Access
Width of the alley, distance to the nearest drop-off point, whether machinery can get through. This drives both the cost and the length of any works.
My background and my method
Five years in French real estate, a move to Marrakech, and a speciality in a kind of property you cannot judge from photographs.
Why Marrakech, and why riads
I discovered Marrakech in 2015, over several stays, always in the Medina. At the time I barely knew the rest of the city. What kept me here was the contrast between the noise of the souks and the quiet one alley further on, the smells, the smiles, the straightforwardness of it.
I had five years in French real estate behind me. It became clear that this experience could serve as a bridge for people wanting to buy here: the same underlying questions, but completely different ground, customs and counterparts.
I have lived in Marrakech for more than four years. Over those years I have learned the local rules, the building methods, how the administration works and which professionals you can genuinely count on.
I am an estate professional in Marrakech, and I have specialised in riads in the Medina. It is the kind of property that demands the most local knowledge, and the one you cannot assess properly from a distance.
What I look at when I view a riad for you
A viewing is not there to confirm a first impression. It is there to find what is wrong, while there is still time to walk away or negotiate.
The patio and the spaces
Orientation, dimensions, height of the surrounding walls, how the rooms are laid out. Two riads of identical size give neither the same light nor the same way of living.
The paperwork
Land title where it exists, chain of ownership, and whether the declared surfaces match the actual building.
Working as a team
I do not pretend to be an architect, a notary, a banker or a builder. My job is to know who to call, when, and to check that the work has been done.
Depending on the project I draw on architects, renovation firms and craftsmen from the Medina, notaries, banks and accountants. These are people I work with regularly and whose way of working I know.
For you this changes one simple thing: you do not have to assemble that team from abroad, nor arbitrate between quotes you cannot read.
A question, a project, a doubt?
The simplest thing is to talk it through. Ten minutes is usually enough to know whether a project holds up.