PARIS Real Estate Finders (PREF)

We first met Darrell & Stephanie when we rented the JDM apartment. It was a break from a Western Canadian winter when Spring was coming too slowly. I was drawn to rent from them because I had idly searched on the net for information on buying an apartment in Paris. The PREF site was unique in its comprehensiveness and its detail. The search parameters were clear and their relevance was obvious. What impressed me most was the frank admission on the site that most people don't follow-through with their inquiries, and that it would not be worthwhile to engage an agent due to commission costs under a certain threshold purchase price. Notwithstanding this, and the low odds of any inquiry being a serious one, the PREF site provided full information and details of available properties, regardless of whether I was searching out of idle curiosity or whether I was serious about finding property.

I also took some reassurance from their own professional qualifications and achievements: serious business needs serious ability.

So, we rented JDM and took a holiday. During that time, we not only had a great time, but we also became acquainted with the lower 18th and got comfortable with the city; it had been a while since we had been there. We had a general chat or two with Darrell and Stephanie about real estate, but nothing too serious, and I'm certain that they did not view us as likely purchasers at that time.

A year later, we rented JDM again. We got more comfortable with the city. We had more discussions. After that, we began an email conversation with them about purchasing property, and developed a good idea of what we wanted to do. They arranged meetings with a bank for financing, which I was able to conclude almost entirely over the net. I liked the idea of using a French bank for a mortgage for two reasons: first, the lender would verify the commercial value of the property to ensure that its loan was reasonably secured against the real estate; and, second, it allowed me to plan euro transfers in currencies that were not being devalued at the time.

They also arranged a meeting with Barclays Bank so we could set-up our banking arrangements to enable us to write cheques, pay bills and make an offer with a deposit cheque attached.

A year after that second rental, we arrived in Paris a third time, staying at both Douai and JDM, ready to look for suitable property, and with local financing already lined-up. We signed the contract with Darrell and Stephanie to use their services to find something suitable. The practical advice on neighbourhoods and locations in the city, and average prices per square metre was invaluable: we would get what we wanted where we wanted it, and the choices were ours, subject only to the budget.

Over the course of a couple of days, we looked at several properties that met our criteria, and after a lot of walking we found what we were looking for in the heart of the 9th. It needed extensive renovation, but the location and characteristics were exceptional. But, before we made the offer, Darrell and Stephanie brought in the builder, who we would later use for the renovations, to give us an informed opinion on what could be done with the space and to provide a ballpark estimate of the costs. We would never have found it on our own, and no realtor had ever listed the place for sale. It took less than two days.

Darrell and Stephanie were with us to view each property, and to give an informed and helpful opinion on whether it represented value for money, and what the non-obvious risks might be. We still call anything small and unusual in a building a "charm element" in honour of Darrell's various observations on several of the properties we viewed.

Thus, with their invaluable assistance and negotiating skills, we were able to make an offer, and to navigate the French property purchase and closing process. We were introduced to a local firm of Notaires who handled the property transaction on our behalf, and who provided first-rate services. We will be using them for any legal matters that involve our French property and associated interests in future.

Over and above all that, they introduced us to an American ex-pat, Lauren, who agreed, for a fee, to act as a contract manager and oversee our renovations and ensure that all proceeded as intended. She did a marvellous job of supervising and reporting-back on the renovations, keeping the building management on-side, as well as finding and purchasing our furniture and appliances and hooking-up utilities, phone, TV and internet.

At Darrell and Stephanie's recommendation we engaged the services of the renovator and builder who viewed the property before we made our offer, and who not only gutted and rebuilt the interior, but also met the budget (more or less), and who did more than we could have hoped. At their recommendation we also engaged the services of Caulaincourt Cuisines to design and install a new kitchen, and they were excellent.

How many people can say that from a great distance, they bought, mortgaged, renovated and furnished an apartment in a foreign land, and nothing really seriously aggravating occurred? All this was achieved in less than six months.

There is nothing better than working with people who meet and exceed your expectations. Each of the people we dealt with: the mortgage banker, the general banker, the renovator, the kitchen contractor and Lauren, met that standard. It's called integrity. And, that is only a fair reflection of the standard of care and help we received from Darrell and Stephanie who quarterbacked the whole thing from start to finish.

We are really, very happy with the entire experience. We now have a home in Paris, where we can come and go as we see fit. All we do is lock the door until we return. And, sometimes we email ahead to meet Darrell and Stephanie for dinner.

As long-time Francophiles, my wife and I had been talking for several years about buying a pied a terre in Paris. However, it never seemed to be the right time - having kids, changing jobs, dollar depreciating, etc. It suddenly dawned on us that at that rate, we would wake up one day long past our prime, too set in our ways to make the move.

So on a recent business trip to London, my wife and I decided to add a couple of days in Paris to do some apartment viewing...not really shopping even. Having seen a story about Darrell and Stephanie in the New York Times, we decided to get in touch with them to see how it felt working with them, and if things went well, maybe coming back again to do some real apartment hunting. As things turned out, we saw the apartment we eventually bought on the first day, and spent the next few days seeing other apartments to convince ourselves that we weren't deluding ourselves. Darrell and Stephanie made the search process extremely easy. They did the property searches, showed us a list of properties that sounded right for us based on the criteria we gave them, set up viewings and took us around. They also helped us, at our price point, to come to the conclusion that despite our fevered dreams of living in the Marais or St Germain des Pres, there are many neighborhoods in Paris that are not as well known to visitors and tourists, but which have some really great properties in real neighborhoods that are actually quite close to most of what you want to see and do in Paris. So we decided to pull the trigger and with Darrell and Stephanie's help, we were able to put in an offer on our apartment, line up financing, set up a local bank account, and otherwise get everything lined up to purchase the apartment in about three days.

Darrell and Stephanie were also invaluable in executing the sale remotely from our home in Hong Kong, liaising with the seller, our mortgage bank and other parties to make sure we closed without a hitch. They also introduced us to people who has been very helpful getting the post-closing living arrangements sorted out including someone to handle the rental of our apartment during the times when we're not in Paris.

Working with Darrell and Stephanie has been a great experience. We always felt that they had our best interests at heart. Even after the closing, they have been helpful with our issues with the gas company, building management etc. and have been extremely generous with their time and advice.

Hyung and Andrea

Our quest for a little piece of Paris to call our own and hence our introduction to Stephanie & Darrell (S & D) occurred in March 2005. In Paris to participate in the Paris Half Marathon, we availed ourselves of the opportunity to meet with S & D to establish if they would be the right people to assist us if we decided to proceed with our purchase.

Living in Sydney, Australia and having to rely on "school French" we were acutely aware of the challenges we would face and accordingly of our need for a sound partner on the ground. We had found PREF on the internet so our expectations of our first meeting were tempered by the knowledge of the thousands of hits Google can provide.

We duly made our way to S & D's apartment in the 9th Arrondissement and within a short time were put at ease, given their credentials and experience. We realised that they were sussing us out as much we were undertaking our own investigation They gave us advice on areas to check out and even more importantly to buy a copy of "le Petit Parisian" (maps of Paris) which has been our bible ever since.

Having then returned to Australia, during the next year we regularly surfed the internet and increased our knowledge and understanding of the Paris property market. We have to admit that the lack of photos provided with the sales properties, allied with the poor presentation of the "for sale" apartments when photos were supplied, made us query why we were doing this and how we were ever going to find somewhere suitable. As we watched Paris from afar national/global events such as the fantastic Tour de France, the student riots and the loss of the 2012 Olympic bid influenced our enthusiasm and our interest.

Paris was an attractive option for several reasons:

• "Sydney is one of the most naturally beautiful cities in the world but it lacks the quality and scale of Paris architecture as well as history and culture."
• "It provided the opportunity to "follow the sun" as such and escape the Southern Hemisphere winter, mild and all that it is."
• "Beside its fantastic cultural offerings, it is a sports lovers Mecca with world standard rugby, soccer, tennis and athletics to name but a few."
• "It provides a fantastic base to travel throughout Europe for both pleasure and to visit family and friends in mainland Europe, London and Ireland."

It was therefore just over a year later when we hit Paris for a week at the end of April 2006 with the sole intent of apartment hunting. We had formally engaged PREF to assist us and our aim during that week was to establish where in Paris we would like to live and get a greater feel for the market. So we hit the ground running and on that late April day, having flown 20+ hours direct from Sydney. Within a few hours of landing, we found ourselves lunching with S & D to discuss our budget, wish list and preferred location. Our preference was to stay in or around 1-4 Arrondissements and we sensed that S & D had been down this road before with potential purchasers! They talked about the virtues of the 9th - but humoured us and scheduled property visits for that very first day in our preferred locations.

We picked their brains for information and the scope of what this journey would be like. They told us that clients view on average 6 apartments before they find what they like. After a few city centre viewings purchasers head to the outer arrondissements (which are really not that far out). Owners will generally be on site when you are viewing their property and expect the unexpected (unfortunately the unexpected was to become the norm). We had vowed to ourselves to try and not compare Australian practices with those of Paris and also to establish different benchmarks in terms of layout and décor to what we would require in Sydney - basically just look at the bones, ignore the décor!

The first viewing was 'interesting - our memory was the "studio 54" kitchen, bathroom where there was not room to change your mind let alone anything else and a bedroom with a balcony covered in with clear corrugated sheeting to keep the pigeons out. We tried to hide our initial reaction to turn around and run out, but out of politeness to the proud owner and S & D we felt we had to show interest. After the viewing S asked us what we thought - I felt my life flashing in front of my eyes. Detecting S's directness and preference to cut to the chase as well as our own lack of time, I remember my response clearly - "I wouldn't ask any of my friends or relations to stay there". I think my honesty helped S understand our needs - it was a bit like speed dating.

We had 2 further apartments to view that afternoon. In between times we had time to do our own thing which worked really well. The second apartment was in the Marais and it would be difficult to say something charitable about it. The last apartment viewing of the day was going to be the ONE or so we hoped in advance. Located adjacent to the Palais Royal in a beautiful building with a lift we were willing it to be the one. Unfortunately a butchered renovation and a poor floor plan outweighed these features. After we had reluctantly discounted the property Stephanie gave us her view on the property - which was also unfavourable. We came to realise that neither D or S gave their view until we had volunteered ours - we would get presented with options and they would not attempt to influence our decision making - instead they would try to build a picture of preferences.

We retreated jet lagged to our bed that evening wondering if we had unreasonable expectations. We spent the next day exploring the 9th and 17th on D & S's suggestion. They understood and accepted that we wanted to stay closer to the centre and notwithstanding their personal preferences focused further attention on Arrondissements 1- 4.

The One - yes it is meant to be

Our next viewing was of a flat in the 2nd Arrondissement - bigger than we needed @ 70 m2 on the 2nd floor. Located off the bustling Rue Montorgueil. The owners were migrating to Canada and the heavily pregnant wife had been left in Paris to secure and close a sale. We loved the area and could see ourselves living in the apartment which came with its own 20 m2 vaulted ceiling cave (cellar) and private access to a side lane proving particularly memorable. We pottered around the flat with D pointing out things of note while S went on the charm offensive with the owner.

We returned to an ice cream shop on Rue Montorgueil for what we have come to realise was our most expensive ice cream ever to ponder our next move. D & S counselled us on the "value" in the French market of offering the full asking price - which we did with some nervous excitement one hour later. We had only seen 4 properties, 2 below the average 6 —with all the usual buyers' neurosis "that it was not perfect"!

Having consulted with her husband in Canada overnight, it was confirmed the next day that our offer was accepted. Plans went into overdrive immediately to arrange for the signing of the promisse de vente (P de V) 3 days later as per their demands. We had deal with a public holiday in Australia when trying to arrange for our deposit to be transferred to France which we overcame with help of our very efficient Australian bankers.

Too good to be true!

Everything seemed too easy - none of those dreadful French bureaucracy experiences which are the subject of many a current best selling novel. But if we had known what was to happen next we might not now be French property owners. Problems that ensued included:

• "The country based family Notaire of the vendor, close to retirement with some very interesting professional practices. Demands included that we use a non-standard contract of sale, that the P de V be signed in a country location not served by any form of the French public transport network. The solution proposed was that the vendor's wife could take 2 passengers to the signing which was 1.5 - 2 hours out of Paris. We indicated that we wanted to use a standard contract and were really not interested in heading out of town."
• "The day prior to the signing the P de V we were advised that the owners had received another offer on the property through an agent which was in total Euro 60k - 70K higher than ours. We were asked if would like to increase our offer —which we declined to do."

At the time when everything seemed to be happening at warp speed any of these issues could have been deal breakers and we were prepared to walk away. At a certain fatalistic level we decided if we were meant to get the apartment it would happen - and it subsequently did - and maybe we can point to the Gods for such deliverance. But to do so solely would completely underplay the role that S & D played negotiating with Notaires, vendors and purchasers willing to walk away, in what was turning into a non vanilla transaction, all of which provided a platform for them to display their full range of skills.

So as planned we turned up to sign the P De V unsure as to whether it would happen or not —but it went without a hitch with no obvious signs of the frantic on again off again events of the previous 3 days.

We were then naive enough to think that it would [be] plain sailing to the final settlement - and didn't we get a rude awakening! We had agreed the settlement date (for two months later) with the vendor and scheduled a return trip to Paris for the momentous event. Imagine our horror when we got back to Paris for the settlement to find that is was not proceeding! Once again our transaction had taken another unusual twist. As our vendor, who had migrated to Canada, had declared himself non resident for tax purposes, the sale of the property would crystallise a capital gains tax liability on the sales proceeds, which we believe he had not contemplated when he decided to sell the property. Negotiation for S and our Notaire was again challenging especially as the vendor's Notaire was ignoring their communications. S and our Notaire had the dubious pleasure of attending a settlement when neither the vendor nor his representative turned up. S had kindly taken a Power of Attorney to complete the settlement on our behalf given that we were now back in Australia - which was a great relief to us. In any event we had to commence legal proceedings to ensure performance of the contract by the vendor - bailiffs, serving writs etc - all very exciting if it was someone else's problem. If we walked away we ran the risk of losing our deposit which was not something we fancied.

In typical French fashion our vendor sorted his affairs out with the French tax office, secured the paperwork and completed on the sale just in time for everybody to go on August holiday shut down. We should have known!

So thanks to S & D we now have a piece of Paris to call our own - and a couple of chapters of material for the next French property experience best seller. I think that it would be fair and honest to say that without the assistance, professionalism, persistence, technical knowledge of the process and people skills of S & D we would still be at square one.

Top Tips When Using PREF

1. Do as you are told. Darrell and Stephanie know the market and know the streets so save everyone a lot of time and obey them. Buy the map they recommend, get yourself a copy of Paris Pas Cher, stay in the Hotel Arvor, mop up their dining and drinking recommendations, watch for your cues and generally keep your mouth shut when Stephanie gets a scent of a good apartment in her nostrils.
2. But occasionally rebel. Go on, you’re the client here. You’re paying them a decent fee. Yes, you will probably end up buying in the 9th or the 18th, but to reassure yourself that you are making the right choice do drag them along screaming to the odd overpriced dump in the 8th or 16th. Being told that the 9th is terrific is not as effective as personally experiencing the horror of other arrondissements.
3. Keep your sense of humour. Very handy when the creepy cold dread atmosphere that fills an apartment is explained by the very recent demise of the last occupant. Her slippers were neatly lined up under the (presumably) still warm mattress. Do you see dead people?
4. Invent your own warm viennoise au chocolat test. Could you fall out of bed, pull on some trackkie daks and stumble down to find a warm bakery at the foot of the prospective apartment block? How far would you need to walk to your nearest kir, or vacherin?
5. Stop reading this right now and wire over a truck of money. Get your French bank account opened and large wodges of cash in place before you fall in love with your dream apartment. For some gallic reason, arranging a French mortgage, taking money, takes about 20 minutes but opening a French bank account, giving them money, takes much longer, even if you use another branch of your soi disant international (ho bloody ho) home bank. And telegraphic transfers are no better; money wired from Hong Kong took a 4 day mini-break in London before strolling over to Paris. Mind you, my new French client relationship banker is (a) extremely easy on the eye and (b) always wanting to sit down for hours over coffee to learn more about me, in stark contrast to his scurfy British counterpart.
6. Follow Darrell’s Coup de Coeur Test. Does your heart leap when you enter the apartment? Despite the peeling walls, laughable kitchen and downright disturbing lavatory? This is a flat in Paris you are buying after all, not any old asset, so be ruled by a perfect combination of your heart and Stephanie’s head.
7. And remember the Coupe De Champagne. Darrell and Stephanie have taken you into their lives. It’s been intense. Remember to retire to a bar regularly for a refreshing hand steadier and order that Champagne with a flourish after you’ve signed the Promesse de Vente with Stephanie. How many times in your life will you buy in Paris?

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Devi and Amit flew from Rochester, MN and Sanjeev flew from India to meet them. They met in Paris for a weekend search for their dream apartment. PREF found them what they wanted on the first day —and they even had time for some sightseeing!

Their story here soon.

Working with Darrell and Stephanie, whom we learned about from the NY Times article, was a remarkable experience. Talk about finding a niche and filling a need! We started with a few legs up on other Americans looking for real estate in France: we had already lived in Paris during the '90s, and Bruce is a realtor in the suburbs north of New York City. Still, without D & S we never could have found and managed the purchase of our new apartment in Montmartre with anything like the same ease and efficiency.

Here's what they offer:

Knowledge.

Stephanie & Darrell have a thorough understanding of that portion of the Paris real estate market that would appeal to Americans and others who are looking to buy with the possibility of then renting out in the City of Light. They explain to buyers, neighborhood by neighborhood, the tradeoffs between price and rentability, thus helping them make a wise investment.

Technology.

They have developed their own software that searches and filters multiple sources of apartment listings and sorts them according to the specifications and criteria of their client. Then they apply their own knowledge of both their buyers and Paris neighborhoods to produce a prioritized list of apartments to visit. The whole process is dazzlingly efficient.

Timeliness.

The Paris real estate market is very active, even in late January, when we were there. In town for only a week, we saw 12 flats in four days. Not one had been on the market for more than a week. We bought the 8th one we saw. On average, D & S's clients buy the 7th apartment they visit. Remarkable.

Negotiating.

Stephanie was a successful lawyer in the States. She knows the ins and outs of buying an apartment in Paris, and she knows what questions to ask. Her French is excellent. She's a tough but gracious negotiator. We were pleased and impressed with our deal.

Contacts.

Besides knowing how to navigate the system, Darrell & Stephanie have a rolodex of key resources that every buyer will need, from bankers, mortgage lenders and notaries to carpenters, plumbers and handymen. Darrell is an expert in renovating Paris apartments. What a team.

Fun.

We had lived four years in Paris (Bruce two more as a student) and return regularly, but visiting flats in new neighborhoods showed us parts of the city we'd never known. We bought in a neighborhood that was not familiar to us. We hoped the experience wouldn't be too stressful; we didn't expect it to be fun.

Bottom line: We met Stephanie & Darrell on a Wednesday and had our offer on our flat accepted by that Sunday. As a realtor, I found their fee to be reasonable, mortgage rates to be surprisingly low (~ 3%), and closing costs to be comparable to those in my part of New York. Low rates and a sale every seventh showing? My own business should be so good.

I can only imagine you are reading these testimonials to see if PREF is worth a try. For one reason or another, you've decided, like we did, that you want an apartment in Paris but you're not really sure how to go about it. PREF look like they fit the bill, but are they as good as everyone says. Read on.

We decided to take the plunge. We contacted Darrell and Stephanie, and already from that very first contact they presented themselves as serious professionals ready to help. We continued with the process and exchanged several mails, and decided to avail of their services. At this stage, we're both still wondering what the catch is. Professional, knowledgeable and helpful at a very reasonable price. Come on.

If you haven't guessed by now, we're not short of skepticism. But if you're at that stage where you're trying to decide what to do, let me console you by saying you're not alone. We've all been there and it's fairly daunting. We are, after all, talking about a substantial investment in a country with which you may not be that familiar.

We decided to pay a 6 day visit to Paris in April. On arrival Darrell and Stephanie invited us into their (fabulous) apartment and gave us their full attention, providing us with a full itinerary, details, procedures, and everything we needed to feel at ease. At this stage, all I can say is, "wear good walking shoes."

You'll read in most other testimonials about the well-oiled machine that Darrell and Stephanie transform into the moment they enter an apartment, so I won't repeat it all here. Let it suffice to say that it's magic to behold. (Darrell has a particular interest in fuse boxes and boilers.)

We visited 8 or 9 apartments on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, and at the end of each day we could hardly remember which apartment was which. We referred to them afterwards as "the one with the red kitchen", "the one with the woman and the little girl where we visited the cellar", "the one with the uptight guy", "the one with the nice young couple and no lift" etc. At the end of the second day, we had decided that "the red kitchen" was worth making an offer on (Stephanie knew this the minute she walked in the door but it took a while longer for us to realise that) so we made an offer which was accepted. Delighted with our new planned purchase, we went off on our own in search of places to buy curtains, furniture, etc.

At this stage, you will have passed numerous estate agencies in your travels around Paris, and the curiosity will absolutely kill you. That increasingly elusive too-good-to-be-true catch regarding Darrell and Stephanie still haunts you. You'll think, "What's the harm. That place in the window looks OK and the price is reasonable." If you've managed to stay with me this far, then please read this carefully: There are no bargains to be found in a Paris estate agency. They can charge considerably more for exactly the same property which Darrell and Stephanie will be able to find listed elsewhere for less money. When we visited an agent, they told us about an apartment which would be "parfait pour vous" and which cost X. They showed us some pictures and told us the address at which point we realised that we had already viewed the same apartment the previous day with Darrell and Stephanie, and the asking price was X minus about EUR 15,000.

On the morning of the day we were due to officially sign the purchase contract, Darrell called us to say that the owner had changed his mind the night before and was selling to someone else. This apparently doesn't happen very often so we were unlucky. Hugely disappointed by this turn of events, we reconsidered another apartment and decided to make an offer on that. Again, we were unlucky as the owner decided to raise the price at the last minute and we weren't prepared to increase our offer. We returned to Dublin with our tails between our legs and planned to return to Paris a few weeks later for another try.

Despite all that, the experience was wonderful, and within 3 weeks a promising apartment came on the market. Darrell, in his usual well-organised fashion, emailed us about 30 digital photographs of the apartment so we were fairly sure it was exactly what we wanted. We decided we'd better view it before it was snapped up by someone else so we quickly made our way to Paris and viewed it first thing the next day. The building caretaker had shown us around so after the viewing, Stephanie immediately phoned the owner to make an offer on our behalf. Unfortunately, he wasn't available so we were left in suspense until he returned Stephanie's call later that evening. While sitting in a restaurant that night, Darrell phoned us to say that our offer had been accepted. We ordered another bottle of wine and let an unfortunate group of Finnish people at the next table share our joy in having just purchased our own piece of Paris.

Looking back on it now, I think the problem we had initially was that we simply didn't know enough about the Paris property market to fully appreciate the advice Darrell and Stephaine were giving us. Paris is a unique city and so too is the property market. You will compare things to 'back home' and you'll wonder whether they're right. It's only after looking at a number of various places that you start to realize that you should have taken their advice from the very first moment and saved what's left of the relationship you have with your feet.

In the end, we bought our ideal apartment on our second visit, but we would have been very happy to buy it without seeing it simply on the recommendation of Darrell and Stephanie. We put them to the test and I have to admit, there is no catch. They are simply the best way for anyone interested in buying an apartment in Paris to fulfill that dream. Save yourself (and your feet) a lot of unnecessary grief and trust their judgment. They know the market better than you can imagine.