Buying property in France?
Practical judgement before you sign anything in France.
A 45-minute orientation call with Mark Gibbs — thirty years of buying, renovating, owning and selling property in France, distilled into one honest conversation about your situation.
15+ yrs
Living and operating in France
5 stages
Expertise across the full French property lifecycle
Independent
No agent commissions, no kickbacks
Mark Gibbs — Founder, French Property Advisory
About Mark
Fifteen years on the ground in France, and a career of operations behind it.
Mark started his career as a mechanical engineering apprentice in the UK nuclear industry, then spent two decades running operations: warranty inspection for Alfa Romeo UK, property maintenance and franchise operations, and ultimately Operations Director responsibility for around £20m of work and 1,200 geographically dispersed engineers.
He took an MBA, built and sold a UK manufacturing business (second-largest in its sector) in 2013, relocated to France, and renovated a derelict stone barn into a family home — the building you see at the top of this page.
Since then he has run heating design (Real Heating) and pool projects (Real Piscines) in France, and quietly helped a stream of English-speaking clients buy, occupy, maintain and sell French properties — from a Dordogne longère to a €2m chalet in Courchevel. He speaks French. He knows the suppliers, the paperwork, the agents, the notaire process and the failure modes.
What you get on a call with Mark is judgement: where you are, what’s realistic, what the hidden costs and traps are, and what to do next.
How I help
One conversation, five places it can land.
Most calls start with one question and end up touching two or three of these stages. Pick the one that’s loudest for you right now — we’ll cover the rest as needed.
- 01
Pre-acquisition
Clarify budget, region, lifestyle trade-offs, finance, tax and criteria before you start making offers you might regret.
- 02
Acquisition
Assess properties realistically, negotiate credibly, sanity-check the compromis, notaire fees and suspensive clauses before you sign.
- 03
Occupation
Utilities, tax files, visas, suppliers, renovations, pools, maintenance — the unglamorous reality of making a French property work day-to-day.
- 04
Pre-sale
Prepare the property, the paperwork and the story so it presents well, prices fairly and avoids surprises at the notaire.
- 05
Selling
Agent selection, pricing, negotiation, completion. A second pair of experienced eyes on every step, in your corner, not the agent’s.
Recent work, lightly anonymised
- Renegotiated a Dordogne hailstorm insurance settlement from ~50% to ~85% of roof repair cost.
- Reduced a fibre installation quote from c. €10,000 to under €3,000 with a better practical solution.
- Project-managed a €2m Courchevel chalet rescue, delivered on budget and on timeline.
- Solved an urgent pre-completion insurance problem inside half a day so the sale could close on time.
The orientation call
£99, 45 minutes, and a written follow-up.
A focused conversation about your situation — the property, the budget, the timeline, the bit you’re unsure about — followed by a short written summary of the next steps Mark would take if it were his money.
Payment is taken before booking so the calendar stays for serious enquiries. If we’re obviously not the right fit, Mark will say so before you book.
Your situation
Where you are today — current property, search status, decisions on the table.
Outcome & budget
What good looks like, what you can realistically spend, and what the all-in numbers tend to be.
Risk scan
A quick pass across the five stages to surface the traps that catch most buyers.
Roadmap
Concrete next steps and a written follow-up summary inside 48 hours.
£99
All inclusive. UK and France-friendly hours.
Get in touch
Tell Mark a little about where you are.
One short message is enough. Mark replies personally, usually within a working day, with the next step — whether that’s booking the call, a quick pointer, or an honest “not the right fit”.
- Hours
- UK / France-friendly weekdays.
- Languages
- English & French.
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