A beginners’ guide to house hunting in & around Manosque

You’re moving to Manosque – welcome!

There is a warm and welcoming French and international community in the area, and we are always happy to meet new people.

Whether you’re just considering a move, or are ready to take the plunge and find somewhere to live, here are some tips and hints to help you out.

Where to live

There are many different factors to consider when looking for somewhere to live around Manosque.

Budget – As a general rule, you will pay more the closer you get to Aix-en-Provence. For comparison, a 3-room city centre apartment in Aix will cost you around €1200, whereas in the centre of Manosque you can find an equivalent-sized apartment for between €600 and €700. Villages within the Luberon national park (in other words, “A Year in Provence” country) are also much more expensive. If you move out somewhere more rural, you will find that you can get a lot more house for your budget, but usually there will be fewer local facilities (specialist shops or medical providers, for example).

Public transport – This is something really important to consider in the area around Manosque, depending on your needs. Manosque itself has an internal bus network. There are buses in and around the surrounding villages too, but the timetables are very much geared around high school schedules, so you will need to adapt your lifestyle to suit the bus schedules if you choose to live outside the centre of Manosque without a car. Find out more by clicking on “plan du reseau” and “itinéraires” here.

Lifestyle – Consider what you are looking for with your move to the area. A house with a pool? Great bike trails from your front door? Schools within walking distance? Peace and quiet with no neighbours in sight? My main criteria when I first came to Provence was to be able to walk to a boulangerie from home! Everything is possible, but it can be hard to know how to find it. The site (in French) may be useful – you can type in the name of a town or village to see the number of inhabitants and other data. Google maps is also a great resource, as it helps you scout out the layout of different towns and villages to see what kind of facilities there are.

Finding a house

Where to look? – There are several websites where you can look for a property to rent (louer/location) or buy (acheter/ventes immobilières). Leboncoin.fr is the best-known online sales site in France, and lets you search by location, budget, number of rooms, etc. You can also look at seloger.fr (specialised in property) or pap.fr (for private individuals, so no estate agents involved). Facebook marketplace is also used more and more by locals in this area.

What do the abbreviations mean? – Properties are usually classed by surface area (in square metres) and by number of rooms, excluding the kitchen, toilet and bathroom. For example, a T3 (or F3) property has two bedrooms and one living room. Be aware of vocabulary false friends, too. A “villa” is just a detached house, even though it sounds rather grand in English. There is a useful list of vocabulary on Angloinfo. And if your experience is anything like mine, once you move to Provence, you will suddenly have a LOT of people asking to come and visit, so think about a property with space for guests!

Départements – Many house sites ask you to choose the département you are looking in. Be aware that Manosque is in the corner of the 04 département (Alpes-de-Haute-Provence), so you may also want to look in 83 (Var), 84 (Vaucluse) and 13 (Bouches-du-Rhône) to find something suitable in the region.

Address – Annoyingly, estate agents will never give you the exact address of the property you are looking at. You will need to wait for the day of your visit, when the agent will meet you near the property and then take you there. (The agent does this so that you don’t negotiate with the owner directly, thus cutting out the agency fees.) However, be prepared for disappointment in case you are expecting to see a property near the town or village centre, and end up seeing something out in the sticks instead. It is probably a good idea to ask for more precise details before booking the viewing (e.g. asking how many minutes’ walk/drive it is to your place of work or a nearby school).

What to expect – Rental properties can be furnished (meublé) or non-furnished (non-meublé). Non-furnished properties will usually come without any kitchen appliances, so you will need to provide a hob or cooker, fridge and washing machine. You may well visit a property where the “kitchen” consists of some cupboards and a sink. Rest assured that this is normal! Properties are also very often missing light fittings, so be prepared to invest in some when you first move in. You can take them with you again when you leave.

What about a pool? – Many properties in this area come with a pool, and you can easily swim from May-September with the Provençal climate. As a tenant, you are solely responsible for the everyday maintenance and upkeep of the pool, although the landlord will get involved for major problems, such as the pump malfunctioning. A house with a pool will cost you more to rent, but it’s a fabulous facility to have just a step from your front door, so consider if this is something you are looking for as part of your Provençal dream.

Communicating with estate agents

Some local agents speak a little English, but most prefer communication in French. If you are not confident with your level of French, I recommend at least putting a few lines of French in your email and then asking if the agent speaks English. You can contact them by email or by phone, and you may need to chase your agent up a few times if you don’t get a reply. There are local specialists in the area who can help you with translating and interpreting if required.

There really is something for everyone in the area. Feel free to ask questions in the comment box below or on the Expats in & Around Manosque Facebook group if you’d like to know more about specific towns and villages. We look forward to meeting you!