frenchaucoeur

I'm considering renting an apartment from Allure-Apart in Paris for next spring, but I can't find much about them on the Internet except for some (favorable) old reviews. Anyone have more recent experience?

They do emphasize that the apartment I'm looking at is legal and registered, and they provide the registration number, so that's all good.

Thanks.

Sarastro

<i>They do emphasize that the apartment I'm looking at is legal and registered, and they provide the registration number, so that's all good.</i>

I am very curious about this <i>registration</i> number. I have not seen one yet so perhaps you could tell us exactly what this number is and what they are telling you it represents specifically. Whether an apartment is a legal vacation rental or not is determined by the French government, not by a rental agency.

Here is a list of the apartments legally sanctioned by the various arrondissements in Paris. If the apartment which interests you is at one of these listed addresses, you should be fine:

http://tinyurl.com/legal-apartments

frenchaucoeur

Sarastro--On the website (it's listed on VRBO and Homeaway, which are of course the same now), the manager provided the registration number and pointed out that the owner had paid all necessary fees and obtained the necessary registration. I did check the City of Paris website for this stuff (http://opendata.paris.fr/explore/dat...meubles/table/) and the listing was there--at least there was an apartment at the right address listed, and the numbers matched.

Sarastro

frenchaucoeur - I wouldn´t worry. It appears that all of the necessary steps have been taken to assure that your apartment is a legal rental.

Does this number, given to you by the rental agency, appear on their website as part of the apartment listing?

fuzzbucket

I wonder if this is ParisPerfect? If so, this company has apparently converted an entire building on Place Dauphine into an hotel, so would be legal. Not sure about other apartments they list.

I haven't seen any registration numbers on any websites, either.

frenchaucoeur

Fuzzbucket, the PP building is at 25 pl. Dauphine, and this is at 21. It has nothing to do with PP, I believe, which is good because we had a terrible experience with PP a few years ago and would never rent from them again!

Here is the link to the listing on VRBO. The registration information is at the end of the overview, and it did check out with the opendata website.

https://www.vrbo.com/1842207ha#

I was wondering whether anyone knew this agency, which has only a couple of properties. I think it's probably just properties owned by one couple, rather than an agency like PP that represents many individual owners. Just trying to do my due diligence!

Christina

The woman registered as an individual corporation about 10 years ago, in the business of lodging/accommodations. It appears to be a woman who has decided to invest in rental properties as a means to make a living. She is a Dutch expat. Don't know how she got the money to buy so many expensive properties, but people have their ways, it's just a different world to me.

So I don't know how she got hers to be legal rentals given the circumstances (she certainly doesn't live there, she lives in a suburb outside Paris). She even tells you she bought these as investments. But given her notice and even talking about how they are legal with reference to the law, I agree it certainly looks lega, I don't know how she could brazenly state such things if they weren't. PP just is silent on the topic, for example, even though some of theirs may be legal due to some French laws I don't understand (such as if they renovated some historic property, there may be concessions, or her registering as a hotel).

fuzzbucket

PP has an awful lot of very wealthy investors - many of them come from Texas - and these people tend to be unreachable and thumb their collective noses at the law. Perhaps they have registered as a hotel, but if I were a hotel, I would advertise as one - not just advertise single rental units.

Thanks for the link, frenchaucoeur - this is the first time I've actually seen a registration number. Still don't understand how this woman who isn't a resident, but invests in several rental properties, could acquire a registration number, though.

Christina

Parisperfect doesn't appeal to people who want to stay in a "hotel." they don't want to call it that for branding purposes.

JAMH

I thought that one could acquire and rent out vacation property if one acquired and rented a property in the same arrondissement to long-term renters. Perhaps, the owner of the Allure-Apart apartments did that.

Sarastro

Investors can indeed receive government approval for their short term rental units but for every square meter of space allowed for short term rental, owners must make one square meter available for longterm (>1yr) rentals or two square meters in most of the more desirable areas of the city.

However, at around 400€ a night, apartments of this type will not appeal to the majority of those who are looking for vacation rentals. Their only legal option will be sharing the home of a full time resident/owner.