Confusion regarding long term renting in Beziers

@cyd2706

Hello CYD,

    Long and short term rentals are easy to find in Beziers. You don't need to put up a year's salary. Two or three months will do it. There are mostly unfurnished places with a few furnished thrown in. Plenty of stores to pick up furniture in. Advise you to come and spend a few days looking. We don't have a car and take the train to most places. If you have a car then look for a rental with a garage. Street parking is hard to find. Good luck with your find.

Ken

@kwpflorida

Ken, how kind to reply so quickly.  Is it better to go direct to the landlord or are agencies ok to use.  We do not have a car, but my daughters who live in 06 do, and hopefully they will come and visit.  (One of the reasons I am moving back to France after a 14 year break.)

Thank you again,

Cyd

Cyd,

    I'd advise you to go through an agency. They will charge you, but you don't want to get into a situation if there is something wrong after you rent. Things work slow in France as you know. Come, spend a few days and look around to the different parts of the city. Were you would like to be and where you don't want to be.

Thank you

@cyd2706

Try looking at Garantme for an third party guarantor. Although agencies who are signed up to GLI, will not accept this. It's actually really pretty difficult as a non-French resident to rent unfurnished, as competition is steep, and the dossier you need to compile is expected to have your French payslips and income tax statements in it.  By law, they SHOULD accept foreign tax statements, but realistically, if they are presented with a dossier in a format and language they understand, versus the opposite... Another option you could propose to agencies/landlords is a Cautionnement Bancaire'. This is where you put an agreed sum of money into an escrow account at the bank and it is held in case of you 'disappearing' owing rent. Again, not all agencies/landlords/owners will want to be bothered with this. It's fiddly and adds time to the dossier processing. What they don't understand as yet is that ex-pats are often the best form of tenant - we don't tend to run away without paying rent, we don't want to rock our residency boat for a start, and we have already been vetted financially in most cases (non-EU) for our financial solvency. Furnished is a much easier rental option, but there aren't as many about. Email me for more info. Best, Nicole in Béziers