mshea

Hi all--

I'm a little overwhelmed by all the sites for apartment rentals in France, and wondering if anyone has any recommendations. I'm looking for a studio apartment (for 2 people) in the South of France, preferably in/near Nice or Cannes, for a month or two in the fall. It needs to be CHEAP--under $1000 US per month if possible--and doesn't need to have many luxuries. I've looked mostly on NY Habitat (just unsure of the brokerage fees, since it would only be a month) and a few smaller scale sites, as well as Airbnb. Any help/advice would be very much appreciated! Thank you!

nytraveler

You're looking for an apartment for only about $25 per night - which I'm afraid is just not at all realistic - especially in Nice or Cannes.

I really think you need to look at real estate agents there - for people who want to rent by the month - instead of the usual weekly vacation rentals.

mshea

Hi nytraveler--

I apologize if it was unclear but that's exactly what I'm looking for. Do you (or anyone else) have any recommendations for the best real estate sites to use (vrbo, nyhabitat, etc) for renting by the month? I've found a few on NY Habitat, including one that's around $800 per month, but I'm unsure of how much the agency fee would be. Thanks!

mshea

I'm looking for apartments like this one:

http://www.vrbo.com/97428ha?bedrooms=Studio

Does anyone have experience with vrbo? Suggestions for sites with places like this (or better)?

grandmere

I've had good experiences with vrbo in Paris and elsewhere in France.

Robert2533

The place you noted is nearly $1900/month during the summer. It's on the 3rd floor (4th floor American) with no elevator, no A/C and no terrace and at 300 sf, barely large enough to turn around in if there are two of you. You'd be living in a closet for a month.

mshea

Thank you grandmere! Robert2533, that's why I said I'm looking for a place in the fall--definitely NOT the summer, so it's in my budget, no need for A/C. I'm not looking for a huge place or a building with an elevator. I need something in a good location that's in my budget (which, from what I've found so far, seems feasible if it's in October or November) If anyone has any more experience with vrbo or any suggestions of the best ways to find/rent apartments (again, for a month or two in the fall for less than $1000 US) I'd love to hear them!

Christina

I don't think there is anything remotely suitable on NYHabitat anyway, as their cheapest place in that area is about 500 euro a week. IN any case, most agency fees are around 25-33 pct if the rate is quoted without it, and I think they are the same (I've dealt with them before). But weekly rates on their website already include it, but should say so.

YOu need to look at least October or later, not September, to get lower rates. I presume you speak French so you can try some French S/T rental websites like abritel.fr or seloger.fr
for example, here is one in Old Nice which claims their rent drops to only 40 euro a week in November, which is hard to believe, but even in high season, the monthly rate is only 780 euro
http://www.abritel.fr/location-vacances/p878119


homelidays.com is similar to VRBO, if not the same owner, and they do actually like a studio in a surburb west of Nice where the rate drops from about 300-400 euro a week to only 500 euro a month in October, you can check for stuff like that on there, this is it
http://www.homelidays.com/nizza/stud....htm#AnchorMap

sueciv

We used homelidays for our rental in the south of France (St. Tropez). Worked great.

Cathinjoetown

Try www.leboncoin.fr

I roughly plugged in your parameters, one flat selected:

http://www.leboncoin.fr/locations_de...05&de=20131207

Robert2533

The winter rate for the so called Deluxe Studio in Nice is approximately $38/day if booked for the entire month (between 1 Oct and 30 April). I guess for the price you can't expect too much.

Cathinjoetown

OUCH!!! Sorry, it's 840€ per week!

Christina

That place on VRBO doesn't look bad at all, except I wouldn't want to sleep on a sofabed for a month. It looks a lot better than that one I posted from abritel which doesn't have hardly any furniture.

mshea

Fantastic, thank you all so much! If anyone has other ideas I'd love to hear them.