What is a home finder?
The only property professional who works for the buyer or the tenant — not the seller. They search, visit, negotiate and secure the application on your behalf.
A professional mandated by the buyer or tenant to find a property matching a precise brief. They work under a search mandate, explore the whole market — agencies, private listings, off-market — visit, assess, negotiate and support you through to signing.
Not to be confused with the estate agent, who holds sale or rental mandates and defends the owner's interests.
Home finder or estate agent?
The same regulated profession — but not the same side. That explains everything else: access to properties, negotiation, fees.
Mandated by the one searching
Mandated by the one selling or letting
In France, both fall under the Hoguet law and hold a professional “Transactions” licence. Abroad, the status varies by country.
What do they actually do?
Six missions, from the first brief to key handover.
They scope your search
Real budget, viable neighbourhoods, size, life constraints. The brief is written before the first listing — that's what saves three months of pointless viewings.
They comb the whole market
Portals, local agencies, private listings, and the properties that will never be published. A good home finder lives off their network: they see properties before they go online.
They visit for you
Filmed viewings, an honest report, walks through the neighbourhood at different hours. You only fly out to sign — if you want to.
They assess and negotiate
Price per m² in the neighbourhood, time on market, works to plan for. Hard numbers to negotiate with — on your side, this time.
They secure the application
Locally required documents, guarantor, translation, review of the lease or purchase agreement. This is where foreign applications most often fall apart.
They move you in
Inventory, key handover, utilities set up, first admin steps. You arrive in a home that works.
How a search unfolds
Four steps. Nothing is billed before the mandate is signed.
We get acquainted
A 30-minute video call to scope the project and check it's realistic.
The search mandate
Brief, fees and duration in writing before anything starts.
The search
Sourcing across the whole market, filmed viewings, honest feedback on every property.
Negotiation and keys
An offer built on comparables, a reviewed application, an on-site inventory.
What does a home finder cost?
Fees are due on success, at signing. The figures below apply to France; elsewhere, local practice applies.
Most often a flat fee indexed on the city's rent level. Some destinations use a fixed amount.
A sliding percentage or flat fee depending on budget. A fee floor applies to small budgets.
Since fees are due on success, a search that doesn't succeed isn't billed.
Between our cheapest and most expensive destinations, a 50 m² flat rents from €150 to over €4,000 a month. Each home finder therefore sets their terms for their market and presents them before any commitment. In practice, the negotiation obtained and the traps avoided often offset a good part of the fee.
A 30-minute video call and a tailored quote, with no commitment.
When it's really worth it
Not essential everywhere — decisive in these situations.
You're searching from afar
You can't chain viewings from another country. Someone has to go for you.
The market is tight
When a property goes in 48 hours, only a professional already wired into the local network keeps pace.
You don't know the city
Two streets apart changes everything: noise, safety, transport, resale. You can't read that in a listing.
You're investing
Real yield, local tax, rental demand: selection matters more than falling in love.
You're going to study
Student applications, foreign guarantors, flatshares: the rules differ in every country.
Your company is relocating you
Short deadlines, a set budget, a fixed arrival date. The search can't slip.
A home finder on the ground, in your language
Every home finder in the network lives in the city where they search for you and passes an interview before being listed.
“Manue found us the rare gem in record time, despite a complex file. She handled every exchange with the agency end to end and reviewed the contracts with us.”
Frequently asked questions
In France, yes. It falls under the Hoguet law: the professional must hold a “Transactions” professional licence, carry professional liability insurance and work under a written mandate.
Abroad, the framework varies widely from country to country. That's exactly why we vet every home finder before listing them.
It's the contract binding the home finder to their client. It sets out the brief, the assignment's duration, the fee and when it is due — usually at signing.
No written mandate, no assignment: it's the document that protects you as much as it commits them.
There are three families of listings: agency listings, private listings, and off-market — properties that are never published. On your own, you reach roughly the first two.
A home finder covers all three and checks every property before showing it to you. Off-market isn't a secret market: it's mostly the chance to position yourself before publication, thanks to the home finder's network.
They are two separate fees: agency fees pay the seller's or landlord's professional, search fees pay yours.
The split varies by property and country. Your home finder lays out the full cost structure before you commit.
Look at how long they've covered the destination, their grasp of the local legal framework, and their ability to tell you no when a property doesn't fit. A home finder who approves everything isn't one.
At Remoters, everyone passes a prior interview and is only listed on a destination where they actually live.
On the Remoters network, most rental searches succeed in under four weeks. A purchase takes longer, between selection, viewings and financing.
The deciding factor remains how tight the local market is and how precise the initial brief was.
Describe your project, we'll match you
A home finder covering your destination gets back to you within 24 hours. Free conversation and quote, no commitment.
Start my search