“Toto, I’ve a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore!”

Do you want to live and/or invest in France? It all starts with a consultation with us.

You may not think so, and you might think that you shouldn’t have to pay for time with us to help point you in the right direction, but that’s because you don’t know or realize how valuable and important this is to your ultimate success. As they say, “You don’t know what you don’t know.” And we do.

And we know WHAT we do too. Every day, Monday through Friday, my high-level staff and I are booked with client consultations—which we conduct either on Zoom or in person. They aren’t cheap, but they are worth it. Every single client says so after the fact. And we can’t start a search for a property without doing the consultation first, no matter what.

Adrian on a Zoom consultation

Last week, I had this adorable couple from Virginia in their early 80’s wanting to take some time in Paris to experience life there. The wife was chomping at the bit to get to France, but her husband didn’t want to stop teaching, as he claimed he felt 40 years younger the moment he stepped into the classroom. He was holding up the works for the wife, who was desperate to convince him to take some time off and try living in France for a while…at least six months.

I fell in love with them. They were full of life, and I could see that they would make excellent candidates for living in France, but I had to find a way to make it work so both would be happy. Sure, this takes a bit of psychological maneuvering, but that’s part of the job. It’s our job to get creative, think outside the box, and come up with solutions that work…for all of the parties.

“Happy wife; happy life,” is what I said. You aren’t going to be happy until you [the husband] give in to a trial period and let it play out so you can make decisions together based on real situations.”

Our clients range from every type of person imaginable, mostly 50 years old and up, but now with a new influx of young parents who want to raise their kids in France. The one thing they have in common is their love of France and their desire for a better life. We know we can achieve that for them, under just about any condition, as long as we can assuage their fears and instill the confidence they need to take the leap…with of course, a good hard look at the ground below before jumping in.

Adrian in an in-person consultation

One thing I learned from this adorable couple of great importance was that the professor could take a semester off for a sabbatical and still earn his full salary, so there would be no financial loss. And because of the way the semesters fit into the year, if he started their stay in France right after a semester, he’d have way more than six months at his disposal. As an essential component to making this palatable to him, I asked him what other tasks, other than teaching, would interest him, such as lecturing or working with a museum or other establishment that would benefit from his highly specific knowledge. That was the light bulb that went off in his head, as I was also able to put the professor in touch with other academics in Paris who might have some things he can do while staying in France, or contacts of their own to satisfy his need to lecture, or even teach some specific classes.

This alone was a major change for their ability to come and try it out. “It’s not a prison or a life sentence…just a test to see how you would like it and how you might be able to transition into a fulfilling life in France without giving up what you enjoy about living in the U.S.,” is what I said.

After our consultations, we always send a follow-up email with tons of information, plus the contracts to get us started, along with a recording of our Zoom session, including a transcript. In response to that, I received a separate email from each of them, and I don’t believe they collaborated on this effort:

THE WIFE:

“You are amazing Adrian and we adore you. How you got my anxiety-ridden, change-resistant husband to change his mind overnight and jump into action the next day, is inconceivable! Thank you so much. I know you can convince him to stay forever! What helped a great deal was receiving a response from your contact and getting a sense of what he might be able to do in Paris. Thanks for your comments too. So, if we want to come to Paris mid-May 2026, we should start filling out all these papers sometime in March? I can’t wait. A.”

THE PROFESSOR:

“Dear Adrian, Thank you so much for your informative account about Paris. It served as a kick in the butt I needed to agree to A’s idea of a test-stay for about six to seven months, during which I’d do some research at Musee X et al, while possibly teaching at XX. I wrote to [name of contact] who seems like the ideal contact for me as I write my own XXX as well, and was a participant in the historic 1977 conference sponsored by XXXX Society and the Society of XXXXX on ‘XXXXXX.’ I remain skeptical about a permanent move, but not entirely closed to it. Your input has been invaluable in dealing with this matter. Sincerely, J.”

(I substituted names with Xs for privacy.)

This is the kind of feedback we get almost on a daily basis. If you don’t believe me, then check out our testimonials. There are several I received recently that haven’t yet been posted, either…but you get the idea.

Do we get complaints? If we didn’t, we wouldn’t be human (!), but not often. Recently we had a client who wrote: “Adrian Leeds with ALG recommended that we visit Lille first, before deciding on a permanent home. Her Zoom session was well worth the 1,000 euros.” (He exaggerates! Our fees are not that expensive.) “However, the ALG agent she recommended was a major disappointment. We paid 3,500 euros and he got us two viewings in 30 days: a student loft and a T3.” (He exaggerates! Our fees are not that expensive.)

The exaggerations were already a clue that he might be over-dramatizing. I asked our agent (who gets more accolades than anyone else on the team) about the client and he gave me the other side of the story:

“He arrived in early September and booked an Airbnb for roughly one week, expecting immediate visits within a very small geographic zone. Despite my efforts, it was impossible to secure viewings during that period—most agencies had little to no availability due to La Rentrée and his narrow criteria. During that time, he independently contacted several listings using my email address. In one instance, I identified that a rental scam was targeting him, warned him, and advised him to stop communication immediately. He also pursued a government housing opportunity for which, to my understanding, he did not qualify (it required a Visale guarantee). Because of costs, he returned to Toulon, where they had another Airbnb, while I continued attempting to organize visits for their eventual return to Lille. Most agencies refused to schedule visits weeks in advance. Meanwhile, he kept contacting the same listings I was already in touch with, causing confusion among agents. On my advice, he later returned to Lille to be present for viewings. I maintained communication with multiple agents he had reached out to and clarified their profile and needs. At one point, he fixated on a property outside Lille, but after verifying with the agent, I confirmed it was unsuitable and persuaded him to reconsider. I feel like I provided consulting and advice throughout the process. I was available to speak at a moment’s notice to share my thoughts and advice. My local partner agents declined to take them on as clients due to the mismatch between their budget, preferred area, and current market availability. Ultimately, the couple found a place independently—the property belongs to the owner of their Airbnb. In this case, they were simply fortunate.”

What did I do? I backed up my agent is what. Clients like this make doing our job very difficult, because they don’t trust us to do our job and their own efforts sabotage ours. We try to see the “red flag,” and when it appears, I am not against asking the client to find another service. In this case, I agreed to refund half of what he paid for the search, but let him know that our agent would get paid in full, as from my perspective, he did his job, and the client didn’t do his.

Fair is how I look at it. We know what we do, but we can only be successful when our clients let us do our job…which isn’t easy under any circumstances. And one must operate from the French point of view, rather than the American “default mode.”

“Toto, I’ve a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore!” Let us help guide you down the yellow brick or cobblestoned road to a better life in France. It all starts with a consultation. Learn more, contact us and arrange your consult.

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