Buyer representation with Riviera Valuations, Elena Agueeva’s property valuation and research service, to prepare negotiations and identify potential issues before an offer.
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Elena Agueeva Real Estate represents buyers of villas and apartments from €3 million on the French Riviera. Based in Cannes, the agency works under a written search mandate (mandat de recherche), available in English or French.
Riviera Valuations is the agency’s property valuation and research service. It analyses comparable completed sales alongside building permits, planning rules and other official records concerning the property. An agent of Elena Agueeva Real Estate always visits with or on behalf of the buyer before a valuation is prepared.
The analysis establishes a price range to prepare negotiations, usually through an offer. It can also identify permit questions, planning restrictions and other matters early enough to influence the proposed price, the timetable or the decision to proceed.
The agency also represents sellers. Its role and any existing mandate on the target property must be clear before negotiations begin.
The search mandate (mandat de recherche) defines the work you entrust to the agency. It starts with your purchase criteria: location, intended use, budget and the condition you are prepared to accept. Agree the extent of the search and negotiation assistance, the duration of the instruction, and any exclusivity or termination terms before signing.
The mandate should identify the contracting entity, its capacity and the agreed remuneration. Your copy carries the agency’s mandate-register number. French rules require a written mandate before the agent negotiates on your behalf. Decree of 20 July 1972, article 72.
Choose English or French for the mandate and the valuation report. Identify the advisers involved in the acquisition and agree who may give instructions, receive documents and approve an offer.
An agent of Elena Agueeva Real Estate always visits the property before a valuation is prepared. The visit takes place with the buying client or on the client’s behalf. It establishes the agent’s observations of condition, views, construction quality and finishes, and provides information to compare with the available records.
The research brings together France’s published transaction records, DVF (Demandes de valeurs foncières), cadastral parcels, building-permit records, the local development plan (plan local d’urbanisme, PLU) and official risk information from GéoRisques. Company records are examined where relevant to the property’s ownership or transaction history. These sources answer different questions: what sold, what land is involved, what works are recorded, which planning rules apply and what risks require attention.
Examining the visit findings alongside permits, zoning and other official records can reveal discrepancies or restrictions before the buyer advances with an offer. A building alteration may need its authorisation checked; a planning rule may limit the intended extension or use; risk information may call for further investigation. A gap in the available records raises a question to resolve and does not, on its own, prove that works are unlawful.
Identifying such matters early gives the buyer and advisers time to request documents, assess their effect on value and decide what needs to be resolved before proceeding. It can avoid time spent on an unsuitable property and reduce the risk of a late discovery disrupting the price discussion or completion timetable.
This research supports the work of the French notary (notaire), lawyer and technical specialists. It does not certify that the property is compliant or free of defects. Questions identified early still need to be examined by the appropriate professional before the buyer commits.
Comparable completed sales are selected in the relevant local market and adjusted for differences affecting value. The calculation is deterministic: the same selected evidence, assumptions and adjustment parameters produce the same result. Each adjusted value is calculated from the recorded sale price. The prices, adjustments and limitations make the reasoning traceable. Selecting the comparables and assessing the property still require professional judgment.
The asking price is excluded from the valuation, including when the agency holds the seller’s mandate. The resulting central value and range provide a quantitative basis for preparing a negotiation, usually through an offer. The buyer and agent can discuss the amount proposed using recorded transactions and explicit assumptions.
A buyer under a search mandate receives Riviera Valuations as part of the representation, with no separate charge, and nothing is owed before the deed. The analysis is used within the buyer’s mandate to prepare the negotiation.
The report sets out the central value, the range, the evidence and the limits of the assessment, in the language of the mandate. Thin comparable evidence or unresolved information about the building can affect the conclusion even after a visit. Transfers of company shares are absent from DVF, so it does not capture every acquisition at the upper end of the market.
Riviera Valuations is the agency’s proprietary valuation and property-research service, provided within its mandates. It is an agent’s opinion of value (avis de valeur), which does not constitute an expert valuation report. The estate agents’ code of ethics, article 6, requires that distinction to be clear to the client.
The Riviera Valuations method explains the sources, calculations and early property checks, with a fictional worked example.
Confirm the fee inclusive of tax, who pays it and the payment event before signing. The mandate must specify the remuneration basis and any allocation between the parties. The transaction document records the amount and payer. Decree of 20 July 1972, article 73.
For a private purchase, the transaction commission is collected once the sale is recorded in the final notarial deed. Preliminary-work charges fall under a separate exception when the client acts in the course of professional activities; the agreement must prominently state their calculation and payment terms. These are legal rules. The agency’s commitment is separate: a buyer under a search mandate receives Riviera Valuations as part of the representation, with no separate charge, and nothing is owed before the deed. Law of 2 January 1970, article 6; decree, article 78-1.
If the agency holds a sale mandate (mandat de vente) on your target property, you are informed before negotiations. Clarify its duties to each party, the fee allocation and how competing interests will be handled. Disclosure alone does not resolve a conflict: the code of ethics requires agents to seek to avoid conflicts and explain their possibility and causes.
Any interest the agent holds or intends to acquire in the property must also be disclosed in the opinion of value. Code of ethics, article 9.
Contact Elena with your preferred areas, budget, intended use and timetable. If you have identified a property, include its details and any documents already available. The discussion should establish the proposed assignment, the visit, the research needed before an offer, the information to be shared and the terms of the search mandate.
Elena’s professional profile and completed sales record provide background for this exchange. When reviewing experience, ask about the agency’s role in the transactions presented: DVF records prices and parcel references, but does not identify the intermediary or whether it represented the buyer or seller.
Elena Agueeva Real Estate represents buyers of villas and apartments on the French Riviera from EUR 3 million, under a written search mandate — in French, a mandat de recherche — available in English or French. Before a valuation is prepared, an agency agent visits the property with the buyer, or on the buyer's behalf. The valuation draws on Riviera Valuations research, which combines comparable completed sales (actual closed transactions) with cadastral parcels — the mapped land parcels — building-permit records, planning rules and official risk information, together with company records where relevant.
No. The agency also represents sellers, so it is not a buyer-only practice. Before negotiations begin on a target property, its role — on whose behalf it is acting — and any existing mandate it holds on that property are made clear.
The Riviera Valuations valuation establishes a value calculated from selected evidence, the assumptions applied and the adjustment parameters; professional judgment remains involved in selecting comparables and assessing the property. The asking price is excluded from that calculation, including when the agency holds the seller mandate on the property. The underlying research supports the work of the notary, the lawyer and technical specialists; it does not certify that the property is compliant or free of defects.
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