NICE CARNIVAL BEGINS

The sun came out for the first day of Nice carnival yesterday. The annual event is one of the best known festivals in France and signals the start of Spring on the Côte d'Azur. The traditional bataille des fleurs (battle of the flowers) kicks things off with enormous flower-decorated floats. Perched decoratively on the floats, Niçoise girls throw flowers at the crowds - mainly the first saffron coloured mimosa - and are followed by noisy Southern French brass bands,  dancers and enormous floating ballons in mad shapes and vibrant colours. It is worth coming to Nice for the two-week Carnival to experience  the flavour of Southern life and festive fever.

The carnival is also a prime-time to rent out apartments as I keep telling clients who maybe don't want to visit or can't at this time. Good quality, well located apartments rent and rent throughout the year in Nice. However, the market is competitive and I find so many people are led astray by agents who are naturally anxious to make a sale rather than thinking in the best interests of the buyer. I'm currently looking for investment apartments for two clients and I can see straight away what has potential and what doesn't. This is often at odds with what the agents and 'free property finders' will be trying to say (and please people, understand that a free property finder is an estate agent as well - they are merely acting as  intermeditate agent, so their eye is on making a sale regardless and gaining the maximum price).

In Nice a street can make all the difference between a really good investment and one that is not. When looking for rental investment it's important not to be hasty or encouraged by pushy agents into a bad decision. My clients' interests are my priority and they know I will never compromise on this point.