France Expat: Finding Housing

France's rental market (marché locatif) is highly competitive in major cities, especially Paris where apartments rent within hours. Success requires a perfect dossier de location with: pièce d'identité (ID), 3 derniers bulletins de salaire (last 3 payslips), contrat de travail (employment contract - CDI preferred over CDD), justificatif de domicile (proof of address), dernier avis d'imposition (last tax notice), and often a garant (French guarantor earning 3x the rent). Foreigners face additional scrutiny and garant requirements. Rent must be ≤33% of net income (taux d'effort). Main search platforms: Seloger, Leboncoin, PAP (Particulier à Particulier), Logic-Immo. Agency fees (frais d'agence) are paid by landlord since 2014 Alur law. Dépôt de garantie (security deposit) is 1 month rent for unfurnished (location nue), 2 months for furnished (location meublée). French leases (bail) are 3 years for unfurnished with strong tenant protections - landlords cannot easily evict or raise rent beyond IRL (rent index). State guarantees: Visale for under-30s and professionals, GRL for those without garant. Many expats use temporary furnished rentals (Airbnb, résidences) for first 3 months while building dossier.