Second home in Montpellier: the guide

Three products answer three ways of coming. The character apartment of the Écusson, for short and frequent stays: everything is done on foot, the suitcase is set down, the door locks with one turn of the key. The house in Boutonnet or Aiguelongue, for long family stays: the garden, the quiet, a village atmosphere ten minutes from the Comédie. The waterfront at Palavas, Carnon or La Grande-Motte, for the summer: many Montpellier projects weigh the city against the beach, and Home Select hunts both in parallel.

Les Arceaux, the safe haven of the family market, and Port Marianne, for those who prefer the comfort of new build to the constraints of old stone, complete the choice. In the Écusson, three points are examined before anything else: the courtyard or terrace, vehicle access in a pedestrian centre, and parking, which here is worth almost a room.

The real question of a second home is the time between stays: who keeps watch, who airs the rooms, who restarts the water heater, who lets the tradesman in? An Écusson apartment in a well-kept building is managed from Paris or abroad, with a neighbour or a caretaker for the keys. A Boutonnet house asks for more: a gardener, watering in summer, shutters and frost protection in winter, and, on the edge of the pines and the garrigue, upkeep of the land, since clearing undergrowth is compulsory within fifty metres of buildings in exposed areas.

The Mediterranean summer is prepared for too: orientation of the rooms, shutters, ventilation, air conditioning to maintain, and in a recent residence in Port Marianne, the services that make absence easy are paid for in charges. Home Select builds this life of the property into the selection itself: co-ownership with or without a caretaker, real charges read in the minutes, condition of the building, shops nearby for short visits. The right pied-à-terre is the one whose cost and logic of absence were read before the offer.

The Montpellier market is lively from February to June, then in September and October; summer concentrates heat and crowds, winter offers a narrower market but less competition, useful for negotiating. For a remote buyer, April to June and September are the best windows: the inventory is fuller and viewing conditions comfortable.

Home Select’s method holds in one sequence: a brief by video call or telephone; qualification of each property on documents, diagnostics, charges and minutes included; video pre-viewings steered with the seller’s agent, window by window; the price set against comparable DVF sales; then a single trip, for the decisive viewings grouped together. Negotiation, securing the offer and coordinating the notary follow, and a power of attorney allows you to sign without coming back. The taxation of a second home according to your country of residence belongs to your notary and a tax adviser: another trade, which Home Select does not mix with the search.