Second home in Nîmes: the guide

Town or countryside: many projects hesitate. The mas of the garrigue or of the Costières vineyards forms another market, with its own rules, water, drainage, brush clearance; Home Select hunts both in parallel, and the choice is settled on paper, not on a summer impression.

In town, three products answer three ways of coming. The Écusson floor, for short and frequent stays: the suitcase is set down, everything is done on foot, the door locks with a turn of the key. The townhouse with a courtyard, for those who want summer in the heart of the city, at the price of watchful upkeep. The Montaury house with a garden, for long family stays: it can be lived in all year but needs someone for the garden.

The real question of a second home is the time between stays: who keeps watch, who airs the rooms, who lets the tradesman in? In the old buildings of Nîmes, remote management is prepared: a trusted craftsman for the stone and the roofs, someone to watch over a courtyard, follow-up of the façade works voted by the co-ownership. An old house closed for long periods needs airing, and damp in ground floors on a courtyard needs watching.

The Nîmes summer is prepared too: shutters, ventilation, watering the garden and, at the edge of the garrigue, brush clearance, mandatory over 50 m around buildings in exposed zones. In winter, frost protection and a regular visit are enough in a well-kept building. Home Select builds this life of the property into the selection: managing agent and real charges read in the minutes, condition of the building, nearby shops for short stays. The right pied-à-terre is the one whose logic of absence was read before the offer.

Nîmes lives all year round, and its market is steady: summer fills with tourists around the arena and the ferias, but sales are mostly concluded in spring and at the September rentrée. In winter, the Écusson belongs to the Nîmois again: the low season gives access to owners whom summer distracts. For a remote buyer, the winter brief prepares the spring shortlist.

Home Select’s method is a sequence: a brief by video call or by phone; each property qualified on paper, diagnostics, charges and minutes included; video pre-viewings run with the seller’s agent; the price tested against comparable DVF sales; then a single trip, for the decisive viewings grouped together. Negotiation, securing the offer and coordinating the notaire follow, and a power of attorney makes it possible to sign without returning. The tax treatment of a second home in your country of residence is a matter for your notaire and a tax adviser.