You Get What You Pay For

It’s easy to be seduced by a free consultation. As we all know, “you get what you pay for.”

There are a lot of new companies and people claiming to do what we do and even offering it up free or very inexpensively. If it’s free, then ask yourself why someone who has knowledge and expertise would be willing to give up their time, knowledge and resources free? Is it a loss leader to draw you in and then stick you with a big bill? Maybe. I’ve heard all sorts of stories from people who got sucked in and then taken advantage of. They get “nickel and dimed” ending up spending quite a bit more than they planned.

That can’t happen with us. Our fees are fully comprehensive.

First off, we are the originals. As far as I know, no one else was offering these services before I came along in 2002 to help our North American readers (and other Anglophones) find property, buy property, renovate, and rent property.

In 2006, we began booking and managing short-term rental properties for our clients’ properties. We’ve developed a dozen Fractional Ownership properties. So, we’ve got a lot of experience and knowledge under our belts, not to mention important resources we’ve built along the way.

When it comes to our trusted resources, such as our financial advisors, our immigration attorneys, our insurance brokers, etc….no one gets our seal of approval until they have proven themselves with ME. And we back them up. In the industry, this group of experts is THE BEST.

Understand that your plan to live and/or invest in France cannot be successful without our understanding fully what you’re trying to accomplish. We can’t find you a property to rent or purchase without what we call a “strategy session.”

Call it anything you like, but that time with you one-on-one is designed to learn who you are, what you have in mind as a plan, and how to strategize to set that plan in motion…and in the right direction. (This is the most important part.)

My staff knows that every word of advice we offer must be in your interests, and not in ours. Period. Our pocketbook is of no consequence. The only thing that matters is that our advice works well for YOU. You can trust us never to tell you something just because we think that’s what you want to hear. You’re always going to get the absolute truth from us—even IF it’s not what you want to hear!

Here’s how it works:

1) Start here.

That sets your strategy session booking in motion.

2) You can choose a strategist on our team, varying in price depending on seniority and level of expertise. Our strategists include: Patty Sadauskas, Client Strategist, Account and Operations Manager; Jay Corless, Property Search Consultant specializing in rentals; Jennifer Parrette, Manager Regional Division, Property Search Consultant and Listing Agent, and myself.

I am the most expensive resource (for the obvious reason!), but you can count on anyone on our staff doing an equally good job. And you can make your appointment right there online. Easy peasy.

We do the sessions by Zoom, in-person and even by phone or other method if necessary. Your session normally lasts 1.5 hours, and we do follow-up sessions based on an hourly rate, as requested.

3) Part or all of the fee can apply toward certain services. If you contract with us to find you a property to buy, ALL of it applies! If it’s a search for a rental property, a portion of it applies.

We’re not free. But, we’re well worth it.

Every client tells me how valuable the session was. Every single one, even if—as I said earlier—they heard truths that might have burst their rose-colored-glasses bubble. It would be easy to tell dozens of stories to support this, but all you have to do is go to our testimonials page to read what our clients have had to say.

4) Each of us has a different style and different expertise, so you choose the strategist who makes the most sense for you. When you meet with your strategist here’s what happens:

We know all the questions, and that’s why, by the end of the session, there are few we haven’t already covered. That’s the value of experience. We will learn all we can about you and what you have in mind. And then we tell it like it is. We answer your questions, sure, but we go way beyond that.

Remember that old saying, “you don’t know what you don’t know?” It rings true loud and clear, especially when it comes to French real estate…or even how to acquire the right visa. We know what you don’t know, which is why you’re consulting with us to begin with.

Often, we act as psychologists, too. There is so much emotion tied up in a move like this, or a serious investment. And very often, we turn someone around 180 degrees from their original thinking because they were clearly going in the wrong direction. We are not afraid to tell them so.

5) What do we do differently from the others, you might ask? Why are our clients so satisfied with our services?

Because we have the knowledge, the experience and the qualified resources that the others simply don’t and can’t have. These agencies haven’t been at this as long as we have. They may or may not even be North Americans, and if not, wouldn’t have a clue what you’re really going through, from the cultural aspect of things.

WE’RE FRENCH PROPERTY THE AMERICAN WAY

We’re Americans for Americans and that in itself makes a big difference. We know what this process is like, not only from the outside, but from the inside out. I’ve personally purchased a dozen properties in France myself! We’ve strategized and consulted with thousands (yes, thousands) of clients. We’ve found hundreds of properties for our clients to rent or purchase. There isn’t another agency in France that can beat our numbers—or our success stories.

But that’s a lot of braggadocious rhetoric.

This isn’t about us. This is about you. What we do is all about YOU. So, don’t get seduced by those offering free advice. Free advice is worth what you pay—nothing.

With the Adrian Leeds Group, you get what you pay for: valuable, expert guidance to help you make the move to France, or even simply purchase a property for your enjoyment.

Your strategy session starts here!

A la prochaine…