After completion, the priority is to turn transaction documents and a set of keys into an operational home: verify access, record systems and contracts, secure insurance and utilities, close seller actions and assign a local next step for every open item.
Before completion: prepare the operational handover
The notary and estate professionals manage the legal transaction within their respective roles. Separately, the buyer can prepare a practical list for the day possession changes: keys and remotes, alarm and gate providers, meters, utility references, building manager details, current maintenance contracts, warranties, open works and items the seller has agreed to leave or complete.
Day one: establish access and a visual baseline
Count and label keys without recording their storage location in ordinary email. Confirm gates, shutters, alarms and essential services, then photograph agreed reference points and meter readings where appropriate. If a defect or discrepancy appears, record it and refer it to the estate agent, notary, seller or qualified specialist according to the issue; Emilie should not make legal conclusions about the sale.
Week one: understand the systems
Identify electrical panels, water isolation, heating and cooling, internet, pool plant, irrigation, drainage, appliances and maintenance dates. Collect manuals and invoices that actually exist. A qualified technician should explain complex or unsafe equipment. The goal is a usable map of the home, not an assumption that every inherited setting is correct.
Week two: review the supplier network
List each contractor, what they maintain, their last visit, the contract owner and the next planned action. Verify businesses and insurance where relevant before commissioning new work. Decide which relationships should continue and which require fresh quotations rather than accepting every arrangement simply because it existed before the purchase.
Week three: match the home to its location
Use Géorisques for the exact address and review insurer recommendations, copropriété rules where applicable and local exposure. Cannes coastal apartments, Mougins hillside villas and Valbonne village or countryside homes do not share one risk profile. This is where a genuinely local handover becomes more useful than a generic international buyer checklist.
By day thirty: create the operating rhythm
The first month should end with a property handbook, agreed visit and reporting scope, secure access process, open-action register and arrival routine. The owner should know who decides, who attends and who reports. A good handover reduces dependence on memory before the first long absence begins.
Common questions
When does an overseas buyer normally receive the keys?
The precise legal timing should be confirmed with the buyer's notary. In the usual completion process, transfer of possession is associated with signing the final deed, but special arrangements must be documented professionally.
What belongs in a property handbook?
Non-sensitive equipment references, service contacts, recurring schedules, decision rules, known issues and reporting points. Alarm codes, key locations and identity documents need a separate secure system.
Should the new owner retain every existing contractor?
Not automatically. Existing knowledge can be valuable, but scope, business identity, insurance where relevant, price and future responsibilities should be reviewed before new work is authorised.
Every property is different. The appropriate checks and technical decisions should reflect the home, the owner's instructions, insurance requirements and qualified professional advice.
Sources and useful official references
External facts and legal or safety boundaries were checked against the following sources. Emilie's operational method remains specific to the service described on this site.