The Homebooker Agency in Val d'Isère

Yes, and a share of the commune's transactions is settled that way, with no listing, no photographs circulated and no price shown anywhere. The reasons are nearly always the same. The seller would rather their circle, their neighbours in the building or their guests did not learn the place was going, and prefers to avoid the curiosity viewings a recognisable address attracts. Discretion counts here as much as timing. The trade-off lies in reach. The property is shown only to buyers already identified, whose search and means have been checked beforehand. It is that register, kept up over years, which finds a taker without the property ever being put on display.

Several months more often than a few weeks, and the search is counted in seasons rather than in viewings. The reason is volume. The number of sales completed each year in the commune stays low, and a share of those properties changes hands without ever having been advertised. The gap between what appears online and what actually trades is wider here than in a resort of similar size. Hence the value of setting out early what you are after: quarter, aspect, floor area, intended use. A precise brief means being told at the right moment and being able to decide quickly, which scarcity always ends up demanding.

Yes, and it is the most common situation in the commune, where the great majority of homes serve as second residences. The work covers what a long absence puts at risk: check visits between stays, technical readings before and after winter, coordinating trades, taking in deliveries, putting things right after any works. A written report follows every visit, with photographs. Where the owner wants it, the weeks they do not use can also be placed on the short-let market. The two strands are handled separately: having a property looked after obliges nobody to release a single week.

Yes, but on a wholly different scale, and across a short window. Summer is built around the Col de l'Iseran, one of the highest road passes in the Alps, which opens only once the snow has been cleared and shuts again with the first falls. Cyclists, walkers and climbers follow one another through it, and some of the shops reopen for the period. High mountain country remains the reason people come, as it is in winter. For an owner, none of that reorders the priorities. Winter shapes the year, sets the calendar for any works and determines what a property represents. Summer is added to it rather than replacing it.