Dream Paris apartments for sale at bargain prices. The catch? Someone must die

CNN

04-08-2025

It was just after 7 p.m. on a Monday when staff at the Korian Les Amarantes nursing home in Tours, southwest of Paris, discovered 92-year-old Yvette Brisset dead in her bed. She had apparently choked on a madeleine — one of France's famed scallop-shaped, lemon-flavored cakes.
The cake had been brought to her earlier that evening by a man named Alain Jousselin.
Jousselin, then 60, wasn't a family member or friend. He was a former firefighter who had bought Brisset's home 25 years earlier through a little-known French property scheme known as viager — and had been waiting ever since to move in, his lawyer, Abed Benjador, told CNN.
In a viager sale, elderly homeowners — often in their 70s, 80s or 90s — sell their properties at a steep discount, sometimes for half the market value. In return, they receive a monthly payment from the buyer. In most cases, they retain the right to live in the home for the rest of their lives — an arrangement known as viager occupé. In other instances, the vendor has already moved out at the time of sale, allowing the buyer to take immediate possession of the property while continuing the monthly payments — a setup known as viager libre.
It's part real estate, part roulette. Property listings typically include the seller's age alongside the asking price. The older the seller, the sooner the buyer might potentially claim the home.
'In France, a 70-year-old man has a life expectancy of around 16 years, so the discount is often 50%,' said Fréderic Coubronne, who runs a viager agency in Paris. 'Women live about five years longer, so a 75-year-old woman would have the same discount. For couples, the discount is even higher, since they tend to live longer together.'
Jousselin had bought Brisset's family home in Montbazon, just south of Tours, in 1995. Ever since, he had been paying Brisset a monthly stipend of 500 euros — a total of well over $150,000, at today's conversion rates, on top of the initial purchase sum. When she died, on May 13, 2019, suspicion quickly turned toward him, his lawyer said.
No one in the family knew Jousselin before Brisset's death, her granddaughter, Emiline Dupoy, wrote in a letter published by French newspaper La Nouvelle Republique ahead of Jousselin's trial. 'The only link between them was the viager.'
'It was a huge scandal,' Benjador told CNN. 'The nursing home staff claimed Jousselin locked the door behind him when he entered the room. After he left, they said they found Madame Brisset with madeleine crumbs all over her body.'
French media dubbed the case l'affaire de la madeleine. 'At the heart of the trial is the viager property purchased in the 1990s,' the French outlet RTL reported.
Jousselin spent three years in pretrial detention before the case first went to court in May 2022. He was acquitted by the Indre-et-Loire Court of Appeal, but prosecutors challenged the verdict. Attorney General Denis Chaussetie-Laprée called for a 20-year prison sentence, arguing that the killing of the elderly woman had been 'premeditated.'
But during the retrial in December 2023, held at the Loiret Court of Appeal, key testimony from nursing staff began to unravel, casting doubt on the original narrative.
'I don't know if my client killed her intentionally,' Benjador said. 'But I do know that the procedure was flawed, and much more complicated than the press made it seem. The viager issue overshadowed everything.'
On December 9, 2023, the murder charge against Jousselin was downgraded to involuntary manslaughter. While prosecutors could not prove he intended to kill the victim, the Loiret Court of Appeal accepted that Jousselin had given Brisset a madeleine — describing it as an act of 'imprudence' directly linked to her death.
Jousselin was sentenced to three years in prison and fined 30,000 euros, the court confirmed to CNN. 'I'm somewhat relieved, but not entirely happy — I was still convicted, though I was facing much more serious charges,' he said as he left the courtroom.
While trials like Jousselin's involving viager sales are disturbing, they remain extremely rare. And they haven't dampened enthusiasm for the housing arrangement — especially among foreign buyers eager to pick up French property at below-market prices.
'Over the past two years, I've had around a dozen international buyers — about half of them American,' said Reza Nakhai, who owns a Paris-based agency called Viva Viager. 'Many don't hesitate to invest. It's a secure, long-term bargain.'
For Americans dreaming of a pied-à-terre in Paris, viager could be a golden ticket — if they're willing to play the long game.
In Saint-Germain-des-Prés, the chic Left Bank enclave once home to Ernest Hemingway and Simone de Beauvoir, a 100-square-meter apartment now sells for an average of $1.7 million. In Le Marais — a favorite among both the Parisian It crowd and American buyers — 2025 prices range from $15,500 to $22,000 per square meter, according to real estate agency Talvan's International. But with viager, buyers can snap up prime real estate for less than half that price.
Homa Raevel, an American-Iranian investor and mother of five, has bought four viager properties in Paris. She first discovered the concept while living between Europe and the US, looking for creative ways to invest.
'At first, it felt a little morbid,' Raevel told CNN. 'I kept thinking, 'I don't want to be happy when someone dies'. But I made it a point to meet every seller, hear their story. With viager, you're helping older people stay in their homes while giving them financial security — it's a win-win.'
When scouting a property, the first things Raevel says she looks for are location and layout. 'In France, especially in Paris, you often find kitchens at one end of the flat and dining rooms at the other, connected by narrow hallways,' she said. 'I look for apartments with high ceilings and an open floor plan, often in up-and-coming areas.'
But Raevel said the most crucial factor isn't the space itself — it's the seller. 'I only buy if the seller seems to be living a happy life,' she said. 'If someone is dealing with family conflicts or selling under stressful circumstances, I'll pass. The person needs to have good energy.'
The practice of viager itself dates back to Roman times. 'Back then, elderly people would pass on property to their children or nephews in exchange for a small sum and the ability to continue living in their homes,' the agent Coubronne told CNN.
In the early 19th century, Napoleon formalized the system — not only in France but in the territories he conquered. 'That's why you also find viager-style arrangements in countries like Spain, Italy and parts of Belgium,' Coubronne said.
Viager sales aren't just popular among ordinary citizens — they've also attracted some of France's most prominent figures. Former presidents Charles de Gaulle, Valérie Giscard d'Estaing and François Hollande all acquired properties through viager arrangements. And it's not just the French embracing the practice. Hugh Hefner made headlines when he sold the Playboy Mansion to his neighbor for $100 million — half its $200 million listing price — on one condition: he would live there until the day he died.
In France, the centuries-old system is especially popular among homeowners without heirs.
'If I had children, I'd want them to inherit,' said André Helman, a 74-year-old psychoanalyst who recently sold his Paris apartment as a viager. 'But I don't, so this is the perfect solution — it lets me stay in my home and live comfortably on a steady income.'
Helman's one-bedroom flat was purchased for 250,000 euros — around half its market value — by Ylla Heron, a 21-year-old fashion student.
'I don't need to live here right now,' she told CNN. 'It's for the future, in 20 or 30 years. Given the price and the surface area — 46 square meters in the center of Paris — it's a real bargain.'
Perched on the ninth floor of a modern building in Paris' 14th arrondissement — a vibrant neighborhood south of the Seine, known for its artistic heritage, Haussmannian facades and classic café culture — the apartment instantly charmed Heron. 'It's beautiful and cozy,' she said. 'There's a big window that floods the space with light, and the view over the rooftops of Paris is magical. I can really imagine myself living here someday.'
The viager system isn't without its critics. Some see the system as morbid, given that the buyer's investment depends on the seller's demise. Helman isn't fazed.
'People are uncomfortable with viager because of the death aspect,' he said. 'But for me, dying is a natural part of life. The idea that this charming young woman will eventually live in my home — it's actually very pleasant to me.'
The system may prove a timely solution for France's rapidly aging population. As of January 2024, more than 20% of French residents are over 65 — with 10% aged 75 and older — according to national statistics agency INSEE. By 2050, one in three residents will be over 65. As living costs rise, securing stable finances in later life is becoming increasingly urgent.
But viager isn't without risk for the buyer. In addition to paying a lump-sum down payment — poetically referred to as le bouquet — buyers must make monthly payments that could stretch decades.
'I always calculate for the seller living to 100,' Raevel told CNN. 'If they live beyond that, I might not make a profit. But as long as the market holds over the next 20 years, I'll still come out ahead.'
Not all bets pay off.
In one of the most famous cases, Jeanne Calment — who holds the record as the world's longest-living person — signed a viager contract aged 90. She lived another 32 years, outlasting the buyer by two. His family was legally required to continue making monthly payments until Calment's death at 122.
'That's the ultimate exception,' Nakhai told CNN, laughing. 'I've never seen anything like that with my clients. But it shows how human this business really is. I've been invited to the funerals of sellers by their families. Viager is more than a property transaction — it's about trust and connection.'
For Raevel, the American investor, it's also a matter of values.
'Buying a viager feels good because I know I'm genuinely helping someone,' she said. 'Many older people struggle to maintain the quality of life they had decades ago — they're really suffering. This way, I'm supporting someone while securing a long-term home at a lower price. Why wouldn't you take the bet?'