Buying a home in France, made simple
Paste any French address or listing link. We pull the official records and turn them into a plain-English review of the home, in under a minute.
Or browse curated homes that already ship with their review.
01Enter the address, or paste a listing
Type any French address, or paste a link from SeLoger, Leboncoin, Green-Acres, or another French listing site. We locate the exact home on the cadastre so every number that follows is tied to that specific parcel, not a vague approximation of the neighbourhood.
No account needed to start. One field, one click.
02We pull the official records
In under a minute we gather public records that would take hours to find by hand: past sales (DVF), energy rating (ADEME), flood, clay, radon and seismic risk (Géorisques), parcel and building data (cadastre), local taxes (DGFiP), internet coverage (ARCEP), and area statistics (INSEE).
Then we cross-check them so the numbers line up. If a source disagrees with another, we tell you which one to trust and why.
03Read the Honest Review
You get a plain-English report on that specific home. Whether the asking price matches recent sales nearby. What the home will really cost to run each year, including the taxes most agents skip. The actual risks for that parcel, not a generic regional warning. And the questions worth asking before you book a viewing.
Save it, share it, or come back to it later. It's yours.
What's in every review
Eight things, on one page. No fluff, no upsell.
Price vs. local sales
Asking price benchmarked against recent DVF transactions on the same street and in the same commune.
Full purchase cost
Notary fees, registration tax, and a mortgage simulation calibrated to your nationality and residency status.
Yearly running cost
Taxe foncière, waste levy, energy bills and maintenance, using the commune's actual rates.
Risks for this parcel
Flood, clay shrinkage, radon, seismic and nearby industrial sites, pulled from Géorisques.
Legal signals
DPE obligations, septic compliance, planning zone and short-term rental rules that apply here.
Location snapshot
Real distances to school, hospital, station and supermarket. Internet and mobile coverage.
Climate, today and 2050
Monthly weather normals and the projected outlook for the area in 2050.
Questions for the agent
The specific things worth asking before you book a viewing, based on what the data showed.
Curated homes, same engine
We also hand-pick homes worth a closer look across France, Italy, Spain and Portugal. Every one of them runs through the same engine, so each listing already ships with its Honest Review attached.
Browse the collectionOne thing worth being clear about
We're not an estate agent. We don't sell properties and we don't take commissions on the homes we review. Olivings exists because the information gap in buying property in France is real and consequential, and closing it seemed more useful than leaving it open.
The goal is simple: by the time you pick up the phone to an agent, you already know the right questions to ask.