turned to the sides, to see the angle, the overlooking and what sticks up below. The sea view of the listing becomes a measured view, then set against comparable DVF sales at the address.

You travel only for the decisive viewings, grouped into a single trip, Nice airport being twenty minutes away; May-June and September-October remain the windows to aim for. Home Select negotiates, secures the offer and coordinates the notaire up to completion; a power of attorney lets you sign without coming back. The fees of Home Select, founded in 2011, are due 100% on success, nothing before completion.