How AI Helped Us Buy a House in France
This blog continues the story of our experience buying a house in France.
Out last blog explained about the CdV initial sales agreement.
Buying a house in France isn’t exactly a simple process — especially when you’re not a local. There’s a sea of paperwork, new terminology, strict regulations, and more than a few cultural quirks. Throughout our journey of purchasing a home near Bergerac, one of the most helpful tools I have had at my side wasn’t a person — it was AI. Specifically, ChatGPT but also claude.ai and Google’s Gemini AI.
Make it stand out
Here’s how the AI assistants helped us manage, learn, and stay (mostly) sane during the house-buying process so far.
These tools are limited only by our imagination in using them. They can do much more than most people realise.
Understanding the French Property Buying Process
The first hurdle was figuring out how buying a house in France actually works. We’d heard of the CdV (Compromis de Vente) but didn’t fully understand what it committed us to. ChatGPT explained:
The difference between the CdV and the final Acte de Vente (AdV)
The roles of the notaire, the agent immobilier, and others
What it meant to waive "force majeure" clauses or accept certain risks
It turned the legal French into plain English — essential when you're trying to feel confident about what you’re signing.
Reviewing and Comparing Legal Documents
One of the most valuable things ChatGPT did was compare different versions of our CdV contract. We uploaded two versions (the draft we approved and the one we were sent to sign), and it flagged differences — even narrowing in on specific pages and edits. It helped us spot last-minute changes, including clauses about septic tanks and well registration.
It also translated legal clauses, helping us understand things like:
What happens if the septic tank isn’t up to code
Whether we could still pull out of the contract under certain conditions
Making Sense of Diagnostic Reports
France requires a DDT (Dossier de Diagnostic Technique), which includes reports on everything from asbestos and electrics to termites and energy efficiency.
We uploaded our reports to ChatGPT, and it:
Translated them in full.
Note chatGPT does pretty well on translating small documents of a few pages, but for the bigger documents we found it necessary to use deepl which was also recommended by the Immobilier.
Highlighted key risks and mandatory disclosures
Explained acronyms like DPE, SPANC, and Assainissement non collectif
Helped us understand whether reported issues needed to be fixed before sale
We even created a visual collage for the blog using the diagnostic themes and keywords.
Creating a Timeline and Keeping Us on Track
After signing the CdV, we asked ChatGPT to help us stay organised. It generated a timeline checklist with tick-boxes:
When to expect the mortgage offer
When the notaire might schedule the final signing
What documents to prepare next
This simple tool turned an uncertain waiting period into a structured plan.
Financial, Legal, and Regulatory Advice
ChatGPT didn’t replace our broker or notaire — but it gave us context:
What it means if a property has an unregistered well
Whether we’d be liable for septic tank repairs after purchase
If sellers are required to fix issues found in diagnostic reports (spoiler: usually not)
It also clarified what buyers typically do in practice, not just what the law says.
Helping With French Language and Culture
We’re not fluent in French, so we turned to ChatGPT often to:
Translate property listings and diagnostic results
Understand regional or legal vocabulary
Clarify whether clauses meant we were giving up certain rights
This went beyond translation — it offered cultural translation, helping us interpret expectations and norms.
Blog Editing and Storytelling
Even once we started telling our story through this blog, ChatGPT helped! I used it to:
Review and edit blog posts before publishing
Suggest titles, formatting, and clearer phrasing
Turn ideas into well-structured stories
I also used claude.ai to review blogs after they were initially published. I simply passed the blog URL into claude.ai and asked it to suggest editorial improvements. It had many great suggestions, though I did’t always use the exact wording proposed. This blog is the only one where I have actually pasted the whole suggestion so far, but still then edited it.
Final Thoughts (According to ChatGpt)
ChatGPT didn’t buy the house for us — but it absolutely amplified our confidence in every step. It explained the process, helped us catch details, translated what we didn’t understand, and kept us organised.
If you’re navigating the house-buying process in another country, especially in another language, a tool like ChatGPT is worth its weight in euros. For us, it was like having a bilingual legal assistant on call 24/7 — and we’re not sure we’d have stayed so calm without it!
You may have not realised but most of this blog was written by ChatGpt itself.
Knowing that I had used chatGpT regularly and that it remembers and even sometimes references previous questions, I asked it to create this blog summarising how I had asked it about various parts of the house purchase process. Above is 90% the work of chatGPT. I changed a few words and added the reference to claude.ai
Have you used AI tools while buying property abroad? Let us know in the comments or over on Instagram!
