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is going to take you – certainly a few hours – and by the time you’ve decided which one to choose will have probably taken up a few days.

The same applies with many of the immobiliers and estate agents here. They will usually have an agency with only one bank.

To get comparative quotes from alternative banks or mortgage providers will mean finding out where each one is, how to get in touch with them, and asking for quotations.


Apart from a possible language problem….. sometimes people forget that we are working with French banks, and that most probably, the people working in the banks are French.
There are some banks that specialise in the international buyers market, and have bi-lingual staff, but it’s not always the case.

The type of mortgage …. what product do you ask for – all the banks and lenders have slightly different mortgage products and they vary so much with their lending criteria. It can be a minefield.

Differences ?

They all have a minimum deposit, some will accept 15%, but others will insist on more than that – sometimes up to 40% deposit.

Then there is the minimum amount they will lend – some will not lend less than 50 000E, others may not say what their minimum loan is, but anything under 40 000E is not what they are really after – although saying that, there is one lender that will lend on as little as 15 500E

Income, I know of one bank that insists on a minimum earning level of
75 000E per annum.

The mortgage term can vary – one lender as little as 15 years maximum, whilst others will

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