Everyone’s an “Expert” on Moving to France…Until They Aren’t

With the massive numbers of Americans moving to France come a lot of entrepreneurs.

The word entrepreneur comes directly from French, and originally had nothing specifically to do with business startups. It derives from the Old French verb, entreprendre or to undertake. So literally, an entrepreneur was someone who undertakes. By the 18th century, the economist Jean-Baptiste Say and earlier economist Richard Cantillon began using entrepreneur in the economic sense: a person who organizes, risks and manages an enterprise.

In France, however, the entrepreneur is most likely your contractor who’s renovating your house or apartment. But for Americans, it could apply to just about all of us: a business founder, an innovator, a risk-taker and a creator of ventures.

Many historians and cultural commentators argue that the American identity is deeply tied to the idea of the entrepreneurial spirit, even beyond business. In a sense, the U.S. was culturally shaped by immigrants, settlers, inventors, risk-takers, self-reinvention, mobility, disruption and optimism about creating something new. It’s who we are. It’s who I am.

Ironically, though, the word itself is French—from a culture that historically has often been more cautious about capitalism and individual risk-taking than the U.S. One might even say that America took a French word and turned it into a national identity.

In my world—helping Americans move to France—we see this constantly. Americans arrive in France with an instinct to reinvent, build, improve systems. And that’s why every Tom, Dick and Harry who has moved to France thinks that now that they’ve gone through the process, they know what they need to know to help someone else do the same thing.

Don’t be fooled. They don’t. We see the Facebooks, Instagrams, TikToks, YouTubes, etc. filled with so much misinformation it will make your head spin. You don’t know what you don’t know and they don’t know what they don’t know—because they haven’t been here long enough, or had enough experience to even know how much they don’t know.

It’s like my French. The more I know, the more I realize how much I don’t know (often attributed to Albert Einstein and he was a pretty smart guy). When I started helping Americans move to France, it was 2002. That was at the very beginning of the Internet. Email was AOL or Compuserve. There were only five of us writing online about life in Paris at the time. Five!

A realistic estimate today of English-language blogs online specifically devoted to life in France is several hundred! Each day a new one pops up. And each day we discover some new “expert” wanting to help you make the move to France. So, in this new sea of experts (99% of which likely have no qualifications or accreditation), how do you choose?

Don’t laugh. I asked ChatGPT to answer that question. And here’s what Chat said:

I would recommend choosing a relocation company the same way you would choose a surgeon, attorney or financial advisor: not based on glossy marketing, but on trust, competence, transparency and how well they understand your situation.

Here are the most important things to look for:

1. Do They Truly Understand Your Type of Move?

Not all relocations are alike. Someone moving for retirement, with children, for work, with pets, with dual citizenship, with visa complications, buying property, renting first, moving permanently vs. seasonally…needs very different guidance.

A good relocation company asks intelligent questions before offering solutions. If they immediately start “selling packages” without deeply understanding your goals, that’s a red flag.

COMMENT: This is why we cannot begin anything without a consultation first. And we never “sell” anything. We offer the services, and you can take them or leave them. It’s up to you how we can help you best, but one thing for sure: we’re never going to let you make a bad decision (if we can help it).

2. Are They Educators or Just Transaction Managers?

The best firms explain how the country actually works, cultural differences, realistic expectations, bureaucracy, housing realities, timelines, costs, and tradeoffs. You want someone who reduces confusion, not someone who simply fills out forms. Especially in France, where systems are layered and nuanced, education matters enormously.

COMMENT: If you’ve been reading our Nouvellettres®, then you know that this is exactly what we do and write about…constantly. Our webinars offer this information regularly, free of charge. We tell the truth and we tell it all, even if it might not be France’s most attractive trait.

3. Do They Have Real On-the-Ground Experience?

This is critical. A relocation company should actually live there, understand local culture, know neighborhoods, know the administrative systems, know local professionals, understand unwritten rules. There’s a huge difference between “France enthusiasts” and people who have spent decades navigating French life professionally.

COMMENT: LOL. I have decades under my belt. More than three to be exact. And at the time, I never dreamed this would be my vocation, but that’s how it turned out and clearly it was the right path.

I’m a student of Synchronicity. Psychologist Carl Jung describes these meaningful coincidences that seem too symbolically connected to be random, even when there is no obvious cause-and-effect relationship. Jung believed synchronicity often appears when a person is on a psychologically significant life path—especially during periods of transition, reinvention, emotional intensity or spiritual searching.

My life path aligns remarkably well with the theory for several reasons. I repeatedly followed intuition rather than conventional structure. Moving from the U.S. to France decades ago—long before “living abroad” became fashionable — was itself a deeply synchronistic act: choosing meaning, beauty, culture and possibility over predictability.

My professional life emerged organically from personal experience. I didn’t simply start a company. I became a bridge between two worlds because my own emotional and cultural journey created that role naturally. In Jungian terms, my external work mirrored an internal transformation.

Again and again, people, opportunities and places seem to appear precisely when needed. This is classic synchronicity when events connected not by mechanics, but by meaning. Even our Nouvellettres® reflects synchronicity. What began as sharing observations evolved into decades of guiding you toward life changes that you were perhaps emotionally prepared for before you intellectually understood them.

4. Transparency About Costs and Limits

A trustworthy company clearly explains what they do, what they don’t do, what costs extra, what can go wrong, what timelines are realistic. Be wary of “We handle everything effortlessly!” (we wish!), guarantees (we can’t and don’t make them), oversimplification and vague pricing. France is rarely effortless. Good advisors prepare you for reality without frightening you.

COMMENT: How many times do we preach about unrealistic expectations? It’s the toughest thing to manage—expectations, realistic or not. I learned a long time ago how NOT to have ANY expectations, which can easily lead to disappointments. Have NO expectations, and the outcome is more likely to happily surprise you than not! And you’ve removed the judgment from the scenario. Try it. You’ll like it.

5. Are They Buyer/Tenant Focused—or Sales Focused?

This is especially important in real estate-related relocation. Ask “Who is the company actually working for?” If compensation depends entirely on selling you something, advice can become distorted. The best relocation consultants advocate for the client’s long-term success, not merely the transaction.

COMMENT: Every person on our staff knows that the client’s interest is the ONLY interest. Our pocketbooks do not matter. We work for the buyer and the renter. We work for who has hired us. Period. And we do not work for our own financial benefit. I’ve always believed that when you do what you love, do it honestly, and do it well, the rewards tend to come naturally.

6. Communication Style Matters

Moving abroad is emotional. You want advisors who are responsive, patient, culturally fluent, calm under stress, and realistic without negativity. You are not just moving possessions. You are moving identity, habits, expectations and daily life.

COMMENT: I hope we have proven that with our three Nouvellettres® every week, without fail, designed to educate you and entertain you!

7. Look for Long-Term Reputation

The strongest companies usually have years (or decades) of consistent presence, repeat clients, referrals, published content, educational resources, community involvement. That matters more than flashy social media.

COMMENT: 1) years of consistent presence—24 actually!; 2) repeat clients—thousands of clients and tons of repeaters, even when it’s normally just one transaction; 3) referrals—have you seen our testimonials?; 4) published content—no one has provided as much free information as we have!; 5) educational resources—we’ve done dozens of conferences, webinars, published material, etc.; and 6), community involvement—Après-Midi coffee gatherings with a speaker monthly in Paris and bi-monthly in Nice, Thanksgiving Dinners, and a whole host of regular events, all designed to give something back to the community.

8. Read Between the Lines of Reviews

The best reviews mention trust, honesty, responsiveness, problem-solving, emotional support, guidance during complications. Not just: “They found me an apartment.” Relocation is about navigating uncertainty.

COMMENT: From our clients:

“We knew we could trust ALG due to the obvious expertise of the staff and their ability to really understand what we were looking for in our apartment.”

“We really appreciated your honesty and thought that you were certainly the person we wanted to deal with.”

“The consultant was absolutely lovely to consult with and very responsive to all of our follow up questions.”

“We have lived in our Paris apartment for over a month now–and are grateful to ALG for helping us navigate viewing, lease signing, problem solving, setting up a bank account and related services, and even helping us with some technology snafus.”

“Stress doesn’t begin to describe my physical and emotional state when I decided to sell my house in the States and follow my childhood dream to live in Paris. So, when a friend suggested I contact Adrian Leeds (she’s a fan of House Hunters International), I did just that. Within two weeks, I had the apartment of my dreams!”

“Your guidance, patience, and deep local expertise made all the difference.”

9. Avoid the “Fantasy France” Trap

This is especially relevant in France. Be cautious of firms selling pure fantasy, escapism, “perfect village life,” effortless bureaucracy, “everyone dreams of moving here!” The best advisors help clients build sustainable lives, realistic budgets, proper legal footing and genuine integration. Not just Instagram moments.

COMMENT: And that’s why even some of our clients have hung out their own shingles and claim to do what we do! We were excellent teachers, don’t you think?

10. The Best Relocation Firms Feel Like Strategic Partners

At the end of the day, you want someone who helps you make intelligent decisions, avoid expensive mistakes, preserve flexibility, adapt over time, build the best life possible. Not simply move boxes from Point A to Point B.

COMMENT: I’m going to say it again: we’re never going to let you make a bad decision (if we can help it).

I never set out to create a business. I simply followed the path that felt meaningful, and over time, the rewards followed naturally. The greatest reward of all is witnessing how many people like you have found their new life here in France…just like I have.

If you don’t choose us to help you make the move, at least choose a firm that deserves to have your trust. Avoid the newcomers who don’t know what they don’t know.

That’s as much as I can ask.

A la prochaine…