Sainte-Maxime · Second home
Second home in Sainte-Maxime: the guide
Home Select, a prestige property finder, sets out here the rules of a second home in Sainte-Maxime: choosing between the port apartment, the villa in the hills and the gated estate to the west, running the house shut for winter, brush clearance included, buying at the right time and avoiding the traps of a town where more than one dwelling in two is a second home.
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01Second home
Why Sainte-Maxime for a second home?
Sainte-Maxime is a town of second homes: they account for 55% of dwellings, according to INSEE (2022 census). It is also a town of some 14,000 inhabitants that lives all year round, on the northern shore of the gulf of Saint-Tropez, facing south and sheltered from the mistral by the Maures massif. For an owner who is away part of the year, that is a practical advantage: the property is not isolated in a resort that empties in winter.
It is simple to reach from afar: the A8 motorway at the Le Muy exit, the TGV stations of Les Arcs-Draguignan and Saint-Raphaël, Toulon-Hyères airport, the nearest, or Nice Côte d’Azur. And it faces Saint-Tropez, which a boat shuttle reaches from the port in about twenty minutes for most of the year: you enjoy the village opposite without taking the gulf road, busy in summer. The golf course on the heights and the beaches on either side of the centre do the rest.
02Second home
Apartment, villa or estate: which property for which use?
Three products dominate, and they are not chosen in the same way. The first question is not the district but the use: the number of weeks actually spent there, the family who will come, and who will look after the property the rest of the time. A pied-à-terre for short stays and a family house for the whole summer are not sought in the same place, nor with the same checks.
- 01 The apartment in the centre and the port
The seafront facing Saint-Tropez, the shuttle, the shops: you lock up when you leave and reopen without logistics; the risk report for the centre is read before the offer.
- 02 The villa in the hills
The Sémaphore and the heights: the view over the gulf, the garden, the pool, and the upkeep that goes with them, brush clearance included.
- 03 The gated estate or the villa by the water
Guerrevieille and La Madrague to the west, La Croisette, La Nartelle and Les Éléphants: the beach on foot, with the estate rules or the coast road.
03Second home
The house shut for winter: what it requires
A second home is judged on the time between stays. An apartment in a co-ownership is managed remotely: the managing agent, a caretaker where the residence has one, readable charges. A gated estate adds security and shared amenities, with their charges and their rules. An isolated villa asks more: surveillance, a gardener, pool maintenance, someone to call in after a storm, and brush clearance on the wooded hills.
In a zone exposed to forest fire, the owner must clear the undergrowth, generally within 50 metres of the buildings, and keep the land in that state, whether present or not: it is a budget and organisation line, to be settled before summer. Winterising counts too: pool, water supply, air conditioning, shutters, entrusted to a professional under contract rather than to emergencies. And the yearly costs: charges, property tax, the taxe d’habitation, still due on second homes, insurance. Home Select builds this cost of absence into the selection, before the offer and not after.
04Second home
When to buy, and which traps to avoid?
In summer the gulf is saturated: the road is busy and an address is hard to judge amid the season. The rest of the year shows Sainte-Maxime as it lives. To be in by the start of summer, launch the search in autumn or winter: the search, the preliminary contract, the buyer’s ten-day cooling-off period and then the deed at the notaire’s each take their time. Home Select steers everything remotely, brief by video call, properties qualified on paper, video pre-viewings with the seller’s agent, and brings you over only for the decisive viewings, grouped into a single trip.
- 01 The risk report
The centre, at the mouth of the Préconil, has already known floods, and the commune’s risk document lists La Nartelle beach among the areas exposed to marine submersion: read the risk report before the offer.
- 02 The seaside co-ownership
Sea spray, façades, waterproofing, lift: the works voted and to come are read in the minutes; have the works costed before the offer.
- 03 The slope, the road and the summer
A villa in the hills is lived with a road, parking and seasonal neighbours: ask the summer question before you sign.
A property finder answers within one working day. A first confidential conversation, with no commitment.
On the ground
Why a property finder in Sainte-Maxime?
The best addresses never list
On this market, a share of the sought-after properties sells before publication, between families and through notaires and local networks. Home Select receives more than 100 off-market properties every day from its network of 15,000 partners.
You only view the essential
Every lead is verified and priced for you before you travel, on file then on a video viewing: you view only the shortlisted properties, your decisive viewings grouped into a single trip. Home Select then defends your offer, with a complete file and the actual sales of the area in hand.
The building audited before you commit
Surveys, co-ownership rules, easements, local building specifics: every document is checked before you commit.
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.
In the same dossier
The whole city: Property finder in Sainte-Maxime Buy a house in Sainte-MaximeBuy a villa in Sainte-MaximeBuy an apartment in Sainte-Maxime
Read next: Buying a sea-view property in Sainte-Maxime Second home
Frequently asked questions
Second home in Sainte-Maxime: the guide
Apartment or villa for a second home in Sainte-Maxime?
It depends on the number of weeks spent there and on who will look after the property. The apartment in the centre and the port locks up and reopens without logistics, with the beach, the shops and the shuttle to Saint-Tropez on foot. A villa on the Sémaphore or in the hills offers space and the view, but needs surveillance, year-round upkeep and brush clearance; the gated estate to the west shares part of that load. Home Select settles this question before searching.
How do you maintain a villa shut for winter in Sainte-Maxime?
Through an arrangement decided before the purchase: who keeps watch and holds the keys, who maintains the garden, the pool and the air conditioning, who clears the undergrowth. In a zone exposed to forest fire, brush clearance is a legal obligation, generally within 50 metres of the buildings, whether the owner is present or not. A villa with simple access, or in an estate that provides security and shared upkeep, is easier to manage remotely than an isolated property on the slope.
When should you start buying a second home in Sainte-Maxime?
In autumn or winter, to be in by the start of summer: the search, the preliminary contract, the ten-day cooling-off period and then the deed each take their time. In summer the gulf is saturated and an address is hard to judge amid the season; the rest of the year shows the town as it lives.
Can you buy in Sainte-Maxime without making several trips?
Yes. Home Select steers the search remotely, from its management and with its network of 15,000 partners: brief by video call, properties qualified on paper, video pre-viewings conducted with the seller’s agent, price checked against comparable DVF sales. You come only for the decisive viewings, grouped into a single trip; the deed can be signed by power of attorney before the notaire, and nothing is owed before it, the fees being 100% on success.
What are your fees in Sainte-Maxime?
Home Select, a property finder in Sainte-Maxime, 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 project in Sainte-Maxime
A first confidential conversation, with no commitment. A property finder answers within one working day.
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- On Google (130+ reviews)
- 1,200+
- Buyers guided
- 100%
- On success, nothing upfront
It takes 1 minute.
Or call Home Select directly on 01 78 76 78 10
